Health and social service organizations rely on dedicated volunteers to work side-by-side with their staff to support their services. They work, not for a paycheck, but for the joy and satisfaction of helping others. The time of day or time of year makes no difference; they just want to serve. Volunteers provide meaningful services in Greater Cleveland every day:
- Serving meals to the unhoused
- Tutoring children who are struggling to keep up
- Visiting with seniors who are homebound
- Providing hospice care
- Offering free legal or financial counsel
- Answering phones and handling back-office paperwork
Celebrating volunteers for 37 years
Every year since 1985, Community Solutions has invited nominations for the Most Treasured Volunteer Award. This year, nominations will be accepted until June 16; forms and instructions are available here.
This year, nominations will be accepted until June 16!
Volunteers come in all sizes, ages, genders, races, sexual orientations and socio-economic situations. The thing they share is their desire to help others. Comments from last year’s winners:
Mark Brandt, Kids That Tri, Parker Hannifin YMCA
We just completed our first year of working with the kids…and I’m very honored to receive this award. There’s a shortage of volunteers across the board and if you can step up and be a volunteer and help out an organization where you feel a passion for helping that organization, you’re doing a great service to the organization. When you give to others, it makes them happy and it makes you happy.
Ed Rounds, Seeds of Literacy
What I enjoy most about the volunteering that I do is the people. Everybody who is at Seeds, and in particular the students, is there because they want to be there. They’re all motivated by various things, but most often by wanting to improve their lives. And being around people with that sort of motivation is a very good thing for me. There are upwards of 100 tutors at Seeds of Literacy, and each of them could be standing here where I’m standing, and I’m thankful.
You have to love the people to serve the people.
Toni Johnson, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless
You have to love the people to serve the people. I appreciate my dear friends who got together and wrote this Most Treasured Volunteer letter on my behalf. Thank you, everyone that was involved, everyone that I’ve touched, that has touched my life over the years of volunteering, all the great people, all the wonderful memories, just being able to be in that space and sharing it with you all.
Bob Simoneau, Cuyahoga EITC Coalition
It feels great…people came to do get their taxes done and, and if we can do it for them successfully, and we usually can, almost always can. So they go away satisfied. They trust us. I enjoy the people I work with, they’re tremendous. And I also enjoy the people we serve. They are very interesting people.
To be honored like this is truly humbling for me. And I’m very, very appreciative.
Terry Round, Greater Cleveland Food Bank
I’m truly humbled that the people at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank saw fit to nominate me for this Award, and The Center for Community Solutions is an organization which I value greatly. It’s so important that nonprofits work in ways that are supported by research and by knowledge. To be honored like this is truly humbling for me. And I’m very, very appreciative.
Nominate for the Most Treasured Volunteer Award
Who do you know who is a Most Treasured Volunteer? Please take a moment, think about what they do, and nominate them so that others will know about them too.
Nominations will be accepted until June 16: nominate here.