I always look forward to the third week of April as we celebrate National Volunteer Appreciation Week and the impact of our valued volunteers. It is often difficult to capture the full effect of volunteers' support. Historically, nonprofits communicate it in hours, the number of volunteers, or put a dollar value on the support. In case you're interested, last year Second Harvest Heartland volunteers gave 57,293 volunteer hours equivalent to 27 additional full-time employees, and over 9,300 individuals volunteered at a value of over $2.87 million.
Yes, we too use numbers to gauge if we are meeting the organization's volunteer needs with an engaging and impactful program. But the real impact goes beyond the numbers. It's volunteers rescuing fresh and nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste. It's individuals providing a heartfelt "good morning" to a senior picking up their monthly food box. And it's through all the help that goes on behind the scenes in databases, research projects and handwritten donor thank you cards. This is a small sample of the real impact that volunteers bring to Second Harvest Heartland-their kindness, empathy and care for a better community where everyone is fed.
On behalf of the volunteer engagement team and everyone at Second Harvest Heartland, thank you for your commitment to helping us end hunger together!
