Hello everyone and welcome to the Within Range Coaching Podcast. I'm Ranger, a certified
holistic success coach, and in this podcast, I break down the journey entrepreneurs face
as they start their organizations, overcome roadblocks in their way, and create an impact
that lasts. We talk with entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and purpose-driven community members
just like you. Together, we learn how to grow our impact and develop ourselves as the people
behind the mission. My intention is to help more people, help more people. And remember,
if you're curious about expanding your impact, growing a community, or defining your mission,
vision, or values, we can chat off the record. You can find my info in the show notes or
at my website, withinrangecoaching.com. We're also looking to build our sponsor community
with organizations and individuals who align with our values of fearless innovation, social
responsibility, and courageous candor. If you're interested in helping us highlight
individuals doing great work in the world and share these values, reach out to me directly
at ranger at withinrangecoaching.com. I know you're just as eager to get started as I am,
so let's jump right in. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, everybody, and
welcome to today's episode of the Within Range Coaching Podcast. I'm still on the Rangers
Walk Across America series with this, where we're focusing on the nonprofits, the entrepreneurs,
the changemakers, community members that are making a difference in their home communities.
And guys, I finally had the chance to catch up with someone that I actually met, what,
almost a month ago? A few weeks, let's say, let's say like two, two, three weeks ago.
I got to spend a couple days in Oxford, Mississippi, and I had the opportunity to spend some time
and interact with an organization that, I don't know, they do one of my favorite things
where they actually support other nonprofits with volunteers. So one of my favorite ways
that people do that, you know, what Wander Project does where they empower individuals
to raise money for themselves or for other organizations that they believe in. What this
organization does is they find volunteers and kind of just divvy them out to other organizations
that need them. And I mean, again, I get ahead of myself and I want to talk about it myself,
but that's why we had today's guest. So today we're actually joined by Marlee Carpenter,
the executive director at Stronger Together Oxford. Marlee, how's it going?
Going well. Thank you for having me today. Perfect. I super appreciate you. I mean, right
before we jumped on, she was telling me about how busy they are. And I'm sure especially
what was spring wrapping up and a bunch of events, you know, the weather is finally good
enough to do things. I'm sure. Well, it's interesting because the students are gone.
So Oxford's kind of dead. But this is when the community rises and shines. They are out
and about right now. Really? Why is that? What's the why? Is it just because now there's
less students so now we can do things or? Now they can go to their own their favorite
restaurants without worrying about all the students waiting in line. It's just, you know,
we we we're with the university all year long except for June and July. And then we have
a little bit of downtime. Gotcha. And how does that influx of students affect just the
day to day life? I guess I think mostly the traffic, honestly, within the community. There's
just so many students. So once the students are gone with their cars, we can get to one
side of town to the other in like five minutes rather than 55 minutes. Oh, jeez. I always
forget how much that affects. I mean, yeah, because the where I went to school, UC Davis,
it was similar vibe to Oxford. I think Davis might be smaller, but I definitely got that
vibe when I was there for those couple days. Yeah, yeah. But we love our students. We love
having them around. Perfect. Awesome. Well, before we jump too far in today's conversation,
can you just share a little bit about what your intention for today is? Yeah. So today
we just want your audience to know how easy it is to get involved with the community,
whether it be indirect service or direct service or just having that little random acts of
kindness, anything that anyone does is an impact in some sort of way. Perfect. I love
that. I love that. That's I don't know. That's a theme that I try to carry throughout the
podcast. So I'm glad that we're kind of aligned on, you know, just how the the simplet, how
what is the word I'm trying to say? The simplicity of action, you know? So when I was a student
at the university, there was a hub, there was a community volunteer hub, but I just
wasn't aware of it. And as as a student at the university, I knew I wanted to get involved
with the community. I just didn't know where to start. And that's really what we do here
is just add that little extra enhancement of getting people to start and getting involved
in their community. Yeah. Kind of like a catalyst almost like there's that desire there. Let's
take that spark and do something with it. Yeah. Or just your little one stop shop for
all volunteerism. How cool. Yeah, no, I'm excited. But yeah, so we are kind of mentioning
that you as a student, but like what was your background? What did you study? How did you
get involved in better together? And I mean, to the point that you're the director now,
like that's crazy. Yeah. So I really think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. So and
as a young adult, I really thought I wanted to join the Peace Corps that was always in
my agenda for life. And then as of course, I aged and I went to the University of Mississippi,
I realized that that probably wasn't exactly realistic for me. But I did join College Corps,
which is a sister program of the Peace Corps. And then when I graduated from the University
of Mississippi, I started my part time career at the activity center, which is also a city
department. My background and my degree is in Parks and Recreation. So that was just
right up my alley. And then I had the opportunity to merge to RSVP. RSVP was the retired and
senior volunteer program. And so I was promoted to service their volunteer coordinator. RSVP
was a program in Oxford for 45 years until we decided to meet our community needs better.
