Often potential RSVP volunteers will say that they would like to use their skills and experience, but don’t know where they might be needed. Fortunately, Lubbock has a wide spectrum of interesting non-profit agencies from which to choose. In order for you to get to know some of the places our members serve, I would like to use this column each month to introduce you to a different Volunteer Station. Some of them will be individual agencies and some will be groups of stations that do much the same thing. So, not only can you choose the sort of service you would like to provide, but you also may want to choose a special group you might want to help. This month let me tell you about SCORE:
 
SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, is a volunteer program of the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) that matches retired volunteers with small businesses that need expert advice. Anyone who has had experience owning or managing a small business may volunteer their time to help today’s generation of fledgling entrepreneurs. SCORE counselors provide one-on-one or team counseling to people that want to start a business or are in business and need help. Every effort is made to match a client’s needs with a counselor experienced in the appropriate line of business. 

Volunteers will have the opportunity to help people solve a cash flow problem, help design a marketing plan for a new venture, help new products get off the ground, and so forth. SCORE volunteers may help business owners and managers identify basic management problems, determine the causes, and become better managers.
 
Management counseling takes place either at a client’s business or at the SCORE chapter location in the Small Business Administration offices in the Federal Building, 1205 Texas Avenue, Suite 411D. Counselors analyze each business and its problems, and offer a plan to correct the trouble and help the owner through the critical period. Almost any small independent business not dominant in its field can get help from SCORE. If you could donate a couple of hours a week to share your experience and knowledge with another small business owner or manager, please call the RSVP office, 742-2423, and let us set you up as a SCORE volunteer.

OTHER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:

HOSTS (Help One Student To Succeed) Program at McWhorter Elementary School, 2711 First Street, would like some more volunteers who would be willing to help a student with reading and language arts one-on-one. This is a wonderful program that is really making a difference in the lives of the elementary school-aged children mentored. An individual training for the volunteer will be provided by the teacher before mentoring begins. The training session will last only about 30 minutes, and the lessons that need to be taught are provided to the volunteer for each individual student’s needs at each HOSTS session. If you can read and write, you can teach. The HOSTS sessions will be scheduled by the teacher once each week anytime from 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday according to the scheduling requirements of the volunteer. Each session will last about 40 minutes. If you prefer, you may certainly serve as a HOSTS mentor to more than one child in back-to-back sessions.

DO YOU KNIT OR CROCHET? We have several community organizations that could really use your talents. RSVP or the individual agency will provide the yarn if you can provide the skill. We need people to make simple projects such as stocking caps to ward off the winter cold or 18” yarn squares to warm premature babies. If you have no one for whom to make baby clothes or afghans, we have a couple of projects that would love to have beautiful, hand-made items for the babies in their programs. The RSVP Sewing Group meets monthly and you are welcome to join us, or we will deliver the yarn to you. The sewing group meets at the 19th Street Senior Center on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Just call 742-2423 and let us know that you will share your expertise.
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HOW do I join RSVP?
Becoming a member of RSVP is simple as long as you are at least 55 and have some time to volunteer. Just call the office at 742-2423 and chat with Ronda Casey or Bonne Phillips about your interests. If you are not certain what you would like to do, we can mention several current volunteer opportunities and send you a list of the sort of jobs which RSVP members are presently doing to whet your appetite. If you have a special skill or talent that you would like to utilize, we will search to find just the right job for you. Just mail in the enrollment form (requires Adobe Reader) and we will call you!