Volunteer River Counties

Like many rural areas of eastern Virginia, the River Counties—Lancaster, Middlesex, and Northumberland—have unmet needs. But the region also has a deep commitment to volunteering and civic engagement.  Volunteer River Counties is a free, easy-to-use, and accessible community volunteer portal that will have a long-term, positive impact. Serve Virginia, the Virginia Service Foundation, and the River Counties Community Foundation (RCCF) have partnered to create Volunteer River Counties as a way to develop a rural volunteer accelerator. Funding for this project has been generously provided by the Robert B. Lantz Foundation.

A coalition of more than 40 local organizations across the River Counties region have been working to develop the Volunteer River Counties Hub to connect individuals, families, and other groups with volunteer opportunities, enhancing regional organizations’ ability to recruit volunteers.  The Hub provides a coordinated approach to engaging the time and talents of residents in volunteer-based programs, helping residents and visitors alike access volunteer opportunities that interest them.

Volunteer River Counties focuses on four priorities to build volunteer capacity across Lancaster, Middlesex, and Northumberland counties in Virginia:

1. Building a stronger culture of service, volunteerism and civic engagement by implementing the Virginia Community Engagement Index (VCEI) in the region and building awareness of and access to close-to-home volunteer opportunities across the River Counties, utilizing best-in-class technology to support volunteer engagement.
2. Uniting a more robust, integrated, and aligned network of cross-sector partners to coalesce around common strategies and best practices resulting in the effective use of volunteer capacity to serve the needs of the community.
3. Creating a more robust infrastructure through evidence-based practices and shared resources that will support organizations and individuals in volunteerism efforts.
4. Completing a strategic plan for long-term sustainability of volunteer capacity.