Come Celebrate Volunteer Week!

It’s National Volunteer Week!
Elizabeth Andrew once said “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” This week, we celebrate those that have big hearts.

The theme of this year’s volunteer week is “celebrating people in action.” To all of you that have helped us or other not-for-profit organizations, we thank you. Please continue giving your talents! www.metcouncil.org

A Monument in Memory of MLK

“If I can help somebody as I pass along,
if I can cheer somebody with a word or song,
if I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,
then my living will not be in vain.”

These are the words of Martin Luther King—the hero who dedicated his life to nonviolent social change and in whose honor a memorial will soon stand. The National Memorial will be constructed in Washington D.C and will mark the 42nd anniversary of Martin Luther King’s death.

For more information about this noteworthy cause, please visit www.mlkmemorialnews.org.

Met Council’s volunteers have celebrated MLK in the past and truly support the creation of this monument. Check out the post below!

Spotlight on: Jessica Polsky, Career Counselor at Met Council’s Career Services

When Jessica Polsky was a Nursing student in college in Florida, she had no idea what fate had in store for her—working at a not-for-profit, and healing others in an entirely different way.

Jessica actually started off as an intern at Met Council while pursuing her graduate degree. When she finished the internship three years ago, the director gladly offered her a position as a full-time career counselor and she has been here ever since.

Sitting in her office—full of lively Van Gogh prints—I asked Jessica question after question about her work, all to which she responded warmly and patiently. I could tell that she is great at her job as a Career Counselor at Met Council, helping domestic violence survivors as well as clients who have lost their jobs in these trying times.

Yet, a career in career counseling (J) wasn’t always on the agenda. Jessica was working as an EMT and taking nursing classes when she first started college. After taking some time off, she came back to pursue a degree in Psychology, and at the suggestion of a caring undergraduate professor, decided to pursue a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling. Although she is not specifically a mental health counselor, Jessica notes that her mental health degree from NYU helps her a lot.

For Jessica, the best parts of working in career counseling are, “the clients, helping them, seeing their progress and networking.” She mentions this last word with a glimmer in her eye. Jessica really loves networking and sees it as a process of giving back. Jessica mentioned that “83% of job-seekers find a job through networking,” and encouraged me to network as much as possible.

With a staff of 15, Met Council’s Career Services offers clinical, career and personal counseling, educational advising, interview skills preparation, computer skills training, and much more.

In addition to all of this, the busy team is in charge of a variety of exciting programs that are offered to clients at no charge. Among these is the PIN program, which prepares foreign nurses for the RN-NCLEX through more than 160 hours of contextualized ESL education. Another program is JCC Works, which offers job training and placement for Jewish residents who meet household, low-income requirements and reside within the 5 boroughs of NYC. All of these programs are here to serve you and your community.

However, there are distinct challenges to a career search. Jessica mentioned that job-seekers sometimes come into the Career Services Center looking for employment, but give up after a couple of hours. In addition to networking and preparation, persistence and setting goals—in this case, finding a job—is key.

We all know that the job market is more competitive than ever, but you can increase your chances of getting a job by standing out from the large pool of applicants. “There are so many resumes coming in,” Jessica says. “What makes you stand out? If you are going to read a book, what is it that makes you inclined to read it? Be true to yourself and the process, no matter how tedious it is. You only need one job.” Her words ring true.

If you or anyone you know is in need of a job, please don’t hesitate to contact Met Council’s Career Services. Met Council is here to help!

-Written by Blog Intern, Mila

Food for Passover

Passover can be a very expensive holiday, especially for single mothers with a large family to feed. That’s why Met Council’s Family Violence Services, a program for victims of domestic violence, distributed over 140 food packages to our women and children clients to help cut expenses during the holidays.

Our hard-working volunteers unpacked and handed out over three tons of food, helped the women carry the bags – laden with matzah, grape juice, apple juice, tomato sauce, tuna, oil, chicken – and cleaned up the facility, all the while treating our clients with a great deal of dignity and respect. Thanks to their diligent efforts, Met Council was able to assist over 900 women and children this Passover holiday.

Shana Frydman, the director of Family Violence Services, praised the effectiveness and value of our volunteers. “The program ran smoothly, the clients were treated with incredible respect, and the volunteers were both thoughtful and truly helpful,” said Frydman.

The dignity of our volunteers was also noted by Yehudis Robinson, the director of Sister to Sister whose family clients were also served on Sunday. “Volunteers,” she said, “helped run a most efficient, professional yet warm distribution yesterday. Everything ran so smoothly and beautifully and we were able to help so many families go into the holidays with true happiness and a sense of self worth.”

Volunteering Made Easy

Volunteer Match is now available on IPhone.

Volunteer Match, a San Francisco-based organization, has connected millions of prospective volunteers with not-for-profit organizations. With the additional convenience of an iPhone application, the numbers may grow even larger.

Now, all you have to do is enter your zip code on your iPhone and, voila! You have thousands of volunteer opportunities listed at your fingertips. The application even allows you to save or post volunteer activities on Facebook and Twitter! With volunteering made this easy, how can you resist?

*Career Opportunity*

Met Council's Growth Fund initiative engages grassroots organizations to build their capacity to better serve their clients by providing technical assistance, trainings and funding. The Growth Fund is seeking an experienced grant writer to help small grassroots organizations write winning grant proposals.

You will not be writing any proposals yourself, but rather consult with grassroots agencies on making edits and improvements to their proposals before submission. This is a good opportunity for individuals with a specialized skill set or a graduate student who wishes to gain real world experience.

Volunteers should understand the grant application process for federal, state and/or local government as well as private foundations. In addition, they should have excellent writing and grammar skills, attention to detail and the ability to understand basic financial and budgetary matters.

Food For Life: The Hungry Need Us. We Need You!

The cost of providing a family of four with nutritious Kosher meals for 2 months? $720
The cost of providing Sabbath meals for one senior for an entire year? $360
The big smile on a child's face that just had their first decent meal in a while?
Priceless.

You have probably heard the expression "food for thought", but what about "food for life"? Met Council has launched a wonderful campaign called Food for Life to help feed the poor and near-poor that do not have the means to feed themselves.

Want to learn more? Get involved to help feed New York’s hungriest families. An evening reception celebrating the Food for Life campaign will be held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage on Thursday, March 11. Dinner, drinks, and a live auction are included. Click here for more details.

Can't donate? There are other ways to help! Please advertise this vital campaign through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The hungry need us. We need you.

(Image Source: http://www.inforochester.com/images/FoodKosher.gif)