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Across Virginia and the nation, volunteers play an integral role in supporting robust community life and ensuring access to vital programs and resources. Since 1974, National Volunteer Week has provided an opportunity to recognize these volunteers and the impact their volunteerism can make by tackling society’s greatest challenges, building stronger communities, and transforming the world. This year, National Volunteer Week takes place April 20–26, providing an opportunity for us to celebrate the volunteers who make the commonwealth better every day.
As a member of the Virginia Governor’s Advisory Board on Service and Volunteerism , I am passionate about service and committed to supporting community-based initiatives to build stronger communities and engage volunteers from all walks of life. I’ve witnessed firsthand how volunteers show up every day to provide their time and energy to support our schools and out-of-school programs, parks and other public spaces, disaster preparedness initiatives and food banks, and organizations serving our senior or unhoused neighbors, to name just a few of the ways that volunteers make a difference. According to the Volunteering and Civic Life in America research collected by AmeriCorps and the U.
S. Census Bureau every two years, more than 2.1 million formal volunteers in Virginia contributed 156.
8 million hours of service through organizations. The estimated worth of this volunteer time is a staggering $5.2 billion per year in the commonwealth.
Next month, Serve Virginia and the Virginia Service Foundation will add to this data when they share the findings of the 2025 Virginia Community Engagement Index (VCEI), a biennial study that seeks to understand the state of service, volunteerism and civic action in Virginia. These findings will offer insights at local and regional levels, identifying ways that Virginian volunteers get involved in their communities, exploring how volunteerism responds to community priorities, and helping shape initiatives for a more connected and engaged Virginia. However, data can only convey certain aspects of the incredible impact that we can make when we leverage our time and talent for the greater good.
As significant as that impact may be in numbers, it’s the stories of service from volunteers and groups across Virginia that humanize these statistics and inspire others to give back. For example, take the Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads (YVCHR), where youth, ages 11-18, undertake team-based service experiences that build work and life skills while inspiring a lifetime ethic of service. In October, YVCHR celebrated its 15th anniversary by co-hosting the annual YVC Summit in Virginia Beach.
This two-day international conference featured 24 workshops plus five hands-on service projects that engaged more than 70 youth attendees and benefited five local nonprofit organizations. Last year, YVCHR also surpassed 100,000 total volunteer hours served by local youth since 2009. Also, consider Volunteer Hampton Roads and the United Way of the Virginia Peninsula , two outstanding local organizations working to connect individuals and groups with volunteer opportunities to address community challenges and support meaningful opportunities for service, among their many other programs and initiatives.
In addition to supporting local volunteers and organizations, both of these nonprofits are also part of the Virginia Volunteerism Network , a group facilitated by Serve Virginia with a focus on developing resources and capacity to support volunteerism across the commonwealth. Sign up for Viewpoints, an opinion newsletter I am grateful for the dedication and service of organizations such as these and the everyday heroes who show up to volunteer their time and energy in service to others. This National Volunteer Week, I invite you to join me in celebrating the volunteers across the state.
Let’s join together to show our appreciation but let us also pledge to do our part to strengthen our communities by giving our time and energy to the causes that matter most in our lives. Together, we make a difference. Joy S.
Parker of Virginia Beach serves as the chair of the Governor’s Advisory Board on Service and Volunteerism, which provides guidance and support to Serve Virginia..