We needed to rebrand and be a community volunteer hub for the entire volunteer or the entire
community rather than just volunteers 55 and older. So in 2022, we had the opportunity
to rebrand the city of Oxford fully supports this program. And it is such a unique opportunity
for the city because of the personal touch that we add and the way that we connect volunteers
to community needs and nonprofits. So so far, we have been very successful. We have over
300 active volunteers and we partner with about 60 different nonprofits. And when I
say we are very successful, we have about 20 to 40 applications that come in per week.
Now that sounds like a gigantic number. And so out of those, not everybody becomes active.
But what we like to think is that this is the first step of them starting to volunteer.
Like they have shown some initiative to sign up to gather more information. And that's
just step one. So that's what we look for. Gotcha. OK, so to be clear, the RSVP that
transitioned into stronger together. That's right. Yes. So RSVP was just 55 and older.
It was grant funded by AmeriCorps. So still still full circle from where I thought I wanted
to be in the Peace Corps to where I'm at now. We're not associated with AmeriCorps anymore.
We are just city funded. But it really my entire life just came full circle from high
school to right now. Gotcha. OK, so can we talk a little bit about that transition from
going from grant funded to city funded? I feel like people I don't know. I feel like
an issue that I run into a lot with people with nonprofits is they don't know how to
get funding. They don't know how that process works. Like what was that transition like
for you guys? It was a difficult transition. It was challenging. But the city had supported
RSVP for 45 years. So there was no question that the mayor and the board of Audubon were
on board. It was a question for our current volunteers and how that transition look. So
we were never concerned about funding this program. We knew that that was going to be
fine. Now we did lose some funding, but we're able to make it work. I mean, we are our mission
is not to pass out t shirts and spoons to everybody in town. Like our mission is to
recruit volunteers and connect them with community organizations. So it didn't matter that we
lost that little bit of grant money, though it was nice. But the program is still able
to strut without it. Gotcha. And I guess just on my own curiosity, like what is like, what
does the funding go towards? Like how does that support you guys? The majority of our
funding goes to our operating supplies. So that may look like volunteer week, which is
where we met. And then also anything, any of our internal initiatives. So last year
we developed the Every Mill project. This is an internal project. So we have volunteers
and really we like to focus on businesses for this or any large group. And they will
build full meals for families that we put inside of the little free pantries here in
Lafayette County and the city of Oxford. So any of our internal initiatives, that's where
our funding goes. And then anything that can promote the community, that's where it goes.
Yeah, that's amazing. I mean, it makes sense. Definitely on the operations. I'm sure operating
costs are super high for for I mean, 300 active volunteers. And when you say active and I'm
not sure if this I think I said it there, I wasn't sure if it resonated with you guys,
but it really does sound like that temp agency of volunteers in the way that you have this
pool of people and it sounds like and we'll get more into like the logistics of how you
send people out. But you're able to kind of say, okay, these people are interested in
animal causes. These people are interested in the elderly and this and that, and kind
of able to divvy them out that way or you know, the general the general workforce, right.
So when you get these applications, and you said not all of them turn to active volunteers,
like what do they just kind of drop off? Or is there like an actual application process
that these individuals go through? So we do have a full application process. It's your
basic information. And then just like what you said, we like to categorize our volunteers.
So anytime a volunteer comes in this office, we we like to have them kind of brainstorm
on what kind of volunteer opportunity they're looking for. So in where their passion lies
with what nonprofit and then are they going to be more of a direct volunteer meaning are
they going to directly serve, for example, with the pantry? Are they going to be the
ones that are packing these bags and delivering it to the cars? Or are they going to serve
more indirectly and maybe collect the data from the pantry or host a fundraiser for the
pantry? So we have different kinds of volunteers that look like that. And then we like to ask
them, are you going to be a consistent routine volunteer? Are you more of a special events
kind of volunteer? Because that too can be so many different things. We have volunteers
that have committed for 30 years at the Baptist Memorial Hospital and they go every Monday
and Tuesday and you better bet they're going to be there. That's what they love to do.
