The Annual Volunteer of the Year Awards honor and recognize the outstanding achievement of individuals, families, civic groups and organizations that make contributions to the community through volunteer service. This year’s event will take place on June 25, 2009, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Click here if you would like to receive an invitation to attend this important event.

 

SAISD Superintendent Dr. Robert Durón (center) recently hosted a luncheon for over 50 parent leaders from six elementary and middle schools serving low-income children. The meeting provides a dialogue between parents, school leaders and United Way volunteers and agencies working to enhance education throughout the district. This year, parents reached out to other parents with over 1,500 home visits to encourage them to re-engage in their children's education.

 




 

Six in 10 children in San Antonio are being cared for by a parent, relative, friend, or neighbor and are not in a child care center or school! To share information and resources, many United Way agencies are hosting Play and Learn groups. The children play together and caregivers exchange experiences. All sessions are FREE.  Click here for more information.

 

United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council recently hosted a Dillard’s Fashion Event and Luncheon.  The 65 philanthropic leaders and donors attending support many important initiatives to enrich the lives of less fortunate women and children in Bexar County.

 




 

Three United Way staff members were recently recognized for celebrating 30-plus years of service to United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County. Congratulations to Mary Damsgaard, vice president 2-1-1 program development (32 years); Joyce Houston, Volunteer Center director, (36 years), and Mary Salazar, vice president MIS and campaign administration (33 years.)  Over 30 years in service to others is an important accomplishment!

 

Over 100 people attended the United Way Financial Capacity Builders’ (FCB’s) Fun and Play event in May at the Edgewood Family Network. The neighborhood-level initiative trains residents as FCB’s who then motivate neighbors to achieve greater financial stability. Those attending the event enjoyed games such as musical chairs, the limbo and a dunking booth.

 


Back to Top


Travelers Insurance Employees Volunteering at San Antonio Botanical Gardens

This year, the Volunteer Center at United Way is celebrating its 20th anniversary of connecting local volunteers with agencies and city-wide initiatives to improve lives in San Antonio and Bexar County.

In 1989, the independent, United Way-funded Volunteer Center merged with United Way’s Community Assistance Division.  For 20 years now, United Way Volunteer Center staff has been dedicated to reaching out to all volunteer groups and organizations, public and private, to promote and enhance the volunteer experience throughout Bexar County.

The Volunteer Center helps to engage volunteers for both United Way and non-United Way agencies, as well as for a myriad of community projects including: the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner, H-E-B Annual Feast of Sharing, Martin Luther King Day, volunteers for disasters (hurricanes, floods, fires), in addition to hundreds of non-profit and civic projects during the year.

The Volunteer Center is widely known for its annual three-day Days of Caring event, organizing over 3,000 volunteers to participate in the largest annual city-wide volunteer event in the county.  Corporate volunteers take time off from their regular work to complete 100 community service projects for San Antonio nonprofit agencies and City parks.

The Volunteer Center also coordinates the annual Volunteer of the Year Awards, San Antonio's single-largest volunteer recognition event honoring individual and group volunteers throughout the area.  Since 1990, more than 3,000 individuals have been honored.

For more information on the Volunteer Center at United Way, please contact Esther Cantu, Volunteer Center Director, at 352-7099, or  visit our website.


"These volunteer opportunities allow us to make a difference.
It is part of a legacy that we leave behind."
Brian Anderson, Harland Clarke

Back to Top
 

Good Samaritan Community Services (GSCS), founded in 1951, is located on the near west side of San Antonio, one of our community’s most impoverished areas.  A thriving full service social service agency, GSCS provides services to over 6,000 low-income individuals and 1,800 families annually—from babies to senior citizens.

 


Lead teacher David (center) has worked at Good Samaritan Community Services for 24 years! “The kids are my calling,” he says. Accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC),  GSCS Child Development Services has a lower child to teacher ratio than most childcare centers and include full-day, after-school and vacation care for over 200 children each year.


Four-year-old Tamara has been in GSCS’s Child Development Services program since she was six weeks old. Good Samaritan’s program was the first in San Antonio to have accredited care for children living in poverty, providing the highest standard of education for low income families. 

 


It’s never too early for computer “classes” at Good Samaritan Community Services.

 


GSCS Youth Development Services include GED preparation classes, college preparation, life skills classes, health education, and a variety of after school and summer activities. All youth programs are designed to stabilize families, establish nurturing relationships and foster self-sufficiency.

 


Efren gets into the “swing” of things and happily gives visitors’ tours of Good Samaritan Community Services environmental playground.

 


Practicing “Hot Cross Buns,” nearly 50 budding musicians are learning cello, viola and violin, along with confidence, discipline and a sense of pride. Classes are offered free of charge at GSCS, the pilot site for the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio's Music Learning Centers.

 



 

In Family Development Services, GSCS offers families immediate assistance, case management, counseling, crisis intervention and classes on parenting, financial literacy and home buying.  Senior activities include health and nutrition, dance therapy, Tai Chi, walking groups and arts and crafts in the first senior center in San Antonio accredited by the National Institutes of Senior Centers (NISC).

For more information on Good Samaritan Community Services, a United Way partner agency, please visit www.goodsamaritancommunityservices.org

 

 

In the early 90’s San Antonio was known as the “capitol” of gang activity and drive by shootings in Texas.  Gangs, drugs, crime, and other unimaginable conditions were the driving force in creating Youth Against Gang Activity (YAGA), the first teen-led initiative in the State of Texas and a program of Family Service Association.

Expanded from its Eastside roots, the teen volunteers now serve the entire city.  In 2008, approximately 1,000 volunteers between the ages of 14-18 provided over 22,000 hours of volunteer work in the community.  This dedication won the group the Mayor’s Youth Award at United Way’s Volunteer of the Year Awards last year.

Armed with smiles, compassion and willing hearts, YAGA volunteers serve as homework tutors; TAKS test cheerleaders; and anti-smoking, drug and violence educators.  They remove graffiti, bond with nursing home residents, and deliver holiday meals.  “Stay in school” messages are also part of their work.

YAGA volunteers are armed with smiles, compassion and willing hearts.

YAGA volunteers are filled with optimism, energy, and a youthful, positive attitude that is changing our community one event at a time.  For more information on YAGA, please visit www.family-service.org/yaga.htm

If you would like to attend the 2009 Volunteer of the Year Awards, featuring hundreds of local volunteers and emcee Rick Cavendar, please click here for an invitation.

 
Back to Top
Privacy Policy Subscribe to this newsletter

 

 

hits counter