Neighboring communities are looking for history buffs, avid readers and environmentalists of all ages.
Wildwood, Lady Lake and Leesburg all have volunteer opportunities available, and they’re especially hoping the younger crowd will get involved.
Leesburg and the Keep Lake Beautiful organization are looking for more community members to join its biannual park and trail cleanup. Keep Lake Beautiful seeks to make Lake County cleaner by engaging citizens and encouraging community participation and is looking for additional people to help with future cleanups.
Founding member and cleanup coordinator Dr. Erika Jasper said it’s especially important to get the younger generation involved, as they believe they are the most disaffected when it comes to community stewardship. We have to ask the younger generation to step up and participate, she said. It is up to us to set this example.
The organization recently did a cleanup on Saturday at Berry Park in Leesburg. For more information, visit keeplakebeautiful.com.
Jamie Cluckey, the volunteer liaison for the Historic Baker House in Wildwood, said the number of volunteers had fallen to an all-time low.
That’s a lot less than what we had in the past,” Cluckey said. Before, they had 15 or 16, and now we have about nine.
The house is over 130 years old and volunteers help organize special events, restore the house and organize tours.
We would like the next generation to come and keep Baker House open, Cluckey said. They can learn about the house from the older generation and then pass that wisdom on to those who come after them.
Community members interested in volunteering at the Historic Baker House can apply at the Wildwood Community Center Parks and Recreation Department office.
We don’t do online volunteer forms because we have to do background checks, Cluckey said.
The Wildwoods Public Works Department needs volunteers for the Wildwood Street Sweepers, a newly formed task force dedicated to cleaning up the community. Tara Tradd, code compliance manager for the department, is in charge of the working group.
We are looking for sponsors for trash bags and lunch volunteers, she said.
The group is less than a year old and has 30 permanent members.
Twenty are from the community and 10 represent the city, Tradd said. We haven’t been able to get the word out to our young people.
Tradd said the task force is in the process of becoming an affiliate of Keep Florida Beautiful, but will need to generate more interest and get more help from the community.
That would mean national recognition, training and networking opportunities, Tradd said. It would also mean grants, donations and a possible expansion of the program from litter prevention to community beautification.
Those interested in joining the Wildwood Street Sweepers can call Tradd at 352-661-6067 or sign up for individual cleanups through the Wildwood Street Sweeper Facebook page.
While Lady Lake Public Library has a stable group of volunteers, the non-profit group that supports it needs more people. We need volunteers for Friends of the Library, our 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that covers our store of donated books and helps fund children’s programming, said library director Aly Herman .
Herman said the pandemic caused the library to be closed sporadically and reduced hours for a time, which may have confused volunteers. It has since been unable to return to pre-pandemic volunteer numbers.
We used to have a huge group, Herman said. Unfortunately, we have seen a decrease in the number of volunteers since the arrival of COVID.
Friends of the Library volunteer opportunities include sorting donated books in the storage room, selling books and interacting with customers in the book sale room, or joining the board of directors. Herman also said the library is flexible on hours.
The time volunteers can give is greatly appreciated, she said. We would love to bring the younger generation into the book sale room. I know the schedules are difficult for them, but if you could give us an hour of your week, it would make a huge difference.
Anyone interested in joining the Lady Lake Friends of the Library chapter can call Herman at 352-753-2957 or stop by the library at 225 W. Guava St. Leesburg Library Director Lucy Gangone Cope a similar shortage.
The library itself isn’t actively looking for volunteers, but our friends at the Leesburg library are, she said. The organization is always looking for volunteers to help run the bookstore.
To volunteer, call 352-728-9790 and choose menu option 6.
To encourage more teen volunteers, Lady Lake Mayor Jim Rietz recently presented a Certificate of Recognition to Reese Ponds for her outstanding volunteer work as the Florida hometown Miss Teen representative. Ponds is a resident of Lady Lake and a sophomore at Leesburg High School.
In November, Ponds joined Miss Hometown USA, a nonprofit youth educational program founded to encourage children to volunteer in their communities.
Ponds grew up in Lady Lake and volunteering in her hometown is very important to her. It’s been my life for two years, she said.
Prior to volunteering, Ponds said she experienced social anxiety.
I couldn’t talk to anyone, Ponds said. I was very shy, but once I got out into the community and started volunteering, I got better. Now I can come up and talk to anyone.
Ponds challenges community members to try at least one volunteer project this year.
I feel like people think they have better things to do, and some people are afraid to put themselves forward, she said. It’s very rewarding, because you’re not only helping the community, you’re also improving yourself. It teaches you to communicate and to give.
In conjunction with Miss Hometown USA and the City of Leesburg, Ponds recently hosted a necessities drive at the Womens Care Center of Leesburg. I raised about $1,000 in donations, Ponds said. I mainly asked for cash donations to buy the items the women need. I was able to give about 10 women laundry baskets filled with basic necessities.
Linda Watts is the founder of Floridas Hometown USA program. Parents interested in enrolling their children in the program should call him at 352-326-4217 or visit the website at flhome
Writer Taylor Strickland can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5334, or [email protected].|
