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National Heritage Area unveils new volunteer program

Are you looking to give back to your community? Does your organization need additional help with projects and events?

Appalachian Forest Volunteers (AFV) is a new volunteer management program that can help.

Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area has developed a program to support volunteers wishing to find opportunities in our regions, as well as organizations in need of volunteer support, or to build a stronger volunteer program to grow their capacity to fulfill their mission.

The program offers an online volunteer management platform, the AFV Connector, that is open to any individual or organization in the 18 counties in the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area (AFNHA).

The Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area covers the central Appalachian highlands of West Virginia and western Maryland. Our counties in Western Maryland are Garrett and Allegany. Our counties in the highlands of West Virginia are Preston, Mineral, Hampshire, Morgan, Barbour, Tucker, Hardy, Grant, Pendleton, Upshur, Randolph, Braxton, Webster, Pocahontas, Nicholas, and Greenbrier.

The AFV Connector allows individuals to find volunteer opportunities in our region, learn new skills, support their favorite local organizations, track their time and value, build eligibility for the President’s Volunteer Service Award, and receive regional recognition for their efforts. The AFV program also allows organizations to list needs or projects and recruit volunteers, grants access to a Volunteer Management Handbook to help build and maintain a solid volunteer program, training to better manage their volunteer programs, volunteer recognition resources to help celebrate and retain their volunteers, networking between organizations and volunteers to support resource sharing and planning, a growing library of ready-made forms, templates, and additional volunteer management resources.

 

Register as an agency to submit event listings and recruit volunteers, or register as an individual to follow volunteer opportunities in your area.

Sign up now at https://afnha.galaxydigital.com.

 

Community members are encouraged to participate in National Volunteer Week April 16-22 by showing appreciation for volunteers in your area or joining a volunteer event.

This program was partially funded by a Volunteer Generation Fund grant from Volunteer West Virginia.

To learn more about the work of the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area see www.appalachianforestnha.org or contact [email protected] for more information.

The Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area conserves, interprets, and promotes forest heritage to enhance landscapes and communities in the highlands of West Virginia and Maryland.

AFNHA works with partners to accomplish this through community development, conservation, celebrating cultural heritage, and creating opportunities for transformational experiences.