And then we have volunteers who just want to do special events. So they might just sign
up to go to the park, emissions, Easter egg hunt or help with their movies in the park
or something like that. Just more sporadic. Hey, listeners, we're taking a quick break
to tell you about someone who's been an absolute game changer for me on my walk across America,
Coach Mari Fernandez. Coach Mari is a nutrition coach with over 15 years of experience. And
her personalized one-on-one nutrition sessions. She truly strives to understand your needs
and goals to create a nutrition plan designed specifically for you. Her plans are tailored
to fit your unique lifestyle, cooking abilities and busy schedule, ensuring they are realistic
and sustainable so you can create a healthier relationship with food rooted in balance and
moderation. Personally, Coach Mari created my meal plan for my walk across America and
has been a tremendous help in making sure I'm fueled and feeling great during my 3000
mile journey across our nation. If you're looking for expert nutrition advice and a
plan that truly fits your life, I highly recommend reaching out to Coach Mari for a few nutrition
coaching sessions. Her contact link is located in the show notes below. So be sure to check
her out and get started on your journey to a healthier, happier you. Now let's get back
to the show. How does it work in terms of like training? Like what is that? I guess
I'm like getting more to the logistics of it because I think that this is something
that should be, I don't know, should, would, could, you know, whatever. Like it should
be in more places, right? I'm not sure if I've ever heard of an organization that does
what you guys do personally. Such a unique program. We're so unique. I think in the state
of Mississippi, I think there is one other active hub and that is on the coast of Mississippi.
So probably in the Biloxi area. So this is just, it's very unique and Oxford is the best
spot to have it because of all of the nonprofits that we have. But for a volunteers onboarding,
once they complete the application process, we run some background checks and then we
approve them on being just a general volunteer through Stronger Together Oxford. We invite
them to come over for an onboarding process. This, and this is where we really decide on
what kind of volunteer they're going to be. Direct, indirect, spontaneous routine. And
then we just connect. We have a casual conversation. My goal is to just get every little bit of
passion out of them so that I can better place them in a spot where their skills and experiences
are going to be used for the better for everyone, for the best of the ability for the community.
So we don't want to just send someone who is interested in food insecurity. We don't
want to send them to the animal resource center because that's not going to do anybody. The
volunteer is not going to be interested and the animal resource center is not going to
benefit from the volunteers responsibilities. Gotcha. And when you say, you know, like their
responsibilities, like how long is it mostly just because when I kind of think of volunteer
for the most part, it's, you know, a day here, a day there. Are there like long term placements?
How does that kind of situation work? Yeah. So we don't have any requirements for volunteers
so they can volunteer one hour a week or one hour or a day, whatever, whatever is best for
the volunteer and what's best for the community partner. But yes, we do have long term volunteer
opportunities. Some of our nonprofits require them to be at least a semester long. So, and
we say semester because of our college students. So they know May to January to May that they
need to be consistent during that time. So the majority of our more long term opportunities
are going to be with our hospices, our veterans home leapfrog, boys and girls club. So basically
anything that has to do with a vulnerable population with geriatrics or our youth, we
like those volunteers to be consistent just so they have a familiar face and they're learning
and growing with the nonprofit. Gotcha. That's so interesting that it's more, I like, I don't
know, I like the idea of the long term aspect a lot more. Cause like you said, you learn
with them, you grow with them and it sounds like would there be opportunities for them
to kind of move up or maybe move up isn't even the right term now that I say it. Well,
to piggyback off of that, we have had two volunteers who have actually gotten a job
at their nonprofit that they volunteered at. And both of them were university students
and they were both hired right after the semester. Okay. So maybe moving up was the correct turn.
