Volunteer

COSTA BOOK AWARD WINNER: BOOK OF THE YEAR • #1 SUNDAY TIMES (UK) BESTSELLER “Superbly written and breathtakingly researched, The Volunteer smuggles us into Auschwitz and shows us—as if watching a movie—the story of a Polish agent who infiltrated the infamous camp, organized a rebellion, and then snuck back out. ... Fairweather has dug up a story of incalculable value and delivered it to us in the most compelling prose I have read in a long time.” —Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm and Tribe The incredible true story of a Polish resistance fighter’s infiltration of Auschwitz to sabotage the camp from within, and his death-defying attempt to warn the Allies about the Nazis’ plans for a “Final Solution” before it was too late. To uncover the fate of the thousands being interred at a mysterious Nazi camp on the border of the Reich, a thirty-nine-year-old Polish resistance fighter named Witold Pilecki volunteered for an audacious mission: assume a fake identity, intentionally get captured and sent to the new camp, and then report back to the underground on what had happened to his compatriots there. But gathering information was not his only task: he was to execute an attack from inside—where the Germans would least expect it. The name of the camp was Auschwitz. Over the next two and half years, Pilecki forged an underground army within Auschwitz that sabotaged facilities, assassinated Nazi informants and officers, and gathered evidence of terrifying abuse and mass murder. But as he pieced together the horrifying truth that the camp was to become the epicenter of Nazi plans to exterminate Europe’s Jews, Pilecki realized he would have to risk his men, his life, and his family to warn the West before all was lost. To do so, meant attempting the impossible—an escape from Auschwitz itself. Completely erased from the historical record by Poland’s post-war Communist government, Pilecki remains almost unknown to the world. Now, with exclusive access to previously hidden diaries, family and camp survivor accounts, and recently declassified files, Jack Fairweather offers an unflinching portrayal of survival, revenge and betrayal in mankind’s darkest hour. And in uncovering the tragic outcome of Pilecki’s mission, he reveals that its ultimate defeat originated not in Auschwitz or Berlin, but in London and Washington.

As a church or nonprofit leader who relies on volunteer teams to get the job done each week, you know how difficult it can be to keep all of your volunteer roles filled. You feel overworked and understaffed, with a budget smaller than your vision. Sometimes your ministry can feel like it has a revolving door, simultaneously bringing in new volunteers as current ones leave. The cycle of volunteer recruitment and turnover can be overwhelming, leading to frustration and distracting from the mission. In The Volunteer Project, we will introduce you to 4 Strategies that, when applied, will launch your church or nonprofit ministry into what we call a zero recruitment model of volunteerism. Formulated from the authors' research, combined 50+ years of experience in leading volunteer teams, and the feedback of hundreds of volunteers, these 4 Strategies are designed to provide individuals with such satisfying volunteer experiences that they are motivated to continue volunteering, and even invite their friends to join them. Packed with comprehensive research, an online assessment tool for measuring volunteer satisfaction, and real-life stories, The Volunteer Project is designed to help you stop recruiting and start retaining.

FUN, FREEDOM and FREE FOOD Worried about finances? Savings and 401k reduced? How about volunteering at organizations that offer free room and board in exchange for workplace or hobby skills? This is reality. All you need do is get there! You choose the destination, the hours, and your responsibilities within a multi-cultural, multi-generational community of like-minded colleagues giving to the greater good. All this, within your budget. Come join me! Second Career Volunteer: A Passionate, Pennywise Approach to a Unique Lifestyle offers: How-to find organizations that offer free room and board in exchange for your skills. How-can college grads find employment and gain experience while remaining independent. How-to prepare for retirement with travel on a budget. How-you-can downsize via the 3 Rs Reuse, Reduce, Recycle. How-to have your fun and free food too!

Every ministry needs capable and reliable volunteers, but so often it feels like no one is coming forward to fill your church's needs. In reality, the people around us do want to volunteer their time and talents, but we often fail to connect potential volunteers to ministry opportunities or lose them somewhere along the way. The Volunteer Effect is your start-to-finish guide to recruiting, leading, and retaining volunteers for your ministry. Based on solid management theory delivered in an engaging narrative form, this book shows you how to - recruit people to a mission, not just a role - create low-risk entry points - build a team that evokes pride - train them for the bigger picture - and much more Your most effective volunteers are already in your church! Let this resource show you how to find--and keep--them.

