FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 1999
Contact: Diane Thomas
714.834.6203
County Recruits Community
Volunteers For National Volunteer Week
(Santa Ana) –
Four County of Orange departments and agencies have joined
hands with community members to support National Volunteer
Week. Beginning April 23, participants from communities
across the county will volunteer their time and muscle
in projects such as organizing a clothes drive for at-risk
youth and distributing literacy information. Volunteers
will also get involved in cleaning up beaches and riverbeds
or building new bridges and trails in several county wilderness
parks.
Community volunteers will assist Project Together, a mentoring
program with the County’s Health Care Agency, in
collecting and distributing donated clothing and personal
care items to low-income, at-risk youth. "Receiving
these very basic items is often a real boost to the children’s
self-esteem," stated County Volunteer Coordinator
Jane Dawson.
Volunteers will join members of READ/Orange County, a
County adult literacy program, in launching an information
campaign about public literacy programs. Volunteers will
circulate brochures throughout Orange County neighborhoods
to increase public awareness of County literacy programs.
In the past, these efforts have increased enrollment by
as much as 15 percent.
Staff members of Harbors, Beaches and Parks, a division
of the Public Facilities and Resources Department, will
lead volunteers in clean-up efforts at County beaches
and parks.
Some of the beaches scheduled for clean-up include Bolsa
Chica Back Bay, Huntington Harbor and Salt Creek Beach
in Dana Point. Parks include Yorba Regional Park, Crystal
Cove State, Aliso and Wood Canyon Wilderness Park and
Irvine Regional Park.
Volunteers will be involved in tasks such as removing
rubbish and debris from environmentally sensitive areas,
clearing storm drains, removing invasive exotic plants
and replacing them with native vegetation, as well as
repairing and building new bridges and trails in parks.
"Leaders of the County’s volunteer programs,
in recognition of National Volunteer Week and the Volunteer
Center of Greater Orange County’s ‘Volunteer
Connection Days,’ hope to create awareness of the
community’s needs and motivate continued volunteering
throughout the year," said Dawson.
To participate in any of the projects mentioned above
during April 23, 24, or 25, or to participate in any other
projects that may be happening in your city, call (714)
953-5757 extension 109 or check out the Volunteer Center’s
web site at http://www.volunteercenter.org.
During last year’s Volunteer Connection Days, more
than 18,000 Orange County citizens participated in 105
projects with an estimated value of $1.072 million.
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