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Volunteer Appreciation

April 25, 2017 by Spokes For Nonprofits

Dear Volunteers: Thank You for All You Do! 
Did you know that 7.4 million Californians volunteer for their local nonprofits each year to contribute a total of 940 million volunteer hours valued at more than $21 billion (yes, billion!)?

This week is THE official Volunteer Appreciation Week and we want to take a moment to thank the men and women who give so generously, tirelessly, and consistently to support our local nonprofits – and, especially, those who give to Spokes.

If your organization is like ours, you rely heavily on volunteers as an extension of your human resources. The fact is, no charitable organization could exist without at least one key volunteer group – its board members – so it is impossible to overstate the value volunteers bring to the nonprofit sector.

And, it is impossible to over-appreciate them, too. But, for this week, why not try?

We’d like to rise to our own challenge by taking a moment to publicly recognize and thank Spokes’ volunteers, starting with our board members who continuously carve time out of their busy schedules and away from other obligations to champion and shepherd Spokes’ mission:

Erika Schuetze, President     John Buerger, Treasurer     Michael Kaplan, Secretary     Mark Corella                               Jami Fawcett                                 Jeff Franklin                               Lynne Oliverius                             Michelle Starnes

Spokes is also very fortunate to have more than 30 rotating volunteers who offer their professional expertise and counsel to help Spokes members improve their nonprofit management skills, solve tough problems, and achieve their goals. Following are the 22 volunteers who actively contributed to Spokes’ mission this past year. If you know any of them, please join us in thanking them for all they do to support Spokes – and YOU!

Adrienne Harris                           Bob Lucas                                Bob Shanbrom                             Carol Nelson Selby                       Erica Morrison*                          JayMe Phillips                             Jeremy Teitelbaum                        John Buerger                           Kathleen Marcove                        Ken Miles                                 Kim Austin

Leslie Jones*                              Lisa Gonzales                             Mariola O’Brien                             Michael Jencks                             Michael Kaplan                             Michael Simkins                            Rachel Cementina                       Sara LaForest                          Stacey Hunt                          Suzanne Valery                             Yvon Gresser

*Find me on LinkedIn!

We’ve provided links to our volunteers’ professional sites in case you’d like to learn more about them. If you do, you’ll soon see what an extraordinary volunteer corps they are and why we feel so very lucky and thankful! Please join us for a future workshop and you’ll soon see for yourself…

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Member Testimonial

Spokes help has been transformative for the Garden in many areas, ranging from budgets, operations, policies and procedures, and long-term vision, just to name a few. The impact of SPOKES has been HUGE, and having a Spokes interim Executive Director was lifesaving. Personally, Spokes has made my work at the Garden so much more organized, less stressful , and hopeful for future success.”

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Ke-Ping Tsao
Board President
San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden
San Luis Obispo, California

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