Centre County nonprofit highlights volunteerism in the community

CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A group of Centre County residents is working to bring more awareness to volunteering in the community.

Organizers with Volunteer Centre County have formed a database of volunteer opportunities throughout the area on their website www.volunteercentrecounty.org.

“We were talking about needs in the community and one of the needs, the number one need, was to have a place where people could go to find where they could volunteer or donate goods,” Executive Director Ann Echols said.

Volunteer rates across the country are continuing to go down, with a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey finding numbers dropping 7% between 2019 and 2021.

“If you’re a community partner, a 501c3 that does the majority of its work in Centre County, preferably located in Centre County, you can sign up to post and you get access to our free portal,” Echols said.

On that portal, organizations can manage their local volunteer base and log hours all while sharing news and updates with the community.

Now, you can get this information right at your fingertips, with the organization launching a new app last week.

“Websites are okay if you’re sitting in front of a laptop or a desktop,” Echols said. ” But when you’re on the go, especially when you want to volunteer, if you’re in the grocery store line thinking, ‘Wow, I just want to find out what’s going on,’ you can just access it through your phone.”

Echols said with a flow of people coming into the area each year, she hopes the database will allow short-term residents to jump right into the community.

“We also have a very transient community,” Echols said. “People, students come into Penn State, four years or so later they graduate. They often don’t know all of the wonderful charities we have here. By having them in an easy to find, accessible location, it just makes it easier for everybody to find where they can give back.”