National Volunteer Week Starts April 6

March 31, 2014

National Volunteer Week starts on Sunday. Utilize this opportunity to show your appreciation to the volunteer firefighters, EMS providers, and Fire Corps members in your department. It is also a great time to showcase to your community the important work your volunteers are doing and the need for more volunteers.

There are many ways your department can celebrate National Volunteer Week. Recognize the achievements of your volunteers by nominating them for a department, local, state, or national award, such as the President’s Volunteer Service Awards. Host a department banquet, appreciation ceremony, or other activity to show your volunteers how important they are to your department and community. Find more resources and ideas for recognizing volunteers from the National Volunteer Week Resource Guide (available from Points of Light and HandsOn Network) and from Fire Corps.

Let your community know what your volunteers are doing and encourage new volunteers to join your department through media outreach and recruitment activities throughout National Volunteer Week. Consider hosting an open house, giving presentations to community groups, exhibiting at a local event, conducting a local media campaign, putting signs up in front of the firehouse and flyers up on community bulletin boards, utilizing social media, and conducting other outreach efforts to help get the word out. Find resources for recruiting new volunteers from the 1-800-FIRE-LINE campaign, the NVFC, and Fire Corps.