Happy February! Some nicer weather and sunshine helped to get rid of a little snow and remind everyone how spring feels. Is it just me or does seeing daylight at 5:50 p.m. feel pretty amazing?
1. Make people aware of the various organizations in the community
2. Allow people to see the variety of needs within the different organizations
3. Help people to match up their skills and interests to volunteer roles
We hope this has another positive effect in that those volunteering feel a sense of purpose and belonging. We know that most often people feel more invested in their communities and have a more positive view of their city when they're involved in making it better, even in a small way.
Many of these roles and tasks are not very time consuming. Some require just an hour or two a year. A few require training or some paperwork but most just involve a willing community members saying, "Sure, I can do this, give me a call".
Twice this week I was tasked with making phone calls asking local people to volunteer in certain capacities. I was delighted with the many positive responses I received. Several said they felt happy to be asked for these roles. Those that weren't able to say yes were encouraging about the plans and suggested other people to help. The idea behind Pick 1 was that if everyone just said yes to one thing, even a small thing, in our town we could see some amazing things happen.
We know many of you have already picked one (or two, or three) volunteer roles in our community. Maybe you've been doing volunteering for many years in Forman. We truly appreciate all that you do. Whether you help manage the golf course, call bingo at Four Seasons, or bring bars to a fundraiser, you are an important part of our Forever Hometown.
Here is the link to our Pick1 Campaign: Pick 1
If you haven't read the article on rural grocery stores in the most recent issues of the Sargent County Teller I encourage you to check it out. As we deal with our own grocery store loss we are also aware we are not unique in our challenges. The Forman Community Development Corporation has been working diligently on getting our store back again. We hope to have some positive updates soon. If you have ideas or suggestions for going forward with this business please contact me. This will be a community effort and we value input.
Paige Cary
Forman Economic Development Coordinator