I think it depends on the age of the volunteer or even, even if you have a young adult that's
volunteering, I mean, there's still potential of getting a job at said nonprofit or also
gathering more responsibility rather than just coming and, and do an inventory at like
the public library rather than actually being there every single day and doing a census
on everybody that's come into the library. So there are, there are different tiers and
levels of responsibility for a volunteer. Gotcha. Okay. So it sounds like in terms of
the volunteers, it's, you know, the background checks skills, you know, placing them where
they need to go, where they want to go, where they have that drive, that passion. I guess
on the nonprofit front, when you're kind of working with them and getting them on a list,
how does that process work? Do people just kind of come to you and say, Hey, we're a
nonprofit, we need help. Or do you only work with nonprofits? How does that from the other
side of the guesswork? Thankfully, when I started with RSVP, my mentor had already built
these amazing relationships with these nonprofits. So, so I really didn't have to do a ton of
work except for just maintaining these relationships. But to get the most accurate idea of what
these nonprofits need, we have to spend time with them. We have to volunteer ourselves
within their nonprofits. I cannot explain to a volunteer what the nonprofit needs if
I do not know firsthand. So we spend time with them. We like to schedule dates that
we're not busy in the office that we can go down and give them our hundred percent. So
that we you know, can then train volunteers on what to expect. Yeah, so no, that's okay,
I was gonna ask you about that too. Like, how do you know? I've been on on Indeed quite
a bit in my time, right? Like these job application platforms where they're like, oh, you know,
you do this, this, this and this, and then you get to the job. And it's instead of ABC,
it's 123, right? Yeah. So like, how do you make sure that the the in the long term, it
maintains that that, I guess, integrity of what they're being asked to do. So we follow
up with the volunteers, we make sure that their their experiences are what they expected.
And then of course, we follow up with our nonprofits. So something new that we're going
to add for this fiscal year is a more community partner relationships position. So Micah,
who you met, she will be focusing primarily on building that rapport and maintaining those
relationships with the community partners. So she will be strictly with them following
up with them making sure that the volunteer did what they were supposed to do, and that
they're doing it properly and with the quality of work that we expect them to do as well.
And then I will focus on the volunteers and their experience with their responsibility
and then their experience with the nonprofit. Yeah. So it's very much like that checks and
balances, you know, making sure that the nonprofits are doing what they're saying that they're
supposed to do. The volunteers are actually showing up and doing the work. Interesting.
I think that's so that's so cool. Okay. Basically, we serve as the liaison between the entire
community. Gotcha. Okay, so I feel like I have like a million questions. Okay. So from
what you guys have seen, do you write any like audits on like what the like economic
impact it has on has had on the community or just like the the reach? Because you know,
nonprofits, it's kind of hard to talk about like the, you know, revenue generated. It's
like how many people have been helped? How many animals have been saved? So sometimes
I'm pulling up my report that I just sent over. So I'm going to give you some accurate
numbers. So we don't have, of course, all the data that we need. Hopefully that will
also change. We are switching softwares. So we're hoping to be able to capture everything
a little bit better than what we are right now. Let's see. So for March, our community
impact. So again, that we have over 300 volunteers, you know, they're not all active. So for the
month of March, our volunteers served 2259 hours. And since January, we have served 6891
hours. And then we successfully recruited and onboarded 20 volunteers. So that monetary
value for service hours for the month of March was a little bit over 40,000. And then year
to date is 163,932. And so we're able to make that calculation by what points of light considers
to be the monetary value behind the service hour.
Okay, I was going to ask you that. Like, did you take like the average or like the what
the median wage rate?
Okay, points of light considers a volunteer hour valued at $31. So we take that information.
Yeah. And so eventually what we hope to do, so I just gave you a broad overview of all
of our community partners that we're active with right now. But we're hoping to be able
to really divide that out per organization, so that we can really see the value of what
volunteers are doing per organization, rather than just generally.
Gotcha. So I was just googling points of light. I haven't I don't think I've heard of them
before. So
they're pretty phenomenal. You need to you need to look at that stuff.
How interesting. Yeah. I mean, I can just see you through the script like you're being
like you're smiling. You're all excited when you're telling me the numbers and everything.
So like what what have you learned about yourself through this whole experience of the transition
from you know, RSVP to stronger together and everything that you guys have been able to
accomplish?
Well, it has really been so rewarding. RSVP was rewarding in general. But now I'm telling
you the difference between 55 and older and then serving the entire community has really
just opened our eyes to what this program can be and will be in the future. We plan
to grow it as far as we can. But every day we we just enjoy being with our community
and connecting our volunteers with purposeful opportunities to make this impact. Every day
is great over here. We love seeing the impact. We love talking to our volunteers. We love
seeing what our community partners are doing.
