2003 AVA Awards Recipients
Acceptance Remarks and Information
About
Award Recipients
2003 AVA Award Recipients
Volunteer
Administrator of the Year, Jane Hilfer, Director of Community Relations
for the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (Texas,
USA); Distinguished Service Award recipients JPS Health Network (Texas,
USA), represented by Traci Day, CVA, Director of Volunteer Services; City
of Plano Volunteer Resources Program (Texas, USA) represented by Robin
Popik, Volunteer Resources Supervisor; and Mary Merrill, President and
Trainer, Merrill Associates (Ohio, USA)
Jane Hilfer � Volunteer
Administrator of the Year Award
Jane is the director of Community Relations for
the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. For the past
14 years, she has inspired and shared her vision with 119 volunteer
services managers and coordinators at 64 facilities and community centers
throughout the state. In fiscal year 2002, volunteers and donors
contributed more than $6.5 million worth of time, resources, and donations
to benefit those served by the agency. Jane has enabled 25,000 volunteers
to walk through the gates of state facilities, breaking down the barriers
of stigma and isolation facing many people suffering from mental
illness and mental retardation.
An advocate for professionalism in the field, Jane
served on the Exam Sub-committee for AVA�s Credentialing Program. She has
shared her knowledge of volunteer management with thousands of volunteers and staff
members through the Volunteer Services Council in Texas. Jane is
a founding member of the State Agency Network, a group
of state government volunteer program managers committed to advancing the field of volunteer resources
management in Texas state government.
As a single parent, Jane faced many challenges in
dedicating her career to public service while raising two daughters.
Her legacy is a generation of volunteer services managers whom
she has mentored and challenged to dedicate their careers to public service and to
those often forgotten by society.
Jane Hilfer � Acceptance Remarks
I am moved to receive recognition from an international organization
whose membership is made up of extraordinary leaders, dynamic trainers,
and inspiring professionals. I�m privileged to have been trained and
encouraged by many of you and to have worked for an organization with a
rich legacy of supporting volunteerism.
I give heartfelt thanks to AVA, the Board and Awards Committee, and to
colleagues who endorsed my nomination, including Karen Hale who leads
Texas MHMR, the second largest state agency, with the strong conviction
that volunteers and donors are critical partners.
I am proud to be on the team of Paul Goebel, my nominator and brilliant
collaborator in Texas, along with our outstanding staff in Austin and
across the state.
I commit myself to uphold this honor with humility, with renewed
enthusiasm for our field, and a promise to mentor and shepherd those of
you who are newcomers.
Thank you!
Mary is the
president and a trainer for her company, Merrill Associates, in Columbus,
Ohio, USA. She is, first and foremost, a volunteer herself. She
believes in the power of citizen participation and stays in touch with
what it means to be a volunteer through personal service. In honor of the
International Year of Volunteers 2001, she served as a volunteer
consultant in Armenia. She completed four more assignments there in two
years. Currently, Mary serves as president of Central Community House and
chairs the capital campaign. She is also on the board of her local chapter
of
the American Red Cross.
Through several state, national, and international
models, Mary has advanced the volunteer administration professional
community. In 1994 she helped transform Ohio�s conference on volunteerism
by forging collaborations between volunteer, national service, and service
learning programs. In 2000 she initiated a statewide professional
association to link Ohio�s DOVIAs. On the national level, Mary helped
develop the Paradigm Consulting/Evaluation process to strengthen
organizational capacity for effective volunteer engagement. Mary�s
international efforts in Russia, Armenia, and Mexico have provided
foundations upon which not-for-profits there continue to build.
Under Mary�s leadership, The Journal of
Volunteer Administration has been reinvented as a collaborative, scholarly professional forum where new trends, models, research, and
best practices in volunteer management can be shared.
Mary Merrill � Acceptance Remarks
Thank you. I feel humbled to receive this from my peers, and guilty for
accepting recognition for work I love so much.
Thank you to my family for their encouragement and support. Thank you
to Dale Safrit for encouraging me to become the editor of the Journal, and
to the colleagues who nominated me for this award.
I would like to share these words, which continually inspire me, from
The Universal Declaration on Volunteering by IAVE (International
Association For Volunteer Efforts)
- Volunteering is a fundamental building block of civil society.
It brings to life the noblest aspirations of humankind � the pursuit of
peace, freedom, opportunity, safety, and justice for all people.
In this ear of globalization and continuous change, the world is
becoming smaller, more interdependent, and more complex.
Volunteering turns into practical, effective action the declaration of
the United Nations that said, �We, the Peoples� have the power to change
the world.
I love being part of a profession that is building civil society and
changing the world!
Led by AVA
member Robin Popik, the City of Plano Volunteer Resources Program has a
major impact on this Texas community. Volunteers In Plano (VIP) perform
functions that might be deferred or not implemented because of a lack of
human or financial resources. In 2002 volunteers put in over 86,000
hours at a value of $1.1 million to serve this city of 238,000 residents.
As the city�s needs have changed, so have the services provided by
volunteers, such as a homework center, a fire rescue program, handicap
parking patrol, a literacy program, and technology
assistance for older citizens.
