Cabinet secretaries, agency heads and other state employees will dedicate hundreds of volunteer hours this week as part of Governor Roy Cooper’s call to support National Volunteer Week activities across the state.
“I encourage all North Carolinians to get involved with an organization that helps members of their community live healthier, more engaged lives,” said Governor Cooper, who declared April 15-21 as National Volunteer Week in North Carolina. “Whether assisting survivors of natural disasters, providing meals to the hungry or mentoring someone who deserves a chance to achieve success, volunteers make a difference with every hour they serve.”
The Governor reminds state employees that they are eligible to use Community Service Leave to cover supervisor-approved time during the traditional work day that is spent volunteering at a nonprofit organization.
Governor's Office staff will join the NC Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service for a group volunteer activity from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Salvation Army Warehouse, 205 Tryon Road, Raleigh. Volunteers will be organizing and sorting donated goods.
Other volunteer activities taking place this week include:
- Administration Secretary Machelle Sanders will volunteer with the Week of the Young Child program and read to preschoolers at 10 a.m. Thursday at Land of Learning Child Care Inc., 3424 Airport Blvd., Wilson.
- Department of Commerce senior staff will volunteer to organize and stage donations at the Green Chair Project in Raleigh from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday. The nonprofit that provides home furnishings donated from the community for families and individuals who have transitioned from experiencing homelessness or disasters and have secured sustainable housing.
- Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Susi Hamilton will read to preschoolers at Childcare Network, 158 Flint Drive, Wilmington, at 10 a.m. Thursday.
- Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan will read a book about water conservation at 9 a.m. Friday to pre-kindergarten students at Long Mill Elementary, 1753 Long Mill Road, Youngsville.
- Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen will deliver meals to senior citizens through Meals on Wheels at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in Raleigh.
- Information Technology Secretary Eric Boyette will participate in a trail clean-up at Clark Park Nature Center, 631 Sherman Drive, Fayetteville, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesday. He also will read to pre-K students at 10 a.m. Thursday at Selma Elementary, 311 W. Richardson St., Selma.
- Military and Veterans Affairs Secretary Larry Hall will thank schoolchildren Thursday for writing letters to veterans as part of a volunteer week project at Fuller GT/AIG Magnet Elementary School, 806 Calloway Drive, Raleigh. He will deliver them at 11 a.m. Monday to residents of the State Veterans Home, 62 Lake Eden Road, Black Mountain.
- Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks and members of the Department of Public Safety leadership team will join NC Baptists on Mission to help with clean up and repairs from this week’s tornado in Guilford County on Thursday.
- Department of Transportation staff members will conduct a litter clean up along Hillsborough Street between Meredith College and Blue Ridge Road on Friday afternoon.
- Members of the Office of State Human Resources will volunteer Wednesday and Thursday to a catalogue a large library of books at the City of Oaks Foundation’s Joslin House, 2431 West Lake Drive, Raleigh. OSHR Director Barbara Gibson will join coworkers there 1-3 p.m. Thursday. At 9 a.m. Thursday, she will read to preschoolers at ABC Land II, 55 Liles Dean Road, Wendell.
“These commitments exemplify the best in our employees, and they serve to strengthen our communities,” Gov. Cooper said. “I can tell you from personal experience that volunteering once makes you want to volunteer again and again. I urge all North Carolinians to look for opportunities to give back, and to invite your friends and family to do the same.”
Information on volunteer opportunities is available through the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, an agency within the Office of the Governor that promotes community service and volunteering as a means of problem solving across North Carolina.
National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 by way of a Presidential Proclamation signed by President Richard Nixon. The Proclamation sought to acknowledge and promote the value of community service across the country. National Volunteer Week has been federally celebrated each year since then, as well as through many state and local offices across the country.
For more information on National Volunteer Week events and activities in North Carolina, visit volunteernc.org.