Dyer: Service to Others Strengthens Orlando

By Buddy Dyer

This Tuesday April 9, the City of Orlando will join with Mayors across the country to participate in the first-ever Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service. This day gives our community an opportunity to celebrate our nation’s unsung heroes. Our citizens who volunteer not for recognition but who use their time and talents to help solve community challenges and make cities across the nation, including Orlando a better and brighter place for everyone.

They are heroes like Alex Ocampo, who credits his achievement as one of the only members of his family to graduate from college to a tutor he had while in college. Because of the impact a volunteer had in his life, Alex knew he wanted to give back and to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds make the most of their education. Now through the national AmeriCorps volunteer organization, he serves as a mentor and tutor here in Orlando at Evans High School, giving students the help they need to stay on track and graduate.

And then there’s 85 year-old Sixta Rivera, who has adopted our community’s youth as her own grandchildren, serving as a teacher and role model. For the past 12 years she volunteers 20 hours a week helping our youth develop early literacy skills and putting them on a path to success using her lifetime of experience and passion for kids.

You don’t hear these stories on the nightly news, but everyday all over our country, volunteers like Alex and Sixta head out, quietly without fanfare, to improve the lives of America’s citizens and strengthen our communities. Through the Corporation for National and Community Service, more than 850 AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers are serving here in Orlando in addition to 1,200 City citizens who volunteer annually. These volunteers are helping us tackle tough challenges in a cost-effective way that doesn’t burden our tax payers and meets critical needs like youth crime prevention, adult literacy, disaster preparedness, childhood obesity and bridging the education gap.

Engaging citizens and nonprofit partners is a proven, responsible and smart strategy to make real progress on city challenges. The Corporation for National and Community Service estimates just one volunteer hour provides services valued at $22.14. As you can see, our volunteers are invaluable resources that create valuable impact.

Let us join together today to thank our volunteers working here in Orlando and all over the country for the positive impact they are making in our community. Let us thank them for turning toward problems instead of away and working together to find solutions that benefit our communities. And let us all pledge to do our own part to strengthen Orlando through service and volunteering.

Buddy Dyer is Mayor of Orlando. To find a local volunteer opportunity, visit ORLANDOCARES.NET. To learn more about AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and other national service programs, visit NationalService.gov