CapeCorps News | December 2004

CapeCorps is doing a very quick year-end survey, and we'd appreciate your help answering the following:

How many volunteers do you estimate your organization used in 2004 (including those who volunteer on a regular basis in the office or with your programs, on boards and/or committees, and for special events)?

We have received responses from the 35 organizations listed below. And the total number of volunteers these organizations relied on for 2004 was 5,731.

We became part of the Center for Sustainability this year, and we are in the process of developing “volunteerism” as a primary indicator of the overall quality of life on Cape Cod. This information that these organizations gave us will help us develop that indicator. We want to thank the organizations that responded, all of whom are listed below. We hope to be able to gather more information of a similar nature from the CapeCorps members in the future.

American Cancer Society

American Heart Association

Audible Local Ledger

Barnstable County Correctional Facility

Barnstable Schools

Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Cape Cod

Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Nantucket

Bourne Youth Council

Brewster Ladies Library

Cape Cod & Islands United Way

Cape Cod Children's Place

Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association

Cape Cod Community College Educational Foundation

Cape Cod Conservatory

Cape Cod Disability Access Directory

Cape Cod Foundation

Cape Cod National Seashore

Cape Symphony Orchestra

Cultural Center of Cape Cod

Executive Service Corps – New England

Falmouth Hospital

Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore

Girl Scout Council of Southeastern Massachusetts

Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod

Latham Centers

Lower Cape Cod CDC

Marstons Mills Public Library

MSPCA

Nauset FISH

Nauset, Inc.

Outer Cape Health Services

Senior Service Corps

Sudden Impact Cape Cod

Thornton Burgess Society

Visiting Nurses Association

WOMR

Press Release from the Cape Cod & Islands United Way, December 13, 2004:

CapeCorps, a program initiated last year by the Cape Cod & Islands United Way, announces that it is entering a second phase of its development. United Way President Rich Brothers stated that "2004 was a wonderful start in our effort to connect volunteers and nonprofit organizations active on Cape Cod. And as we launched this program, we were interested to find out if other organizations and volunteers saw the potential benefits of a volunteer center. They did. Now, as we proceed with the next phase of the concept's development, we are bringing together more of the pieces we need organizationally to make this truly successful."

"The next phase of CapeCorps' development will focus on three areas," added Brothers, "administrative oversight, the application of technology, and securing the commitment of people across the Cape who are committed not only to the place but also to the purpose for which we formed CapeCorps. We've taken steps to push ahead in each one."

"Administratively, the Cape Cod Center for Sustainability will assume responsibility," said Brothers. Allen Larson, the Center for Sustainability's President, said that "the Center has been at work for more than a year to find ways to better serve as a resource for other nonprofits in the region. By helping to sustain what the United Way has started with CapeCorps, we will be developing a very valuable resource -- a network of volunteers interested to work constructively across a broad range of specific missions and program interests that benefit Cape Cod. What the administrative effort will entail is to define measurable outcomes and measurable progress. This is the essence of sustainability."

Larson also stated that "the Center has been working with Cape Cod- based technology firms to find ways that nonrofit organizations can benefit from their expertise. Our goal with CapeCorps will be to develop a technology support team that will enhance the program's operations management. Essential to CapeCorps' success as a volunteer center will be our ability to develop and maintain an accurate tracking system that focuses not only on the volunteer needs of Cape organizations but also on the experience and capabilities of people interested to fill them."

Brothers added that he is optimistic about the next phase of the program's development because of a group of more than 40 individuals who have come together to act as an advisory committee that will help define and implement the broad program objectives of CapeCorps. Brothers stated that "over the past year, this group has come to the table and stayed there. They're encouraging others to join them as they work to develop a framework for success going forward."

Ralph Nixon, head of the committee, stated that "our purpose is to add to the Cape's quality of life by addressing its needs as well as its opportunities. CapeCorps is a wonderful means to that end. We are really looking forward to the additional resources and expertise that the Center for Sustainability will join with us to provide."

Nixon went on to say that "while the focus in this announcement is organizational, what it signifies is that we are getting our house in order so that we can bring the Cape community together around volunteerism at the upcoming Volunteer EXPO to be held in Hyannis on April 26, 2005. We've got a good program underway here, and we're committed to its lasting success."