Yeah, that's so cool.
Hey, everyone, just a quick message. You know that my mission with this podcast is to share
stories of influence and impact so that we can help more people help more people. But
to do that, I need your support. Please rate, review and share this podcast. If I could
ask for just one favor, it's to just leave a review. It takes about 10 seconds and a
few clicks, but it means the world to me and could inspire someone else to make a difference.
Thank you so much. And now back to the show.
So I guess with all that being said, like what what is like the major challenges that
you guys kind of come across like on the day to day or, you know, annually or what? I guess
what comes to mind when I say that.
Really? And this may sound so silly, but our current issue right now is just our software.
Like everything else is roses and dandy lines like our volunteers are so great. Our community
partners are so great. We just need that better software so that we can accommodate everybody
much better. And that is coming. We're going to launch that June, July the 1st.
Yeah, OK, so I feel like that is actually a great answer because it's something that
people don't typically think about or it's not. I don't know. It's like the underlining
stuff, right? What's the issue exactly you're running into with your software?
Well, we're not able to capture our impact per nonprofit. And then we have a cap on how
many volunteers can sign up with this software. So of course we could have upgraded the software,
but I thought let's just upgrade to a better software. So so right now, the reason why
I say 300 is because the max amount of volunteers on our current software is 300. And then we
have a wait list of other volunteers that we're just waiting to to onboard when we get
this new software with our new software, we will have unlimited amount of volunteers.
And this will benefit us because the inactive volunteers that I mentioned, it will give
them a second chance to really understand the program, because not everybody is ready
to just immediately step in and start. They need a little bit of time because we all have
lives outside of what we're doing. You know, there are families, they have kids, they're
working, they're going to school. And this will give them a little bit more of an opportunity
to learn about the program and kind of get involved when they're ready rather than just
bopping in the office. And, you know, I'm ready today. Not everybody is like that.
Yeah, exactly. That's so interesting. So what so I guess with the software, I guess, is
it an app where they like check in like, oh, I'm a ride at the site, like kind of like
clock in clock out, tracking everything. We will be able to do that with the new software.
It's going to it's going to have a GPS radius on it. So so this is a new initiative that
we're working on, too. So we have built a partnership with our court systems. So we
are going to help court ordered volunteers with their community service hours. So rather
than our court ordered volunteers picking up trash on the side of the road, we are trying
to build a better initiative for them to potentially change their lives and take them down a better
route with more purposeful volunteer opportunities. And with the software, we'll be able to allow
them to check in and check out or clock in and clock out with the app, which is what
we could not do before. We just have paper time sheets.
Gotcha. I didn't even think of the court ordered kind of stuff. Is that something that
you kind of run into often or? Well, so once we rebranded, we had a couple of court ordered
volunteers just call and inquire about the program. And eventually it just was like a
light bulb. And I was like, why are we not working closely with our court ordered volunteers
and with the court in general? So that was the first thing we talked about at the beginning
of the year was a better relationship with them so that the court doesn't really have
to explain volunteer service to every court or volunteer and that we can again, hopefully
encourage and inspire these people to change their paths and be inspired by the impact
that they are giving to the community. Yeah, because I'm sure once they see, you
know, that monetary value or, you know, that, you know, I feel okay, I'm a numbers kind
of sort of a numbers guy, right? So it's like you see the numbers, you see the hours, you're
like, oh, wow, that's like I've helped out this much. And then it'll also be able to
because yeah, because when you say like the court ordered, right, you think of people
on the side of the road picking up trash. Right. But it's needed. But maybe if they
were able to see an impact that resonates with them more deeply than picking up trash,
you know, you can see the 10 trash bags at the end of the day and you're like, all right,
that's cleaner. But maybe that would kind of help them. Like you said, put them on a
better path. Is that something that you've been able to see to fruition that it helps
them with that so far? Yeah. So we've actually had three court ordered volunteers graduate
from our program, which just means that they have successfully fulfilled all 200 service
hours through us. And we were helped. We were able to help God and kind of lead them into
the right direction. And we treated them like volunteers were able to to just say, hey,
you're a community member and this is what we're going to do today. And we try to give
