One hour. One day. One dollar. One lifetime.

Delaware Governor: Jack Markell

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Written on: April 19th, 2010 in Guest Posts Helping Our Neighbors

Guest post by First Lady Carla Markell

This week, we are building on last year’s Weekend of Service and the ongoing efforts of https://volunteer.delaware.gov to hold Delaware’s first annual Week of Service.

There are so many needs and so many ways to help – I hope you’ll join me to help our fellow citizens of the State of Neighbors.

The people of our state show their generosity of time, money, and spirit every day. Neighbors see a need, so they fill it. Mentoring a child, collecting food, cleaning up local parks, painting buildings, planting flowers – there are many opportunities. Every person can make a difference in the life of others and their community.

How can you volunteer?

Go to https://volunteer.delaware.gov/ and search through the projects that area non-profits have posted. Enter the keywords “Week of Service” for opportunities in your community. Find something that stirs your passions and sign up!
Challenge others to volunteer their time. Start a fun contest to see which family or group of friends can volunteer the most time and celebrate your successes.
Be sure to log your time on the site. It is helpful to measure our contributions.
Attend one of the fairs being hosted at a local library in each county in Delaware on April 24^th. Get details at https://volunteer.delaware.gov.
Thank one or more of the non-profits that you think are doing good work. The people who work there oftentimes do so because they care, but thanking them will make both of you feel good.
Stay involved. The Delaware Week of Service lasts just seven days, but the need lasts all year. Commit yourself to ongoing service. It does not matter if you have one hour a week or ten. What matters is that you care enough to be involved.

How can you help online?

We need your help to spread awareness of volunteering, as well as the issues on which our local nonprofits are working. Here’s what you can do:

Submit your volunteer photos / videos to our Flickr group. If you have photos that show volunteer activities from the past or from this week, please share them. Be sure to include information about the organization and the activity. Please follow the group directions for posting, and if you have any questions, please email felicia.pullam@delaware.gov.
Each day, we’ll choose five great photos from Flickr to feature on the Governor’s Facebook page. Please visit the Facebook page to “like” the photos you like. This will raise the profile of the photos on Facebook walls across Delaware, helping to increase awareness. The more “likes” and discussion we get, the more interesting it will be for everyone.
Please spread the word and share your experiences during the Week of Service on Facebook and Twitter. On Twitter, you may want to use the hashtag #NetDE to reach many community-minded Delawareans. Also, keep an eye out for Jack’s tweets on service.

Results so far?

Since our weekend of service last year, more than 3,000 Delawareans have logged more than 250,000 hours of volunteer time. 70 new organizations have registered. Web traffic has increased almost 500%. It’s a remarkable accomplishment.

This year, we want to do more. Will you join us?

Please enjoy this video created last year by The Delaware Film Company. It’s a great example of the volunteer use of their creative professional skills.