Volunteer coordination program moves to Martha’s Vineyard Nonprofit Collaborative
OAK BLUFFS, MA (October 27, 2020) – MV Community Services (MVCS) announces that Care for Community, the volunteer coordination program, has transitioned to Martha’s Vineyard Nonprofit Collaborative (MVNC), where it will continue to support the community during the COVID pandemic and beyond.
Care for Community was created in March 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, pairing local volunteers with community organizations that depend on volunteers for their daily operations. In its first two months, the program had more than 300 Islanders sign up to be volunteers and paired more than 130 qualified volunteers with 14 Island organizations to help provide needed resources for Islanders during the pandemic.
“Our team saw the need and created the platform in a matter of days–with an overwhelmingly positive response,” said Barbara Bellissimo, Director of Development and Communications at MVCS. “Earlier this fall we began conversations with the MV Nonprofit Collaborative to gauge their interest in inheriting the program, given its natural fit with their mission. They enthusiastically took it on and we are incredibly grateful for their ongoing support of Island nonprofits.”
The new website Care for Community, which includes forms for both volunteers and Island organizations to match them with, can be found at: http://www.careforcommunity.org.
“MVNC is proud to take on the program in collaboration with Island nonprofits, local government, and passionate individuals across the Island,” said Jackie Friedman, Executive Director of MVNC. “We aim to continue the success of the program and provide an easy process to connect organizations with volunteers as our Island nonprofits continue to fill gaps in services and address our Island’s most pressing challenges and cultural needs.”
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About MV Community Services:
We are clinicians and social workers, psychiatrists, counselors, case workers, teachers and volunteers. Embracing community in collaboration with police and primary care physicians, the hospital and Island schools. People who share our belief in the worth and dignity of all. Every day we commit our unique experience, expertise and compassion to help our entire community be as vibrant, strong and healthy as it can be. When together we answer the call our community thrives. Learn more at www.mvcommunityservices.org.
About Martha’s Vineyard Nonprofit Collaborative:
The Martha’s Vineyard Nonprofit Collaborative (MVNC) works to strengthen the 100+ Island nonprofits, a community network that is vital to preserving and sustaining the Vineyard that we cherish. MVNC does this by offering workshops, forums, and other programs on the principles of good governance, board development, leadership, collaboration, and fundraising. It also brings together the nonprofit community to tackle issues that affect the island at large. Furthermore, MVNC seeks to sustain Vineyard nonprofits by connecting donors with nonprofits of particular interest and by strengthening nonprofits to assure donors that their money is well-spent. Learn more at www.mvnonprofits.org.