"Thrilling… Scibona has built a masterpiece." – The New York Times Book Review "All of it — all of it — is just so ridiculously beautiful." – Jason Sheehan, NPR.org "The rewards are enormous. This is a spectacular work of fiction." – San Francisco Chronicle A long-awaited new novel from a National Book Award Finalist, the epic story of a restless young man who is captured during the Vietnam War and pressed into service for a clandestine branch of the United States government A small boy speaking an unknown language is abandoned by his father at an international airport, with only the clothes on his back and a handful of money jammed in the pocket of his coat. So begins The Volunteer. But in order to understand this heartbreaking and indefensible decision, the story must return to the moment, decades earlier, when a young man named Vollie Frade, almost on a whim, enlists in the United States Marine Corps to fight in Vietnam. Breaking definitively from his rural Iowan parents, Vollie puts in motion an unimaginable chain of events, which sees him go to work for insidious people with intentions he cannot yet grasp. From the Cambodian jungle, to a flophouse in Queens, to a commune in New Mexico, Vollie's path traces a secret history of life on the margins of America, culminating with an inevitable and terrible reckoning. With intense feeling, uncommon erudition, and bracing style, Scibona offers at once a pensive exploration of how we are capable of both inventing and discovering our true families and a lacerating interrogation of institutional power at its most commanding and terrifying. An odyssey of loss and salvation ranging across four generations of fathers and sons, The Volunteer is a triumph in the grandest traditions of American storytelling.

For the increasing number of people looking for ways to make a difference while on vacation, this fully updated edition is filled with in-depth information to get them ready for their adventure, including contacts, locations, costs, dates, project details, and profiles of 150 select organizations that run thousands of programs in the United States and around the world. Including new details about long-term projects and organizations specifically tailored for families, seniors, and people with disabilities, this definitive sourcebook provides a wealth of opportunities for anyone interested in taking a truly meaningful vacation and provides new anecdotes about all kinds of jobs and the positive impact they had on volunteers' lives.

A noted Black woman journalist recounts her experiences as an outsider in the newsroom of the Washington Post in the late 1980s.

From A to Z, you'll discover Tennessee's mountains, music, and mammals. V is for Volunteer stimulates children to learn about their state through familiar Tennessee icons like the Grand Ole Opry and Graceland. And even lifelong Tennesseans may learn something new about the Jubilee Singers and W.C. Handy. Illustrator Bruce Langton captures the beauty, natural wonder, and history of the Volunteer state through his colorful paintings. With poetry for younger children and expository text for older readers, author and Tennessee educator Mike Shoulders shares the important lessons of the Trail of Tears, Sequoyah and his alphabet and so much more. V is for Volunteer will intrigue and charm readers and Tennesseans of all ages!

Measuring the Impact of Volunteers: A Balanced and Strategic Approach focuses on the long-accepted principle that simply counting “heads” and hours served does NOT give a full picture of the value of volunteer engagement in an organization. The authors adapt the concepts of the “balanced scorecard” performance measurement tool (developed by Kaplan and Norton in the 1990s) to the needs and challenges of volunteer resources management, creating a unique Volunteer Resources Balanced Scorecard (VRBSc). What results is a method for evaluating and planning a volunteer engagement strategy that aligns with the priorities and goals of the organization and the needs of its clients. As a planning tool, the VRBSc helps leaders of volunteers ensure that volunteer service is in sync with the overall goals of the organization. As an evaluation tool, the VRBSc allows decision makers to take an honest look at all aspects of volunteer involvement, balancing four different perspectives that, together, lead to success. Directors of volunteer resources can assess where volunteers are having the most impact and what they should be doing next. As a reporting tool, the VRBSc shows progress and achievements to stakeholders in concrete ways that are meaningful to them. Using illustrations, worksheets, and a comprehensive appendix including survey tools, this book takes readers step by step through the process of creating and using their own VRBSc. Readers will: • See how traditional measurement tools for volunteer engagement do not effectively demonstrate the value and extent of volunteer service • Follow the evolution of the balanced scorecard concept from businesses, to nonprofits, and now to volunteer resources • Develop their own Volunteer Resources Balanced Scorecard • Write meaningful reports that spark action from organization leaders

Volunteering: Insights and Tips for Teenagers provides a complete guide to the world of volunteerism. It shows you how to become engaged in what will be among the most gratifying and worthwhile experiences of your life. In this book you’ll learn why volunteerism is so important both to volunteers themselves and to those they serve and explore different types of volunteer opportunities and how to find and secure a rewarding volunteer placement. With advice from professionals and first-hand accounts from teen volunteers, including a fifteen-year-old girl who started a foundation that now helps hundreds of new parents, this book will help you make the most of your volunteer experience. You will learn how to research volunteer opportunities what to expect from the application, interview, and orientation process how to be a successful volunteer how to handle unfamiliar or uncomfortable situations and how to ask for help, and how you can use what you learn as a volunteer to create new academic or career opportunities. With helpful tips for success and a resource list of volunteer opportunities, this book provides everything you need to understand the vital and vibrant world of volunteerism.