FAQs
About the Virtual Volunteering Project
mid western states
Includes national organizations that are based in this region.
If you would like your agency to be included in this listing, please complete our online survey.
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Allen County Public Library
http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/
This library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana has involved several online volunteers with Web-related projects, and was one of the first agencies to provide information to the Virtual Volunteering Project in early 1997; that feedback has been incorporated into materials on our site.
GriefNet
http://griefnet.org/
A national service operated by the nonprofit Rivendell Resources in Ann Arbor, Michigan, GriefNet consists of more than 30 email support groups to provide support to people working through loss and grief issues of all kinds. The groups are managed by online volunteers.
Haskell University / Santa Clara Day School E-Mail Mentoring Project
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, this project focused on bringing together Native American elementary-school kids in Espanola, New Mexico with college students attending Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, via the Internet. The class chatted once a week with Haskell education majors studying mulit-media technology in the classroom. Initial exchanges involved informal talks about musical tastes, favorite hobbies, etc. Later, the class worked with Haskell mentors on collaborative projects. The project was part of on integrating Native American culture and technology ">4Directions, which focuses on integrating Native American culture and technology .
Native Academy
Middle and high school Native American students are receiving help in math and science from online mentors, according to the article "Web-based volunteering new way to help out" by the Philanthropy Journal. In this article, school director Graham Hartley said most of their online volunteers have been solicited by word of mouth through the local community. The academy is part of Migizi Communications of Minnesota, a nonprofit providing services to the American Indian community.
Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections
http://www.iecc.org
IECC is a free service linking teachers with partners in other countries and cultures for e-mail classroom pen-pal and project exchanges. It is based at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. At last count, more than 7650 teachers in 82 countries were participating in one or more of the IECC partnerships. IECC e-mail-based discussion groups include IECC-HE, for teachers seeking partner classrooms for international and cross-cultural e-mail exchanges with institutions of higher education; IECC-INTERGEN, for teachers and volunteers over 50 years of age seeking partners for intergenerational e-mail exchanges; IECC-PROJECTS, for teachers to announce or request help with specific classroom projects that involve e-mail, internationally or cross-culturally; IECC-SURVEYS, for students and teachers to post requests for assistance on projects, surveys, and questionaires; and IECC-DISCUSSION, about the applications and implications of intercultural e-mail classroom connections. IECC also provides a page of links to Other International E-Mail Classroom Connection Projects.
National Lekotek Center
http://www.lekotek.org
and http://www.meaf.org/lekotek.html
The Center sponsors Compuplay Summer Camp and CompuClub each year, providing computer instruction to children with and without disabilities in a recreational setting. The camp included a "virtual volunteers" program, where volunteers served as online "wizards", answering children's messages about computers and technology.
OASIS Institute
http://www.oasisnet.org
Based in St. Louis, Missouri, this national nonprofit organization works to enrich the lives of mature adults. Its Internet Mentoring Program matches older adult volunteers with middle school students. Mentors and students exchange weekly e-mail messages on topics pre-determined by OASIS and the school. The project provides reading and writing opportunities for the students, and a chance to sharpen technology skills and gain support from a caring adult role model. Another benefit is that the program reaches schools where OASIS volunteers cannot travel each week. Individual schools screen the online volunteers according to their district policies (many of the volunteers already volunteer onsite at the schools and have been previously screened). OASIS also provides an online message board to foster communication among online volunteers and staff. The key to their online mentoring program success: "We've always believed in training -- or at least clear guidelines for each volunteer role -- and this is also important for the online volunteers. Also, clearly define the volunteer role and time commitment. They need to understand how much the organization is counting on them. Have written guidelines for staff who will be involved so they understand the goals of the project and how it will benefit the organization. And be patient. Technology has its pitfalls and glitches that need to be worked out."
Twangfest
http://www.twangfest.org
The volunteer board of directors of this nonprofit, born out of an annual music festival in St. Louis, Missouri and an online community known as Postcard2, uses the Internet to research grants, to outreach to potential donors and current supporters, to market their festival to audience members and potential performers, to communicate with other volunteers and coordinate activities, and to discuss various issues and activities before its face-to-face board meetings and votes. The board members, volunteers and other supporters are scattered throughout the United States. Read more about this online community and learn about the intricacies of working together via the Internet here on our web site.
Youth Trust e-Mentoring
http://www.youthtrust.org
This nonprofit brings together schools, employers and community resources in Minneapolis, Minnesota to help youth develop marketable skills. Youth Trust's activities include setting up e-mentoring programs between businesses and Minneapolis public schools, such as the Cargill, Inc. and Olson Middle School E-mail Mentoring Program. Youth Trust first piloted its e-Mentoring model
in 1995 with Norstan Communications and Franklin Middle School in North Minneapolis. More than 1700 students participated in Youth Trust e-Mentoring programs in 2000. Youth Trust helps recruit business and school partners for e-mentoring programs, then the key contact at each business and school takes over in screening (including background checks) and matching online mentors to students, setting and communicating activities for the program, and so forth. Mentors and students send weekly e-mail messages, which are guided by curriculum and the teacher. Each school year there are several face-to-face meetings between e-mentors and students. Volunteers go through a one-hour onsite orientation and training that outlines the policies of the e-mentoring. Kate Hopper at Youth Trusts advises online mentors: "Be patient and know that you are making a difference. It's sometimes hard for people who aren't able to see the student. They don't understand the impact they are actually having."
