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Volunteer Nation's Latest News

 

Stay in the know with your fellow volunteers and learn about current events happening in the Volunteer Nation

 

    

 

 

 

Volunteer Nation Blog

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Stay in the know with your fellow volunteers, read the latest volunteer spotlight, and learn about current events happening in the Volunteer Nation.


Russell Collins
Russell Collins
Russell Collins's Blog

Building Books for Student Success; Success!

Thank you all! Our annual fundraising goals have been met and in no small part because of your efforts.


BBSS Goal Reached


The final sums are still being tallied and some donations are still coming through, but we can announce that our fundraising goal of $100,000 has been met, and even surpassed. 
Every year our fundraising efforts are an "all-hands" effort. Learning Ally staff and volunteers reach out to friends and family, corporate sponsors, and make our own donations to ensure that we can continue to support students, teachers, and literacy programs of all sorts. This year was especially challenging, with our drive falling at the "end" of a year upset by the COVID crisis but we did not let those stresses and strains hold us back from our goals. 


We can afford to fund the accounts of over 740 Learning Ally families with what we've raised!


Awareness of Learning Ally has grown as well. A fundraising opportunity is not just about money - it's also about sharing our mission. Thanks to volunteers and staff spreading the word of Learning Ally's plans to confront the literacy crisis in America more students, teachers, and parents are aware of our efforts and eager to join them.
Thank you all!


Spotlight on Dyslexia 


Screens depicting different video conferencesThis weekend is one of our Spotlight Learning Series events. Every summer and winter we organize large online seminars for teachers across the country, so that they can learn more about literacy, disability, and new learning methods. This next event focuses on Dyslexia and features seminars and presentations in addition to a virtual meeting space that attendees can use to chat and network. This year we're happy to have Leaning Ally volunteers be a part of the support team. 


Next winter we'll present our Spotlight on Early Literacy event. If you're interested in volunteering to support those efforts then be sure to follow the Volunteer Nation channel on Twist and look for the announcements.


Congratulations Training Center Graduates


Rachel W., Jennifer K., Cynthia E., Cathi DV., Libby B., Alex Z., Nissy C., Louise Patrick Q., Emily R., Jenny Y., Anela L., Whitney D., Kanesha P., Keith B., Riley B., Mark C., Curtis H., Sarah N., John H., Mark C., Amy S., Carolyn W.


A New Way to Support You!

If you've been visiting the volunteer portal, and I'm sure we all do, all the time, you may have seen a change to the Support page! We continue to grow and improve our volunteer support and that means centralizing information and streamlining the process of finding answers and contacting staff for help. To do that, we've implemented a new Knowledge Base and support chat feature for our volunteers.

Knowledge Base Link - Support at the far right of the tab menu.


A Knowledge Base is a collection of articles that can help you with the issues you may encounter as a volunteer. The articles in our knowledge base are broken down into categories you can click on to explore, or you can use the search field at the top to find relevant articles. This knowledge base is not unlike the resources pages you'll find in the training center, the volunteer portal, and in project guides. In fact, many of these articles are taken directly from those sources. 

Knowledge Base Homepage


If the Knowledge Base doesn't answer your question, there's a chat icon at lower right corner. Click to open the chat client and enter your question. Your message will be sent to Learning Ally staff and they'll join you in a chat conversation to provide assistance. We are usually available in the chat from 9am-5pm on weekdays but if your question arises outside that time (or we’re not available), please fill out the form in the chat and we’ll respond soon via email. 


Since we have these new resources we'll be phasing out the vol-support email address. It currently responds by directing you to the new Knowledge Base and support site, but we will shut down that email option at some point. 


We hope you find this system easier to use and please let us know if you think we’re missing  any particular articles. It is a work in progress and can be easily updated. 


April May Be Over…


But there's no reason to stop our volunteer appreciation and recognition efforts. Check out the recording of our volunteer appreciation event for "thank you's" from Learning Ally CEO Andrew Friedman, student users, parents and teachers. And if you watch to the end you might be able to find your name in the list of milestone achievements for the past year. Speaking of milestones, take note of the leaderboard on the Log Hours page. If you want to see your name on that list one day, then check out the examples set by other dedicated volunteers.


Building Books for Student Success Ends Soon


Our annual fundraising event is drawing to a close with the end of May, so this is your last call to get involved with the program. You'll find detailed instructions on how to get involved on the front page of the volunteer portal. Also, if your friends and family made a promise to donate to your campaign page, but haven't quite gotten around to it yet, now's the time to remind them pitch in and help you to help our students.


Congratulations Recent Training Graduates


Kim A., Patricia R-B., Rohan S., Cristal F., Rahim S-A., Eugene K., William B-M., Stephanie S-A., Fariya F., Paula C., Ilana V., Genie H., Danitra G., Emily C., Aditi V., Caroline S., Teri M., Hugo C.,