“We want to make sure the community is aware of the important and impactful opportunity to serve as mentors to kids in Butler County,” she said. “It really is a meaningful and easy service opportunity in that our mentors only give two to four hours a month to mentoring a child, and it makes a world of difference in the life of that child.”
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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Butler County is one of 17 service organizations that will be at this weekend’s community volunteer fair hosted by LoveWorks, the Fairfield Lane Library and OhioMeansJobs-Butler County.
The Fairfield Lane Library hosted the annual community volunteer fair last year, but parking and space inside the library limited the number of participating organizations and community members, said Valerie Simmons, Fairfield Lane Library branch manager and a LoveWorks primary member. This year they brought in partners.
“This year we thought it would be a good idea to combine LoveWorks and the library’s efforts at the volunteer fair because the missions are really so similar,” said Simmons. “LoveWorks looks at spreading kindness forward, encouraging people to give the gift of time and care through volunteering, and the library of connecting people with information and opportunity and to make our communities stronger. So we decided to partner up this year and to make it a bigger, better event.”
The partnership with OhioMeansJobs-Butler County, 4631 Dixie Highway in Fairfield, allows the fair to nearly double in size.
“I look at it kind of like a meet-and-greet where people who are looking for volunteer activities in a room full of people who make use of volunteers, and then just matching up for the opportunity that’s right for you,” said Simmons. “There are so many cool things going on in the community”
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Making the OhioMeanJobs building available for the volunteer fair is an extension of a partnership between the county’s Job and Family Services and the Lane Library system, said Bill Morrison, Butler County JFS executive director.
Some of the organizations seeking volunteers, like the Fairfield Food Pantry and Hope’s Closet, also support some of the same people JFS assists, and Morrison said any “community connections are essential to our overall mission.”
“A lot of our work is about extending ourselves out of our building and into the community,” he said. “We try to do more and more outreach into the community because when (our system) works well we should be a hub of upward mobility for people in our community.”
Community Volunteer Fair
When: 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: OhioMeansJobs-Butler County, 4631 Dixie Highway, Fairfield
What: Volunteer opportunities with local nonprofit organizations
Who: A partnership between LoveWorks, Fairfield Lane Library and OhioMeansJobs-Butler County
More info: Contact Fairfield Lane Library, 513-858-3238
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