Workplace C.A.R.E.S, an employee-directed program,
establishes goals to align with the organization�s business goals,
identifies community needs, and recruits and places city volunteers. Over 5,000 hours are donated yearly to support 10 community
programs. Shadow Day, hosted by the city manager, encourages
students to prepare for their future in the workforce.
Emergency preparedness is another focus for
volunteers, who developed a Volunteer Disaster Guide. The guide serves as
a citywide clearinghouse for emergent volunteers during a disaster. Shared throughout Texas and with a variety
of organizations, the disaster guide serves a model for
others seeking to prepare their communities for emergency situations.
City of Plano � Acceptance Remarks
Since 1983 the City of Plano, Texas has been building more than
infrastructure, it has been carefully laying the foundation with
volunteers and staff working together to enhance City services.
The Volunteer Resources Group encompasses three areas: Volunteers
in Plano (VIP), was designed to support and enhancement of City services
and programs; Workplace CARES (City Advocates Recruiting Employees into
Service), involving employees through mentoring, collection drives, and
other community projects; and Emergency Volunteer Resource Center (EVRC),
connecting volunteers to immediate community needs during a disaster.
A model for communities across the US, VIP has been recognized and
garnered community and state awards for its citizen involvement and teen
initiatives. From teens to seniors, all ethnicities, it�s a melting
pot of concerned citizens making a difference in their community.
These programs have accomplished more than simply �getting the job
done.� In 2002 over 5,000 volunteers contributed 86,000
hours (valued at $1.1 million of service) to the Plano community.
Under the
direction of AVA member Traci Day, CVA, JPS Health Network has the largest
hospital volunteer program in Tarrant County, Texas. In 2002 volunteers
put in 86,000 hours of service and purchased $189,000 of medical
equipment. This is a remarkable accomplishment given that three years ago,
the volunteer program was in decline. In 2001 the volunteer program was
realigned to report directly to the chief operating officer, making the
volunteer program a top priority for the organization. An experienced
professional was hired to revitalize
and restructure the
program.
Volunteers are pervasive in
JPS facilities, providing front-line service in the gift shop, patient registration, and
radiology and emergency departments. Behind the scenes, volunteers assist in the lab,
laundry, social services, and outpatient clinics. JPS is proud to have over 350
at-home volunteers who make items for patients�blankets for babies and
adults, quilts, booties, and infant bonding devices for premature
babies.
JPS volunteers range from age 14 to 90 with various
backgrounds and skills. JPS has partnered with community organizations to foster service
learning in area schools, involve senior volunteers from AARP and RSVP, and
offer externships to students from a local training center. In addition, Dannon, Inc.
has a program for its employees on light-duty where they
continue to be paid by Dannon, while volunteering at
JPS.
JPS Health Network � Acceptance
Remarks
JPS Health Network is honored and proud to receive
the AVA Distinguished Service Award. Volunteers serve as an integral
part of our organization. More than 1,000 community members
volunteer for JPS � at the hospital or from home. Because of them,
JPS can provide toys to over 6500 needy children, swaddle newborns in
handmade blankets and caps, clothe the homeless and the injured treated in
our emergency room, provide necessities to those who do not expect to be
hospitalized, provide emotional and spiritual support to those in crisis,
support our staff by offering administrative assistance and much
more.
The leadership and vision of our volunteer director,
Traci Day, CVA, and her team Artillia Akins, Jackie Long and Patricia
Moreno, largely influence our program�s success. JPS celebrates the
efforts of all volunteers and those who diligently manage their efforts to
support causes that make our world a better place.
� Ronald Stutes, Chief Operating Officer, JPS
Health Network
Paula M. Anderson, CVA
Paula
has been an active volunteer manager in Grand Junction, Colorado, USA for
nearly 10 years. She developed and directed the volunteer program for the
City of Grand Junction. Currently, Paula manages volunteers for Gray
Gourmet, a nonprofit meal program for the elderly. Paula is secretary of
the Western Slope DOVIA. She served as editor of The Journal of Volunteer
Administration.
Mary E. Zimmerer, Ph.D., CPA
Mary is a professor of business at Mesa
State College in Grand Junction, where she has taught both management and
accounting for the past 14 years. One of her assignments is to coordinate
business division interns, many of whom work as volunteers within the
community.
Paula and Mary co-authored �Dollar Value of Volunteer Time: A Review of
Five Estimation Methods.�
Paula M. Anderson and Mary E. Zimmerer �
Acceptance Remarks
Mary Zimmerer and I both are honored by this award
for our research article published in this distinguished journal, and we regret that we could not join
you here today.
Our interest is to further promote the profession
of volunteer management by providing some tools for translating a dollar value for volunteer contributions. Our hope is that our colleagues will
find them useful.
The subject matter was challenging, because
formulas alone cannot relay the true magnitude of volunteer
contributions to organizations whose goal is to make our world a better place. We know that the real impact of volunteers is not
just about dollars.
In these times of rapid societal and economic
change, we believe that appreciation and recognition of the value of
volunteerism will continue to evolve. Hopefully, we�ve supplied a way of
beginning that conversation.
Paula M. Anderson, CVA
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