ESCC celebrates National Volunteer Week

In recognition of National Volunteer Week, which was celebrated last month, Executive Service Corps of Cincinnati honored four of its top volunteers.
 
ESCC volunteers provide consulting services to area nonprofits by applying their skills and knowledge from the workforce to the not-for-profit sector.
 
For Bob Conklin, Procter & Gamble retiree and one of the four individuals recognized, volunteering with ESCC is a meaningful endeavor because it gives him a chance to continue to apply his knowledge in an environment that’s not money-driven.
 
“Many of the nonprofits are small organizations, staffed by people who have a tremendous passion for whatever service they’re doing,” Conklin says.
 
Conklin has assisted a variety of nonprofits, but his favorite task was supervising construction of the new Scout Achievement Center, he says.
 
“The Boy Scouts had no one who had project-management, design and construction experience, so I was able to help interpret for the architect what was needed and help on a day-to-day basis with decision-making,” Conklin says.
 
“No matter what’s designed, there are always things that are encountered in construction where plans have to be changed, and so I was able to bring the technical and project manager expertise to that to give them guidance.”
 
Conklin spent about 20 hours a week volunteering with the Boy Scouts’ project, which he says was at times challenging, but incredibly rewarding.
 
“There is such an overwhelming need with nonprofits, but they typically don’t have time or the structure behind them to work on developing things like, ‘How do I manage an organization? ‘How do I recruit people? How do I set up a financial system?’” Conklin says. “So what we can do is to provide some advice, assistance and training that really helps them be more effective at delivering their mission.” 

Do Good:

•    Contact ESCC if you're a nonprofit with a request for assistance. 

•    Volunteer with ESCC.

•    Support ESCC by donating.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a project manager for Charitable Words. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.