Make a difference with volunteer opporunities in Sunrise/Whitney

Nevada ranked 50th in the percentage of residents who volunteer, according to data accumulated from 2008-10 by volunteeringinamerica.gov. Broken down, it amounts to about 20.9 percent of Nevadans reaching their hand out to help another.

Saturday is Make a Difference Day, a national day of good deeds and goodwill, and the perfect opportunity for Southern Nevada residents to turn the tide and rise up from last place. Events are planned around the valley. To find one near you or to register an event, visit makeadifferenceday.com.

Teen Volunteers

When Hektor Esparza started the Winchester Skate Team in 2006, he built teen volunteerism into the program from the beginning, not just on Make a Difference Day, but year-round .

"They sign up for a year, and at the end of that year they'll have volunteered for six to eight events," Esparza said. "They'll have met people they might not have met otherwise, people from different income levels, people much older than them from the arts community, from the nonprofit community. It's enriching for both them and the community."

Esparza works for the county as a skate program leader. The team is a youth group of 12 skateboarders who practice at and are sponsored by the Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive. When they aren't participating in volunteer work, they spend time competing in tournaments and practicing.

Esparza said that when he started the program, he had noticed many kids who were nearly homeless or from single-parent households in need of guidance. He felt the program could make a difference.

"Volunteerism is important for the kids because it shows them that through their efforts they can make our community a better place to live," Esparza said. "It benefits them because it expands their world view. They wouldn't get exposed to some of the cultural activities we do for our volunteer efforts."

Among the events the team volunteered at are shows at the Winchester Cultural Center, plant sales at the Springs Preserve, canned food drives, pet food drives and working with the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.

Esparza has been proud to watch his skaters move on and carry volunteerism with them.

"A lot of them still volunteer, especially the ones who go to college," he said. "Some of them are even working at other community centers now, organizing volunteer efforts. I'm working with one who's starting a skate team at another center."

Green volunteers

The Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee assembles volunteers on a much larger scale.

"Our big events are in the spring and fall when we have our Green Ups," said Nick Rice, an environmental biologist with the Southern Nevada Water Authority who works with the committee. "We bring in a large amount of volunteers and plant plants."

On Oct. 8, 544 volunteers participated in the Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee's Fall Green Up at the Clark County Wetlands Park at 7050 Wetlands Park Lane near the end of Tropicana Avenue.

"In about two hours the group revegitated over 7 acres," said Bronson Mack, the committee's public information coordinator . "They plant 3,500 plants."

Mack said that although they had a few cancellations, other organizations showed up with greater numbers than planned.

"The response from the community is always so positive," Mack said. "We had plenty for them to do. I think we get a lot of the same volunteers every year, so there are a lot of people who know the gig and really know what they're doing out there, so they cut through the site quickly."

The group has a few events scheduled for this spring without definite dates. In early February members plan to put on a volunteer event around the date of World Wetlands Day, and the next Green Up, which will be the group's 20th, is planned for mid-March.

"If people want to put their name and their information into our volunteer database, we'll let them know when the next volunteer opportunity is coming up," Mack said. "Just sign up on our website at lvwash.org, and you can find out a lot about the wash there as well."

Wetlands has a waiting list

Although the Las Vegas Wash Coordination Committee does much of its work at the Clark County Wetlands Park, the park itself is one of the few organizations that actually has a waiting list for volunteers.

"It's a popular place to volunteer," said Pam Radke, program assistant for the park. "We have about 50 volunteers, which is plenty at the moment. But we will need more when the new visitors center opens, probably in the late spring."

Evergreen volunteer opportunities

For individuals and groups looking for evergreen volunteer opportunities, two of the largest places in constant need of volunteers are the Three Square food bank at 4190 N. Pecos Road and Vegas PBS at 3050 E. Flamingo Road. Three Square is always seeking volunteers for diverse activities, including sorting and repacking food to be distributed to nonprofit groups valleywide, helping out at special events and assembling backpacks full of food to get children who qualify for free school lunch through the weekend. Vegas PBS is seeking volunteer docents for its new green public television facility.

For more information and volunteer opportunities, visit threesquare.org or klvx.org.

Contact Sunrise/Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.