Volunteer Appreciation Month

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month and there's no volunteer like an Army volunteer! Our unit has an fabulous group of volunteers that are always available to lend a helping hand.  They do amazing things and work hard at keeping our unit Families informed and supported.  Off the top of my head, here are a few of the many things they do ...

At any given time, a volunteer in our unit could be:

• making phone calls to unit Families
• planning meetings to keep Families in the information loop
• decorating for unit events
• wrapping gifts at the PX during the holidays
• putting together baby bags for the babies in the battalion
• baking goodies to sell at bake sales or just to give to Soldiers for their birthday
• taking all the training required to be able to bake goodies to sell
• organizing fundraisers
• taking and posting photos of unit events
• updating their unit Facebook page
• completing all required training for leaders in the FRG
• attending optional but beneficial training to ensure they know of the best resources
• managing unit funds
• recruiting other volunteers to join in the fun
• sending emails filled with resources for Families
• serving as a point of contact when a Family needs assistance
• gathering and organizing beneficial resources for Families
• planning social events to build comraderie in the unit
• maintaining contact information to make sure they can help Families when needed
• volunteering to serve on a CARE Team, to care for Families in emergency situations

The list could go on and on, but these are just a few of the wonderful things our volunteers have been doing over the past month and continue to do. 

To show them how much we appreciate them, we hosted a Volunteer Appreciation Social just after our Family Day.  The commanders served ice cream and other tasty goodies and each volunteer received a Certificate of Appreciation and a small gift.  It seems like such a small things for the HUGE things they are doing, but it was necessary to at least let them know how much they are needed and noticed.  They make a big positive impact in the lives of our Soldiers and Families and we can never say thank you enough.

Our female volunteers received a charm bracelet with our unit crest on it.  Our male volunteers received a silver coffee mug engraved with the brigade crest.

Nate and me with some volunteer appreciation gifts.

Nate, Elena, and I hand out volunteer gifts and certificates.  This volunteer, like so many, is always ready to help out!