I am the Executive Director of Volunteer Coordinators' Council located in Kansas City, MO. While I was shocked by the circumstances surrounding AVA's demise, I was not surprised. VCC was an affiliated network of AVA for a number of years. During that time, I observed little tangible benefit from AVA that supported our local issues and efforts.

It's my humble opinion that whatever national organization rises from the ashes of AVA must be built from the local level up. If our membership is representative of the budgetary challenges facing volunteer managers across the nation (and I believe it is), the vast majority do not have the financial resources to maintain multiple memberships or attend national conferences held in faraway destinations. It makes more sense to me that we start at a regional level where we can make training and resource sharing more accessible to more volunteer managers and create an umbrella national parent whose purpose is to support the real work being done at the local and regional levels.

On behalf of Volunteer Coordinators' Council, I offer whatever assistance we can provide in the formation of a new national organization. I would also ask anyone interested in exploring the potential of a Midwest regional organization to contact me.

Carole Damon
Executive Director
Volunteer Coordinators' Council
Kansas City, MO
Ph: 816-868-9300
Fax: 816-767-0194
Email: vccmetro@crn.org

I agree that it is very difficult to maintain a number of professional affiliations... Many of the volunteer coordinators I encounter everyday through my volunteer center's activities or through our local professional organization do not have the level of support necessary from their organizations to attend national conferences. They are, in fact, lucky to even be employed as a full-time volunteer coordinator.

However a new organization is restructured nationally, I agree that there should be a stronger focus on regional activities and programming that makes sense for managers of volunteers from ALL budgets. The benefits of participating in such an organization need to be real and tangible as well, something I never felt through my affiliation with AVA in previous experiences. Show me the actual benefits of involvement and I'm in.

Professional Credentials: Community Volunteer Liaison, United Way of the Greater Dayton Area