The Official Blog of The Volunteer Advantage

So here we are with this cool idea for a company: we know lots of small businesses who want to support the volunteer efforts of their customers but can’t afford the time to do so. We also know lots of volunteers who would volunteer *more* if they had some support from local businesses. So we built a website that helps: volunteers work for their favorite organization, log their hours, then get points they can redeem for rewards and discounts from businesses that want to help. Everyone wins.

Whether you’re a volunteer or a volunteer organization or a business, when you think about it it’s a no-brainer. So how do we get people to think about it?

That’s where we need the help.

Over the past few months – at various events we’ve attended, and via email feedback – we’ve had all sorts of folks say “we need something like you guys out here!” (where “here” is Vancouver, or Portland, or wherever). So we’re kind of thinking: what if we had a program where someone could be the Volunteer Advantage representative in their community? After all, the people on the ground know far better than we would what volunteer activities are going on, what organizations and businesses want to do, etc. We’d support them any way we can – training, materials, handouts, etc. – find a way for everyone to share in the success.

So we’re mulling it over. If you have ideas let us know what you think!

Every year in Cambridge, Massachusetts since 1965, there’s an epic rowing event called the Head of the Charles Regatta. More than 8,000 athletes from around the world compete in 55 different race events over two days, attracting 300,000 spectators. It’s become an autumn institution up here, with folks from all walks of life gathering on the shores of the Charles River to watch hardworking competitors scull their hearts out. IN some ways it’s like the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games – you don’t get to see such a great example of friendly international competition very often.

Needless to say, this event wouldn’t get done without the help of scores of volunteers – from timekeepers to cleanup crews to EMTs. They do it because they love the sport and they love the event … and we want to be there to support them.

If you’re coming out to the Head of the Charles, come look for the Volunteer Advantage booth near the Cambridge Boat Club and say hello! A special thanks to the HOCR organizing committee for finding space for us – we know they appreciate their volunteers in a big way!

“And then there was the time when me and my roommates went down to a big volunteer event to clean the banks of the river. You wouldn’t BELIEVE what we found…”

Okay. We’ve all done it. You set up for a volunteer event, meet some friends, it’s all fairly standard and straightforward. And then the unexpected happens. And you get a story that you can tell over dinner for a long time afterward.

At The Volunteer Advantage, we hear them ALL THE TIME. From people meeting us at events to support phone calls and everything in between, we hear stories that make us laugh and want shake our heads and say – now THAT was definitely EPIC.

Well now we want to hear them from you!

Record a quick video of your story – a minute or two, tops – and submit it to YouTube (put “TVAStories” in the title so we can find it). Then post the path to your video to our Facebook page. We’ll repost and retweet – and the video with the most Likes by the end of the contest will receive a free Flip video camera from The Volunteer Advantage.

Go for it! Not only could you win a cool prize, but you’ll help encourage people to volunteer!

“… it took me four days to get the peanut butter out of my hair!”

Dog Transports. Sounds kind of bland. It’s like calling a triple-decker, seven flavor, German chocolate cake simply food. In all honesty though, transporting is amazing, especially when you look at the big picture. And you might hear that and think, Oh yeah, whatever. She’s been doing this her whole life. Of course she loves it. My whole life has only been sixteen years and transporting? I’ve been at that for maybe a year and, at first, I wasn’t interested at all. My mom had been offered a chance to participate in a transport for The Minnesota Boxer Rescue by a woman on her cross stitch message board. She got quite a few more details than I did about what a transport was. In other words, she got the triple-decker, seven flavor, German chocolate cake explanation and I got food. Forgive me for passing it up. I left mom to fend for herself and she came home just fine and instantly signed up to do more transports.

As she continued transporting, I slowly gleaned more about what exactly it was. I recalled the way that we got our dog Murphy. (He had also been a tip off from the message board) My uncle had gone and gotten him from Georgia and driven him half way to Wisconsin, apparently with Murphy barking like a mad man the entire time. At the halfway point, my uncle met up with my stepdad and handed over the dog. My stepdad then drove the dog back home to my mom and me so we could meet him at 11:30 p.m.

That is basically what a dog transport is, but again, that is the food description. There is so much more to it. Dog transports are entirely made up of strangers. They hardly ever know each other and unless two dogs take exactly the same path, they probably won’t meet again. Their only connection is the dog in the back seat, happily licking the fog off the windows. These people do not get paid, they don’t get to keep the dog, they don’t get to meet its owner; they just get to drive it for one hundred miles to the next link in the chain. I understood why my uncle would help his sister’s family to get a dog, but the people involved in transports are in a whole other league. They don’t know the owner. They are doing this simply for the love of the dog and the love of dogs everywhere. They put themselves out for gas money, dog bowls, leashes, blankets, food, and water just so a dog they will literally never see again can reach its forever home. As soon as I learned this, I was all in.

My mom’s next, and my first, transport was a boxer named Oliver. We drove for a good hour to reach our meeting place where he would be handed over to us. We waited at the rest stop for fifteen minutes…half an hour…an hour…an hour and fifteen minutes. Finally, we looked at our information sheet and called the woman that was supposed to have Oliver. She was hopelessly lost and all a dither, but my mom was able to calmly give her directions and set the transport back in motion. We then gave the head honcho on this transport a ring and got to watch as the message about the change in time went seamlessly down the line of volunteers.

Eventually, we got Oliver. He was a young and very skinny boy with huge brown eyes and a tongue that never got tired of licking your ears. I sat in the back seat with him while my mom drove and at first, he seemed determined to stay awake and alert the whole time and to not lean on me at all. Naturally, within ten minutes, he was entirely zonked and sprawled across my lap. Occasionally, he would wake with a snort to check that I was still rubbing his belly before his big, squishy, boxer face would plop back onto my knees and resume drooling.

                After an hour and a half to two hours, we arrived at the next meeting place where our replacements, another mother/daughter team, were ready and waiting. It was so hard to give Oliver to them; he was such a good boy! Mom and I spent the ride home sighing and bemoaning the fact that we did not adopt Oliver until we walked into our house and were greeted with a spectacular burst of fur, kisses, and wagging tails from our very own four legged welcoming squad. While I sat on the couch with Ruby and Murphy ran happy circles around mom’s feet, we realized we knew all about puppy love and, somewhere, Oliver’s lucky owners were just finding out exactly how hard you can fall for little brown-eyed boxer.

Jenna Hensley – Dog Transporter!