As part of the increasing trend of families volunteering together, HandsOn Network has named Navajo County Drug Project (NCDP) as one of its national volunteer Action Centers in its “Give A Day. Get a Disney Day”. Through this affiliation, NCDP will certify volunteers among the first 1 million nationally to receive a free day at Disney in exchange for their day of community volunteerism.

Beginning Jan. 1, Disney Parks launches “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day.” Under this first-of-its-kind program (to learn more about the program: www.DisneyParks.com), 1 million people who perform volunteer service for a participating organization in 2010 will receive a free one-day admission ticket to a Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort theme park. Volunteers must pre-register and sign up for eligible volunteer opportunity at disneyparks.com. (Ticket quantities for this program are limited. Volunteers must be at least age 6 to participate. One ticket per person. Other terms and conditions apply. For details, see www.disneyparks.com.)

Family volunteering is bucking the economic tide and riding an upturn with more people giving of their time and working together toward bettering their communities. More moms, statistics show, are seeking out budget-pleasing activities for the entire family that are fun and engage their kids in civic awareness while helping others.

According to HandsOn Network, the nation’s largest volunteer network, parents are increasingly seeing how respect, teamwork and compassion are traits that volunteerism seeds in their young children. Reports show that youth are genuinely glad to volunteer (88 percent) and would be more engaged in service if family was involved (40 percent). What parents perceive as the biggest challenge, however, is not knowing where to go to find existing volunteer opportunities that work for families.

“Family volunteerism demonstrates the power of families coming together to impact their communities through giving back to the community,” said Navajo County Drug Project Coordinator Debe Campbell. “Families that spend more time together, whether in joint activity or over the dinner table, create greater bonds of understanding that help kids make better life decisions—including addressing substance abuse issues.” Family volunteering mobilizes new volunteers to meet community needs and instills a lifelong commitment to volunteering in youth.

HandsOn Network helps families find service projects throughout the year through its more than 250 Action Centers. The network connects volunteers with opportunities that both interest them and tackle tough challenges facing communities such as education, the environment and the economy.

A few examples of volunteer activities on the HandsOn Network for families looking to make a difference and enjoy spending a day in service together:

• Visit seniors and make crafts, play games or share stories
• Help sort, inspect and pack donated items at a local food bank
• Gather new or gently used books, DVDs and games for children in homeless shelters
• Raise awareness for a good cause and participate in a local charity walk
• Get outdoors and clean up or restore a park

Reduce the dropout rate by leveraging the power of service in every school
What it could look like:

• The incoming senior class, with a faculty advisor, leads a school make-over “legacy project” engaging parents, surrounding businesses, civic leaders, faith congregations and others in a year-long series of projects to renovate the school.
• A local business employee organizes 10 of his colleagues to take their lunch break twice a week to tutor students in reading at a nearby school.

Reduce the carbon footprint through neighborhood-based conservation and restoration projects.
What it could look like:

• A neighborhood association organizes a weekend tree planting and park clean-up project for resident families and their friends. The project accomplishes a carbon-offsetting outcome and educates the neighborhood on environmental and energy policy issues.
• A group of children lead their families in a commitment to spend a month recycling old items stored in the house and make small changes to their lifestyles, like lowering the thermostat and changing light bulbs. (A whole block or apartment building engaged could save 100 tons of carbon per year.)

Support economic security for families by facilitating access to resources and dollars
What it could look like:

• A group of retired accountants – sponsored with small transportation stipends by their former “big-firm” employer – partner with the local AARP chapter and other organizations to provide Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax filing assistance to local seniors.
• A local college organizes a “Flash Mob & Facebook” canned food drive to stock the shelves of a local food pantry over a 48-hour period that delivers $10,000 in food during the winter holiday season.

Get HandsOn

HandsOn Network inspires, equips and mobilizes people to take action that changes the world. The network, now the largest in the nation, leads people from impulse to action, turning their ideas for change into impactful projects, like wheelchair ramp construction, watershed protection projects and tutoring programs. The most powerful projects are those that inspire and activate volunteers to be leaders and problem solvers on their own – creating new opportunities to bring others into service.

HandsOn Network is stepping up to the challenge of empowering citizens to help solve some of the most pressing problems of our generation. Points of Light Institute CEO and HandsOn Network Co-founder Michelle Nunn launched Get HandsOn at the National Conference of Volunteering & Service last June.
Through the campaign, HandsOn Network aims to recruit and mobilize a core of 500,000 volunteer leaders and engage people of all generations in two million impact-driven projects. The goals of the campaign are to reduce the dropout rate by leveraging the power of service in every school, reduce the carbon footprint though neighborhood-based conservation and restoration projects; and support economic security for families by facilitating access to resources and dollars.

About Navajo County Drug Project

The Navajo County Drug Project is a coalition of concerned Navajo County residents joined together to educate the community on the substance abuse crisis; rehabilitate those who have fallen into the addiction; and enforce laws pertaining to the spread of substance abuse in county communities. Its mission is to develop a diverse community representation, coordinate a sustained effort in educating and preventing the substance abuse through a plan for change in local social norms through prevention, treatment and vigorous enforcement of existing laws. For more information, visit navajocountydrugproject.com

About HandsOn Network
HandsOn Network, the volunteer-focused arm of Points of Light Institute, is the largest volunteer network in the nation and includes more than 250 HandsOn Action Centers that reach more than 83 percent of the nation’s population and extend to 10 countries. HandsOn includes a powerful network of more than 70,000 corporate, faith and nonprofit organizations that are answering the call to serve and creating scaled impact. In 2008, the network delivered approximately 30 million hours of volunteer service valued at $615 million. For more information, visit handsonnetwork.org.

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