Volunteer, And Youth Programs

Introduction

According to Grossman and Furano (1999), each year Americans volunteer more than twenty billion hours of their time for a greater cause. Volunteers are the lifeblood of many organizations and programs, and those offered by parks and recreation agencies are no exception. Volunteers “play a vital role in providing a healthy, enjoyable, and developmentally appropriate youth…experience for children” (Wiersma & Sherman, 2005, p. 337). It is critical for managers to know how to recruit, train, supervise, evaluate, retain, and reward the people who sacrifice their time and efforts for the betterment of the community through youth programming. “Many [organizations] do not utilize volunteers as well as they could, and are reluctant to invest time and resource in improving their volunteer program” (Choudhury, 2010). This paper will address the relationship between park and recreation managers, volunteers, and youth program participants in order to create positive experiences for all involved.

Summary

There are a variety of youth programs that rely on volunteers, including sports leagues, field trips, special events, camps, and classes. Parks and recreation agencies should consider using volunteers for programs such as these, as volunteers can provide special skills, experiences, and connections, frees up staff time and resources, bring unique viewpoints, ideas, and feedback to the table, can help the agency extend its services, and offer a way for the community to get involved in the organization’s programming (Guide, 2011). Just as there are benefits to using volunteers in youth programs, there are also difficulties that arise. Recruiting suitable volunteers and letting go of unsuitable volunteers can be a tough and lengthy pr...

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... and expectations that need to be met with a positive experience. “Just as [volunteers in youth programs] accept a large responsibility in ensuring [a positive] experience for children, the [organizations] in which they serve have an equally important responsibility in ensuring that [volunteers] are prepared and able to do so” (Wiersma & Sherman, 2005, p. 337). Recreation agencies also have a large responsibility to ensuring a child’s safety and wellbeing and this can be achieved through successful volunteer management. Traditionally seen as “free labor,” managers need to recognize the required effort of leading volunteers. Recruitment, selection, training, supervision, evaluation, retention, and reward are essential processes when deciding to utilize volunteers and certain steps, such as selection and training, are especially important in the youth program setting.