them more more of a specific volunteer opportunity that does relate to them. Like you were saying,
just like we would any other volunteer, we try to match their experience, their interests
with a nonprofit that matches to that. Gotcha. OK, that makes sense. That's so cool. I never
even thought that's again, that's one of those things you don't think about until the opportunity
kind of just shows up at your door. That's right. We would have never done it had people
had the court or volunteers not called and inquired about it. Yeah. And I'm sure, you
know, for them, they're like, you know, what's the easiest way for me to get these hours
done? Yeah. But yeah. And then someone like me, I'm like, oh, we'll come to the office
and we can talk about everything. Yeah. Can always be very overwhelming, which is why
we're trying to simplify the program a little bit more. Gotcha. And that brings me to this
question, which is kind of a weird one. But is there is there an industry or an area that
doesn't get as much love as others like that? You know, because I feel like the puppies
and kittens and the elderly, I feel like those might be the easiest to find people for, in
my opinion. But maybe I'm really trying to think that's a really good question. People
ask it often. And I never have a good answer because we have we have Oxford is such a giving
community in general. For example, our pantry is sustained by the community. It is ran strictly
by volunteers. There's no paid staff over there. And then the majority of the items
that they have to give away are donated by the community or its monetary donations that
they're able to buy from the food bank in Memphis and then bring back. But it's all
sustained by the community. But as far as one that doesn't get as much love, I just
I don't think I can answer that. It's so equally across the table. Every somebody matches with
something different every time. So we're not constantly placing people at the animal resource
center or at memory makers. We try and spread. We share the love. We spread it all out to
everybody. I love that. Yeah, because that's what I was going to think. You know, one of
my dreams is kind of walk into a shelter and be like, which dog has been here the longest?
You know, right. Exactly. So that's kind of something that I would think is like, oh,
well, who has the least help or the least volunteers? That's so interesting to hear
that that's not even really a concern. Well, OK, let me go back. So sometimes it's hard
to recruit for hospice because that can be emotionally draining for a volunteer. But
the our hospice programs that we partner with now, we are able to promote it more as volunteering
at the veterans home because you're going to be volunteering with the veterans rather
than, you know, hospice. And we try to remove that term as much as possible because people
really just they shut down when they hear hospice. They think, oh, this is going to
be all things said. And it's not we we just placed two of our most phenomenal volunteers
with our newest hospice partner. And she called me yesterday and said, hey, I know that you
know that Patty and Gary are super, but I just wanted to let you know that they are
really super. And we've been trying to get them into the veterans home consistently with
a task for a long time. And we're just now successful with that because of the hospice.
So it's not that we are manipulating anything. It's just that we're advertising it as not
sad. It's like we're trying. We're trying to look at the other side of things where
not everything is sad. I mean, you can't we we're going to develop a buddy program.
So all of our volunteers will have a little bag of puzzles, word puzzles, coloring books,
anything that you can think of that they could carry around to the veterans home or to these
living assistants to just have a more engaged day with these clients and residents.
Yes. No, I hear you in time. Actually. So I mean, at the time of recording yesterday,
we actually went to one of my nonprofit partners, the Hospice Promise Foundation here in Oklahoma
area. And that was something that we talked about the director with was, you know, people
think of hospice, they think of on death's doorstep, like ready to go and very sad and
very this. She's like, well, you know, our our thing is prognosis of six months. So like
you're you're close, but you're not like and that's just the estimate. Right. Right.
And I think that's so interesting that the way that you guys kind of approach that was
because, you know, for them, they're like hospice is in the name. Right. Right. You're
they're not going to rebrand their way out of that. Right. But they can shine light,
educate, et cetera, et cetera. So I think it's so it's so clever and interesting that
you guys kind of went, you know, OK, this term doesn't resonate with people. What is
the best way that we can get folks on board to help out in this area? Yeah. You know,
because at the end of the day, it's about getting the volunteers in there, helping,
you know, supporting them through it, supporting the nonprofits. So I think that's very clever,
you know, problem solving and decision making. Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly what happened.
And now we're able to provide a little bit better quality of life for these residents
in these clinics. That's amazing. Awesome. Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, I feel like that
gives us a pretty solid understanding, like what you guys do, how you bring folks in.
