Volunteer Fair Guest Blog Suzanne Zapf

Today's guest blog is from Suzanne Zapf.  Suzanne came to our board, and quickly became chair of our Raising Awareness Council.  She helped to fundamentally put in place our strategy platform to launch Live United.  And she does and so does her daughter Zoe.  Suzanne exempifies the following Confucious quote:  "To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right."  Without sometimes knowing, Suzanne helps to put our hearts right.  Enjoy her blog...

What a great volunteer fair this past Wednesday, presented by United Way of Jackson County and other community partners!  We had over 50 agencies seeking volunteers as hundreds of potential volunteers streamed into our large KOBI studio space for the 2 hour event.  Some of the agencies represented at the fair included the Consumer Credit Counseling Service, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), the Family Nurturing Center, and the Ashland Film Festival.  The diverse set of agencies at the fair reflects the very diverse needs of our community!  United Way’s hope is that potential volunteers find positions and internships that fit their skills and interests.  Check out the the website for a full description of volunteer opportunities and contact information for all the agencies represented at the fair.

On a personal note, my 7-year-old daughter Zoe and I had a rockin’ time!  We partnered with Peggy Wisneski at the United Way table, and Zoe and Peggy became fast friends.  Peggy, in between deep discussions with Zoe about Cinderella, cultivated relationships with many new United Way and WiLL (Women Living Leadership) volunteers.  The afternoon culminated in Zoe winning a Goodwill matchbox truck in the drawing, which absolutely thrilled her!  Thank you to Rita Vance, WiLL and the United Way staff for organizing such a terrific event.  Sign us up to help with next year’s event, our 3^rd annual volunteer fair.  We’ll be there.