Join Volunteer Morgan Hill

We moved to Wordpress.org

Volunteer Morgan Hill has moved to Wordpress.org.

The new URL is www.VolunteerMHBlog.com and all new posts will be updating from this site. The new blog will continue to provide sharable links so that you can share your favorite posts, videos and weblinks with all your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media channels. Remember, sharing is caring so re-post the links, stories, videos and photos that you enjoy.

See you there!!!

Looking to Expand Volunteer Opportunities

One of the visions for Volunteer Morgan Hill is to increase interaction and involvement with local service providers, city departments and the schools.  This past Tuesday, we made in-roads by participating in the  Parks and Recreation Commission meeting in Council Chambers.  In addition to introducing our organization to the Commission, we also met their special guest Dr. Wes Smith, Superintendent of the Morgan Hill Unified School District.  Dr. Smith was there to explore ways that the School District and Parks and Recreation Commission can work together.  Facing tighter budgets and a challenging economy, seeing our city come together to explore solutions is encouraging.  Sometimes the worst of times brings out the best in us, and it was refreshing to see these two groups come together and engage each other in a dialogue that I am sure will continue throughout the year.  

I am excited that we are part of this conversation and have the opportunity to make an impact going forward.  Although our organization is still under development, it is clear that there are plenty of opportunities for us to explore and to add value to this community.  We look forward to working with other departments, commissions and groups in town to increase volunteerism in our community.  If you are interested in getting together, or being a part of Volunteer Morgan Hill as we grow and develop, please comment on this post or send me an e-mail at: volunteermorganhill@gmail.com.

Thank you,
Victor Gaxiola
President- Volunteer Morgan Hill

p.s. I invite you read the story that ran last Friday before the meeting on Tuesday.  Click Here.

We're Sprouting

Our board sat down with Lindsay Bryant, staff writer for the Morgan Hill Times to talk about our organization and vision for 2010.

The result of our meeting is a great story that appeared in Friday's paper and on-line at MorganHillTimes.com, "Class project sprouts into volunteer operation".   The first part of our discussion with Lindsay involved how Volunteer Morgan Hill was developed.  We shared how our organization began as a project for the Leadership Morgan Hill class of 2009 and led to the success of our Volunteer Faire in September and the beginning of a new organization.

The second part of our discussion focused on our transition from a class project with Leadership Morgan Hill to an Alliance member with the Morgan Hill Community Foundation.  As a result of the change, we are now
preparing to grow the organization, recruit new members, and begin the process of building partnerships and relationships with the City of Morgan Hill and local non-profit organizations.

The final part of our meeting centered on our vision for 2010 and beyond.  Currently, our plans call for a repeat of the Volunteer Fair on Saturday, September 11th (Save the date!), and enhancements to our web site. www.VolunteerMorganHill.org

Our mission and vision remains the same- to be an integral part of this community and to add value to both service organizations and volunteers.  We'll need more help and we hope we can count on you to be a part of our new and growing organization.

As the article mentions, we are planning an information meeting in May and we hope to have a great turnout.  If you are interested in learning more about us and would like an invitation to our informational meeting, please send an e-mail to VolunteerMorganHill@gmail.com.

We also invite you to become our friend on Facebook to stay informed of upcoming announcements and events.  You can find our page by clicking FACEBOOK LINK.

Victor Gaxiola

Volunteer Morgan Hill is now an Alliance Member of the Morgan Hill Community Foundation

We are pleased to announce that Volunteer Morgan Hill is now an Alliance Member of the Morgan Hill Community Foundation!

Founded as part of the Leadership Morgan Hill Class of 2009 project our new organization will continue to serve the needs of volunteers and service organizations in our community.

As an Alliance Member, Volunteer Morgan Hill will operate with a working board and is already working to repeat the success of last year's Volunteer Faire.   The new board is made up of class members from the Leadership Morgan Hill Class of 2009 and include:

Victor Gaxiola- President

Larry McElvain- Vice President

Cynthia Mann- Secretary

Janice Crosier- Treasurer

Jeff Dixon- Operations

The board held its first meeting this past week and will be working in March to outline the make up of the new organization and begin the process or organizing the needs for the upcoming Volunteer Faire in September 2010.  In addition, the board expect to build partnerships with local volunteer organizations and to further enhance the vision of volunteerism in our community.

For those of you that have an expressed an interest in getting involved and being part of our organization as we develop our strategy, please send an e-mail to volunteermorganhill@gmail.com.

Thank you,

Victor Gaxiola
President-Volunteer Morgan Hill

Editorial: Helping others is what brings a community together

Here is the link to the editorial posting in the Morgan Hill Times that mentioned our organization today.
Check it out!

Tis' the Season of Volunteerism

Great guest editorial to the Morgan Hill Times on the importance of volunteerism.
Check it our: Link

Disney Parks: Give A Day Get A Day!

Disney Parks wants you to volunteer!

Beginning JANUARY 1, 2010, when you sign up to volunteer a day of service with a participating organization and your service is completed and verified) you'll get a one day admission to a Walt Disney World® or Disneyland® theme park, FREE! Disney's goal is to inspire one million people to volunteer a day of service and this is a great way for them to do their part.

Details and eligibility can be found at the Disney Park website: Click Here

Not a bad deal. Volunteer a day and earn a ticket to the "Happiest place on Earth".

Presidents Call For Action

President Barack Obama joined with President George H. W. Bush to call on Americans to make service a part of their daily lives in an address to 2,000 service leaders gathered at the Points of Light Institute's Presidential Forum on Service at Texas A& M University on October 16.

Volunteer Day at UCLA

Volunteer Day at UCLA. As a proud Alumni of UCLA, I am proud to see that my Alma Mater is encouraging its students to volunteer in the community.

Graduation Video: The Class of 2009 Journey

Today, the Leadership Morgan Hill Class of 2009 graduated with a celebration of the entire class and our journey together. Below is the Graduation Video that captures the highlights of our time together.



It was a great ride!

Volunteer Faire Video

This video captures the energy, sights and sounds of our Volunteer Faire last week.
Thank you to all who participated and made it such a great day.

Servir.gov Launches

Today Serve.gov announced the launch of Servir.gov - the Spanish-language companion to Serve.gov. As the nation celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, this new website will make it easier for Spanish-speakers to find or organize volunteer projects in their communities. See the message below:

Morgan Hill Times: Volunteer Morgan Hill Faire a Big Hit!

The Morgan Hill Times on-line edition had a brief recap of the Volunteer Faire and our success. Anyone who was there could feel the energy from all the various organizations and volunteers. A working group of us are already meeting to determine how we can improve the event for next year and develop our organization.

For story: Click Here

Morgan Hill Delivers!

The results are in and Morgan Hill delivered! We had approximately 325 volunteers registered at our event. This means that 325 individuals raised their hand and then went out to visit with the various community non-profit organizations on hand at the faire. Mind you, not everyone who came to the faire registered, which means the number is likely to be much higher. From these 325+ registered volunteers, approximately 965 commitments to serve were made!!! Let me repeat that NINE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE!!! Which means that people signed up for multiple commitments.

This is the spirit we were looking for, this is the vision we had all along. However, we never imagined just how much and how far our volunteers would go. Morgan Hill- we CONGRATULATE you for raising your hand and hope to see you again next year.

To that end- Volunteer Morgan Hill is looking to recruit motivated individuals that would like to join us as we develop our organization and prepare for next year's event. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to VolunteerMorganHill@gmail.com

Thank you!