Hands on Portland 06-26-96

Hands On Greater Portland formed in 1996 when a circle offriends sought to recreate in Portland the successful“Hands On” model of volunteering. The model had becomepopular in cities such as Atlanta, New York, and Chicagoby connecting volunteers with one-time projects thatrequired no advance training or experience.Hands On became an instant success. Scores ofvolunteers found in Hands On a new way to incorporatevolunteering into their busy lives. By 2000, Hands On was connecting hundreds ofvolunteers a year through its monthly calendar ofservice projects and by consulting with businesses andother employers. It held its first Hands On Portland Dayto engage 600 volunteers in a successful day of service.By 2003, Hands On was connecting 4,000 volunteersa year when it merged with VolunteerWorks, the otherPortland-area volunteer service organization. The mergercreated a streamlined, more efficient organization fromwhich to expand volunteerism in the Greater PortlandArea. New programs included referrals to a variety ofvolunteer opportunities throughout the Portland metroarea and volunteer manager training. Hands On took another giant step forward in 2004 whenit started Hands On Washington County, a collaborativeeffort to create a volunteer program for Oregon’ssecond-largest county. In 2005, Hands On added the Civic Leaders project, inpartnership with United Way and Partners in Diversity,to help connect leaders of color with nonprofit Boardsand government Commissions. It grew its annual serviceday to more than 1,200 volunteers. In 2006, Hands On celebrated its 10th year asan organization that made more than 13,000 volunteerconnections a year in partnership with 200 nonprofits,schools and community organizations. From 2003-2006 Hands On Portlandtripled its number ofvolunteer connections with new and varied ways forvolunteers to get involved. In recognition of itsexpansion into Washington County, and to set a futurecourse, the Board of Directors approved a name change toHands On Greater Portland. It also established anendowment fund to provide long-term financial stability.Looking forward, Hands On anticipates more growth asit pursues its vision of helping to create a communitywhere everyone has the opportunity to share their timeand talents for the benefit of all of us.