Published November 2005

Caring for community
Whether it’s food and shelter or child-care help,
Volunteers of America works to meet the need

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

When Randy Lyman, president of Randy’s Ring & Pinion Service in Everett, wanted to focus his company’s community service donations where he thought they would do the most good, he chose the Volunteers of America of Western Washington, headquartered in Everett, for a 2004 Public Service Award of $100,000. He followed up with a 2005 award for VOA, too, adding $35,000 to his company’s earlier donation.

But those weren’t typical corporate contributions. Lyman, who spends much of his time in community service, recognized the value of publicity and marketing for community service organizations such as VOA to help maintain a steady flow of contributions and to attract needed volunteers.

The 2004 donation was specifically for developing marketing materials, a luxury few nonprofits have an opportunity to enjoy. No contributions for any of the agency’s 22 programs for communities in eight Western Washington counties were siphoned off for the marketing venture.

“This was a perfect example of how businesses can help in their community. Randy wanted to help; he built in accountability in the program and invested $100,000 that attracted another $350,000 worth of in-kind marketing help from nearly 30 local corporations and media outlets,” said VOA President and CEO Tom Robinson.

“Randy understands the importance of branding and that a nonprofit organization has to be well known to get and maintain the support they need for their programs.”

Among the businesses that volunteered to help VOA in developing its marketing plans, media messages and strategies were American Construction, Frontier Bank, Boeing, BETS Consultants, Eagle Post Productions, BMH Marketing, Northsound 1380 (KRKO) radio and several King County radio and television stations.

Operating with a $20 million annual budget and a staff of 400, plus hundreds of volunteers, the Christian faith-based organization provides its programs for eight counties — from Whatcom to Pierce — through 15 offices in Snohomish, Skagit and King counties. Its comprehensive network of programs evolved out of the unmet needs in these areas.

In Snohomish County, services include 24-hour crisis intervention, the 211 Community Information Line, a dispute resolution center, countywide food distribution, emergency and housing programs, preschool services, child-care resources and referrals, mentoring, literacy programs and a summer camp for youth.

There’s also residential support and recreation for adults with developmental disabilities, an east county family support center and WRAP!, a school-age care program.

“Community needs are higher than ever before, and are particularly evident in the 40 percent increase in the demand for basic need services,” said Robinson, who recently celebrated 25 years with the agency. “In the 1960s, basic needs didn’t include something like child care. But today, if a single parent doesn’t have safe, affordable child care, it’s hard for them to be employed.”

He said the agency works in partnership with many other agencies, including United Way, with churches, and with local and state governments to help provide services to needy people.

“When the community takes ownership, as it has in Snohomish County, we are able to work with others to maximize resources beyond what we could do alone,” Robinson said.

All of the VOA’s programs are focused on the national group’s goals of promoting “support and self-sufficiency for those who are hungry, homeless or in personal crisis; caring for seniors and those with disabilities as well as fostering their independence, and supporting positive development and direction for children and youth.”

Support for VOA’s work includes more than 60,000 hours of service from more than 300 individuals and group volunteers each year, with financial support provided by government fees and grants (50 percent), individual and corporate contributions of cash and in-kind services (31 percent), thrift store and salvage sales (12 percent), United Way (4 percent) and service fees for VOA programs (3 percent).

Eighty-seven percent of the VOA’s spending goes to direct services for people in need of help from the agency’s 22 service programs in Western Washington, with only 13 percent spent on administration and fund-raising efforts.

VOA was founded 109 years ago, in 1896, in the belief that the way to eradicate poverty was to enlist the energy and generosity of its members, whom they called God’s American Volunteers, a name that later became the Volunteers of America.

The Everett VOA office opened in 1915 as an extension of the Seattle office, a testiment today to the early vision of the need to create a responsive, collaborative, locally based solution to critical human needs.

For more information, contact Volunteers of America at 877-YOU-N-VOA (877-968-6862) or visit www.voaww.org on the Internet.

The Everett headquarters for VOA, at 2802 N. Broadway, can be reached at 425-259-3191.

Related: With 211, community help is just phone call away

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