Despite the Park closure due to COVID-19, Louanne Isaacson, new Foundation Volunteer Coordinator, and Wayne Huseby, VMS (Volgistics) Administrator, have continued to work on preparing the new Volunteer Management System (VMS) for the day when volunteer activities can resume, hopefully very soon. Like a lot of people these days, Louanne and Wayne have been meeting virtually via Zoom to plan the VMS implementation and discuss issues. According to Louanne and Wayne, most of the “heavy lift” work to get the VMS system up and running has been completed with around 125 volunteers currently entered into the system. In addition to the volunteer information, dozens of volunteer opportunities ranging from major events, educational and cultural programs, maintenance, and administrative support have been or are currently being entered.
Louanne and Wayne would like to recognize and thank some Foundation members and Park employees for their contributions toward the new VMS. Pat Johnson, outgoing Volunteer Coordinator, has been an enormous help with her knowledge and willingness to “go the extra mile”! We all owe Pat a huge debt for taking on a fledgling volunteer program a couple of years ago and developing and guiding it to what it is today. A big thanks to Jason Armstrong, Park Manager, and Lori Maul, Foundation President, for their vision, input, and help in this process. A special shout out to Park staff Joy Kacoroski and Kelsey Maloy, and volunteer Estelle Shaw and board member Carol Bromel for their contributions.
Once fully operational, volunteers will be able to browse available opportunities, determine the requirements for ones of interest, signup for vacancies, and report time all from their computer or mobile device. The first step toward making the VMS fully operational is to get all active volunteers to “activate” their VicNet account. VicNet is the portal through which each volunteer accesses the VMS system. A memo was sent to all active volunteers on April 15th requesting they login to their VicNet account, set their password and update profile/contact information. The target date for completion is May 15th. Several volunteers have already completed this step. We appreciate it!
When your eyes may be bigger than your stomach!