As the Christmas season ends and New Year approaches, one thing you need not give up is the seasonal spirit of giving, said the nation's voluntary organisations.This does not mean you have to dig into your pocket, but instead you could give up some of your time and get involved physically - volunteer yourself.
IN CONSTANT NEED
"The CVSS (Council of Voluntary Social Services) organisations are in constant need on many different levels," said Joan McDonald, project coordinator of the National Registry of Volunteers (NRV), a part of the CVSS. Most needed, said Ms. McDonald, are volunteers with accounting skills.
"There is a lot of painstaking work to be done by organisations as they have to present their finances in the first quarter of 2006. And of course Christmas is a demanding time and the books have to be balanced," she said.
AIMS OF THE NATIONAL REGISTRY OF VOLUNTEERS
The National Registry of Volunteers (NRV) aims to match interested volunteers with organisations in need of extra pairs of hands. You can indicate specific skills, interests and using the database, either yourself or a voluntary organisation can seek each other out.
Close to 5,000 people and 200 voluntary organisations have signed up with the NRV, a subsidiary of the Council of Voluntary Social Services.
The registry aims to:
Register all people giving voluntary service.List voluntary organisations to enable greater networking and facilitate better access to persons wanting to volunteer.Increase the size of the volunteer corps, particularly among youths and retirees.Enable the listing and valuation of service hours contributed by volunteers towards the gross national product.To recognise the volunteers.To match volunteers with a voluntary group, with tasks specific to them.The CVSS has a second project targeting the voluntary/non-governmental groups themselves. The Institutional Strengthening Project is sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank.
The project aims to enable voluntary groups to operate more efficiently and effectively through:
Capacity building.Structured training.A resource centre providing networking and access to services:Applications for the NRV and the Institutional Strengthening Project can be requested and/or obtained from the CVSS at:
Address: 122-126 Tower Street, Kingston
Phone: 922-9365/6, 922-9424-6
Fax: 922-5433
Email: nrv@cvssjamaica.org
Website: www.cvssjamaica.org
