GAVA News

Elizabeth Rachchh is the newest GAVA Board Member.  She moved with her husband cat and dog from Massachusetts to Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, earlier this year.  Currently her role is the Volunteer Coordinator at the Lewy Body Dementia Association.  While in Massachusetts Elizabeth was the Volunteer and Program Manager for a statewide organization that partnered with homeless shelters for volunteers to go and play with children allowing parents to have a break.  She was there for years before the pandemic and figuring out the changes through COVID.  Elizabeth is looking forward to getting her CVA in 2023 and continue to strengthen professionalism of Volunteer Administrators. 

Mary Jackson has been involved in community volunteer work for over 20 years. Whether it was a brownie leader in a local church or team parent for children’s little league at the parks. She has held office for three years as a secretary at a local Civitan Club. Currently, Mary serves as treasurer at a local senior services center in East Point. She also serves as chairperson for the club newsletter committee at the AARP Cascade Chapter. Mary believes that seniors 55 and up should have a voice in the educational and recreational process. Ms. Jackson enjoys traveling, swimming, and storytelling at community libraries. In her spare time she volunteers as treasurer on the Board, of Friends of Bowden at the Bowden Senior Service Center in East Point.

Join us for GAVA's 2022 Annual Meeting, which includes a presentation by industry leader Kayla Paulsen:

Irresistible Organizations and Supportive Environments: Keeping Volunteers and Attracting Their Friends

We all know that there is no closet of volunteers waiting to connect and serve your organization, but we do have a captive audience with our current volunteers and need to maximize that potential. Together we will explore the assets your organization already has, identify low-hanging fruit for some quick wins, and workshop an approach to help create an even more supportive environment for staff, volunteers, and clients to thrive together!

The event is on October 6, 2022 at from 12pm-3pm and we will have door prizes! This event is free for all attendees! Register here. 

New to Savannah by way of Seattle, Paige Petrangelo relocated late last year for her Marketing & Patron Services role at Savannah Music Festival. While she wears many hats at SMF, volunteer coordination is one of particular interest. With a database of over 400 volunteers to support the annual festival and year-round education programs, Paige seeks to diversify and replenish an aging volunteer community. What she enjoys most about working with SMF volunteers is befriending community members who are passionate about live music. Music has the power to bring so many different kinds of people together, which is especially powerful as our world continues to be rocked by bad news. She plans to foster a like-minded group of volunteers interested in making new friends, supporting the arts, or simply having fun.

In August 2022, the Atlantic Area Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Inc. was honored and awarded the 2022 Established Affiliate of Excellence Award at the Georgia CASA Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlantic Area CASA Inc. is led by Executive Director Petula Dunston-Gomillon who has been a GAVA member since 2019! The GAVA team sends congratulations to Petula and the team at Atlantic Area CASA!

Atlantic Area Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), Inc. was established in 1999 to recruit, train, and supervise passionate adults to advocate for the best interest of children who have been abused and neglected and placed in the foster care system. In the 23 years since then, the Atlantic Area CASA team has continued to do the work of advocacy!

Created in 2012, Volunteer Gwinnett increases awareness about Gwinnett County’s roles and responsibilities, supporting government operations and community nonprofits. 

A team of two full-time staffers, Muriam Nafees and Kelley Uber Sterner, Volunteer Gwinnett collaborates with Volunteer Liaisons within more than fifteen County Administrative and Elected Offices in addition to government subsidies. Muriam Nafees, Department of Community Services’ Collaboration Manager, has programmed Volunteer Gwinnett for the past six years. Muriam enjoys her role which allows her the ability to pair resources with communities. She considers her job interesting as each day is not the same, whether it be meeting with new people or working on a new community-based project. Kelley Uber Sterner works as the Program Coordinator for Volunteer Gwinnett. Kelley programs day-to-day operations and special projects. Kelley has enjoyed the variety of operations as well and considers it a privilege to serve the community. In 2021, Volunteer and considers it a privilege to serve the community. In 2021, Volunteer Gwinnett facilitated 721,133 volunteer participation hours for Gwinnett (link to 2021 annual report), creating an economic impact of over $20 million dollars saved for county residents.

For management platforms, Volunteer Gwinnett uses Constant Contact to publish their quarterly e-newsletter and CERVIS, a webbased volunteer management system. Volunteer Gwinnett service projects range from ongoing opportunities, government internships, to one-time events and more. In 2022, Volunteer Gwinnett expanded to create Gwinnett Serves, which offers even more volunteer opportunities in collaboration with community organizations throughout the county to partner. Volunteer Gwinnett also serves the community weekly through a Mobile Food Distribution Program. You can learn more about Muriam, Kelley and Volunteer Gwinnett by visiting VolunteerGwinnett.net 

Heather Staniszewski was named the Fulton County Customer Service Legend by the Fulton County Government and featured on their LinkedIn site to nearly 10,000 followers!

From their Linked In Post: "Heather is the Volunteer Manager for the Fulton County Library System. Nominator Claudia Strange says that Heather exemplifies a Fulton County Service Legend because of her “positive and friendly attitude, approaching every assignment with enthusiasm and kindness.” Heather is always willing to lend a helping hand to her coworkers and community members alike.

With responsibility for managing hundreds of library volunteers, Heather is “constantly engaged with members of the public and represents the library in such a positive light.” During the COVID-19 response, Heather brought her positive attitude to many special assignments including helping with vaccines and COVID 19 testing assignments, including helping with vaccines and COVID-19 testing, joining the elections team with poll worker assignments, and providing support at library events.

Thank you, Heather, for being the epitome of a team player. We are proud to recognize you as a Customer Service Legend!"

If you or a GAVA Member you know has done something newsworthy, please let us know: programming@mygava.org!