The spirit of volunteerism is clearly evident in Fontana. Everywhere we have citizens lending their time and resources to the community. Civic leaders sit on boards that help guide the future of the community while others are active participants helping to keep the community safe through the Fontana Police Department’s Citizen Volunteer group. Additionally, monthly park cleanups average 100 to 200 volunteers for each event. On Thursday, March 27 the City of Fontana Community Services Department honored those who have served its programs in the last year.

Volunteers perform various duties for the Community Services Department. In March, volunteers were recognized by the Jack Bulik Teen Center, Art Depot, KFON, sports programs, Josephine Knopf Senior Center, and Special Events for communitywide programming such as the monthly Cruise Night on Sierra Avenue and Spring Street.

At KFON, an expanding program and the purchase of more advanced technology has meant finding alternatives instead of hiring full time staff to meet script writing and show needs. The result has been Pepper Parker, an outgoing young woman with a lot of personality who features as a reporter and voice over talent in many shows. One of her recurring roles is as reporter for the monthly Focus on Fontana Spotlight Show.

“Pepper is a great addition to our department,” says Anthony Sarinana KFON program coordinator, “Her enthusiasm to tackle any project goes above and beyond what a volunteer normally does. She is always looking for a story or project to cover.”

Most of the athletic coaches leading teams for the youth sports programs are volunteers. Before they start, the coaches go through an extensive training period in which they are familiarized with the standards set forth by the Positive Coaching Alliance program which has been created to connect the coaches to the parents. They are trained to be exemplary role models to the athletes. The program has been so successful it was proclaimed the “Connector of the Year” in 2005 and is one community program that exemplifies why Fontana was recently named one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People by America’s Promise Alliance.

“Without good volunteers,” says Rob Bock, community services supervisor “we don’t have a program. The volunteers are the backbone of the program. Good, solid, dependable volunteers and parents make it a success.”

Volunteers at the Knopf Senior Center assist with serving daily lunches and helping where asked at events, clean ups, and more.

“I volunteer wherever help is needed,” explains Yong Paez who has been volunteering at Knopf for three and a half years. “I volunteer almost every day for a few hours. I help in the kitchen or I help to serve food. I love volunteering at the Senior Center.”

With a new 43,000 square foot Senior Center slated for 2009, the dedicated volunteers will help ease the transition for the staff and patrons.

“The Senior Center could not operate without the wonderful senior volunteers,” says Bill Brantley, Josephine Knopf Senior Center coordinator adding, “Our senior volunteers make it much easier for staff to perform the tasks behind the scenes that allow the high quality programming expected by the visiting guests.”

Volunteers offer something more than just staff relief. At the senior center, Sophia Assuma has been volunteering three to four days every week for the past four years. She wants to provide a little social outreach to the older visitors, especially those who have suffered from a stroke or Alzheimer’s.

“I get real enjoyment out of making them happy,” says Assuma of the patrons. She adds, “I like to give them encouragement and make them feel good by anticipating their needs. I give hi-fives to some and simply pay attention to others and that makes them feel good. Laughter is the whole thing.”

Volunteers not only provide additional hands and help where it is often desperately needed, the money saved from not using paid staff can actually be translated into an estimated dollar figure. The Independent Sector, www.independentsector.org, is a favorite site utilized by nonprofits when filing grant applications or annual reports.

The last reported volunteer value from Independent Sector for hourly non-supervisory volunteer services were averaged at $18.77 per hour. Based on this figure the 11,000 hours of work by Community Services volunteers saved the Fontana taxpayer $206,470.

“Volunteers are incredible resources for our organization,” says Ken Herron, community services director adding, “Their services help staff to maintain the high level of expertise that we expect in our quality programming. The Volunteer Recognition Dinner is our way of saying thank you on behalf of the department and city for the innumerable ways in which our programs benefit from volunteer assistance.”

To find out more, or to volunteer with the Community Services Department, please call (909) 428-8360. Interested individuals are also encouraged to contact program coordinators directly to find out more about their volunteer opportunities.