Goal for fair is to encourage community to volunteer
CABOT — For Miekka Maile, caring for foster-care kids is something that has always been in her heart.
“My own kids have their own thing going, and I am coming back to what is important to me,” said Maile, who is a recruiter and volunteer for Grand Prairie Court Appointed Special Advocates. “Whatever your interest is outside of work, it is important to find some place in the community where you find value and importance.
“And if you already have something in your heart, it is easier to get volunteers.”
Maile is organizing the first Cabot Cares Volunteer Fair, set for 3 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Veterans Park Event Center.
“I was at CabotFest doing the Grand Prairie CASA booth, and I was just watching people walking past and a lot of the demographic that we are trying to reach — mostly people who are getting close to an empty nest, like myself,” Maile said. “This fair is specifically for recruiting people who want to volunteer. That is where the idea came from.”
There will be 17 organizations represented at the fair, all of which are seeking volunteers.
“Even if you are not thinking of volunteering, you might stumble onto something that is right up your alley,” Maile said. “If you are interested in volunteering at an animal shelter, or with the homeless, or with veterans, one of my friends operates A Veteran’s Best Friend, a nonprofit that trains dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“What you value and what you find important and already have in your heart — we are letting them know about it at this recruitment fair.”
She said the fair is an opportunity for residents to, without pressure, go from booth to booth and see what opportunities are out there, “then take the first step in following up.”
The fair will also allow those same people to see where they can receive help and services, Maile said.
“It is great for me to know these things in the community,” she said.
Naomi Bratton, president of the board of directors at the Housing, Education and Life Skills Program, or H.E.L.P., said the fair will get the word out and let the community know the mission of H.E.L.P.
“Our mission is to open a transitional living facility for the central-Arkansas area. It will be more than a homeless shelter. We will also facilitate learning life skills, including parenting skills; balancing a budget and opening a checking account; getting and keeping a full-time job; and functioning in today’s world.”
Bratton said the organization plans to open the living facility this fall.
“This fair will help us get more volunteers to participate in our fundraising events, and eventually, we will need volunteers once we are actually open,” Bratton said.
Summer Allison, the event center manager and marketing director for Cabot Parks and Recreation, said she understands the importance of volunteers, and that’s why the department is sponsoring the fair and donated use of the building for it.
“We rely heavily on volunteers, especially with our children’s sports and youth sports, and all of our coaches are volunteers,” Allison said. “So we personally understand the value of volunteers.
“There are so many different things in this community that require volunteers, and this fair will connect people to different organizations in need.”
Allison said she has been interviewing various organizations in the area, including the nonprofits, and finding out what types of volunteer options are out there.
“There are so many different things people can do to plug in and options available, and I don’t think people are aware [of them],” Allison said. “I think people, when they hear volunteer, they think they have to give up all of their free time, but answers [from these interviews] have said otherwise.
“These organizations work around schedules and want to connect to volunteers’ hearts.
I think it is so important to all these organizations and important to our community to work together as a whole.”
Allison said that when she heard about the fair, she said, “This is exactly what we need.”
“All of these organizations do incredible things for the community, and the public can see what is available and plug in, based on their hearts and what makes sense for them,” she said.
Maile said the response to the fair has been encouraging, as most people “are super excited about the idea.”
“One lady said her husband is in the military, and he is constantly asking where he can volunteer, so this is a great place to send these guys for a resource …,” Maile said. “Everybody that I have talked to is excited about the idea.”
Maile said she got involved with CASA because of the overwhelming number of kids in foster care.
“There are 4,500 kids in foster care in Arkansas, and that overwhelms me,” Maile said. “I can’t do something about all the kids in foster care, but I can do something about the one family that I work with, and that makes it manageable.”
She said that since she joined CASA, she has done more for the group than she could ever imagine doing for herself, but planning this event and “putting myself out there has been a real struggle,” she said.
“A lot of people say they are interested in volunteering. People will tell me that all day long, but getting that actual commitment is a different story,” Maile said. “That is something we wanted to address with the fair — to take away that fear of commitment.”