Welcome to the Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties We are the Volunteer Center for your community. As a member of the Volunteer Centers of Washington State and the Volunteer Center National Network, we contribute expertise in four core areas of strength. We connect people with opportunities to serve. We manage a centralized system of recruitment and referral for hundreds of nonprofit and public agencies in Lewis, Thurston and Mason counties. We promote episodic and short-term volunteer opportunities. We promote volunteer opportunities of interest to special populations such as families, youth and seniors. We build the community’s capacity for effective, local volunteering. We provide volunteer management training and consultation and direct support to organizations that use volunteers. We convene and advise professional associations of volunteer leaders. We provide training and support for specialized groups of volunteers such as board members. We promote volunteering. We raise awareness of volunteering through the media, volunteer fairs, speaker’s bureaus and public service announcements We create opportunities for public acknowledgement of remarkable volunteers and volunteer teams through award programs and events. We educate policy makers and community leaders about the importance of volunteering. We participate in strategic initiatives that mobilize volunteers to meet community needs. We are working with the Long Term Recovery Organizations in all three counties to tackle disaster recovery. We are working towards improved youth engagement through volunteerism. We are working to attract skilled Baby Boomers to volunteerism at a leadership level. We are working with local asset-building coalitions to help low-income families gain and maintain financial stability.