And I think that that nugget right there is like very clever, again, clever decision making
on here's a problem that we have. It doesn't even sound like it got to like, you know,
mission critical, like nobody's helping nobody's doing anything, but still alleviating things
as they come up. So that's I feel like I'm just going to be thinking about that the rest
of the day for some reason. And I think Ranger, that was probably my thought, because as much
as I think I know about all nonprofits, and I can tell you everybody's mission and what
everybody's doing, I just could never explain a hospice better than what I just told you.
Like, because I'm guilty of thinking, oh, they're going to die when I walk into the
store like I'm guilty of being so negative about it, that I had to find another way for
myself to understand what these volunteers would be doing. And that's again, why we have
to be with these nonprofits, and we have to visit with them and we have to put ourselves
in their shoes so that we can better understand the needs that they have and that I can explain
that to the volunteers. Exactly. Yeah. And again, making sure that you can also because
that's another thing that we kind of talked about. What was it? Enrolling in the deep.
It was a workshop I did with a fellow coach that I know. And it was, you know, you can
know your mission, you can know your vision front and back, you can tell people all day.
But if you don't truly believe it, if you aren't sold on it yourself, you're not going
to be able to really truly get others enrolled in that vision as well. So it sounds like
you kind of saw that again, it wasn't mission critical, but enough of a lapse to say, OK,
I need to go in here. I need to understand this better so that I can communicate that
with others. And I think that's rad. Thank you. Yeah. My husband always teases me about
he has a retail background and we always talk about how he's he sells things, you know,
of course, retail back. And he says, well, you're selling a service, too. And I'm like,
yeah, of course I am. I'm selling the service of volunteerism. You're right. And so for
me to successfully do that, I have to have some sort of sales pitch. Yeah, exactly. And
I think that's such a valuable thing, whether you're enrolling people in the idea, whether
you're selling them on it, whatever. Again, whatever what you need to rebrand things in
your mind to feel the most connected to it. I think that that's that's probably the mission
critical part of it, too. So. How neat. Awesome. Well, I think that that kind of gives us a
great understanding. If people want to I mean, if anybody in Oxford hears this and they want
to volunteer or if somebody somewhere in the world says, man, this is a great idea, I want
to do something like this, what would be the best way to people can get in touch with you
learn more about what you guys do there in Oxford? Yeah. So anyone can call us on our
office line. That's 662-232-2773. And our email address is volunteer at stronger together
Oxford dot com. And our website is www dot stronger together Oxford dot com. Perfect,
Marley, and I will be sure I put all that down in the show notes in the description,
wherever wherever this audio or video ends up. I'll be sure that folks can be able to
find it as easy as possible. And I saw that you have a few other charities or resources
that you mentioned in the email. The city of Oxford were an acknowledgement that you
wanted to give as well as volunteer, Mississippian volunteer pro. Yeah. So of course, the city
of Oxford, they they fund our program. So they are the guidance of this program. Again,
our mayor, she actually named our program stronger together. So that is one of her mottos.
She loves our community. And so we were able to take her legacy and enhance it through
the entire community. Volunteer Mississippi is the state volunteer hub. So we partner
with them. We like their resources. They're able to shed a little bit of a different light
in different regions of the state that we may not have thought of. And then volunteer
pro is just another great resource for any anyone who's in the volunteer management world
who needs more resources to enhance their program. Awesome. Yeah, I'll be sure to put
those guys down in the description as well. So people, again, can use the use the program,
reach out to the other organizations or just see what they can what they can learn, what
they can give and all that. So awesome. Again, Marlee, thank you so much for your time. I
appreciate it. I hope you have a good rest of your day. Thank you. You as well. And again,
thank you to the listeners for spending your time with Marlee and I today. I had a great
conversation with her. I think I learned a few things that are just invaluable, just
being able to kind of roll with the punches and like notice when the way that you're communicating
with others is not as effective as you would like for it to be. I think her example with
the hospice volunteer opportunities is an excellent example of that one, because she
had the wherewithal to notice that it wasn't resonating before it became an issue. So I
think that's something we can all kind of take into value in our or something that we
can all take into our personal, professional, just our daily life as we interact and work
with one another. So once again, thank you for your time today. If you got something
valuable out of today's conversation, please consider sharing this on social media. Share
the episode with those that you work with that you're close to that you love, maybe
even people that you hate, just share the information with others. Because the more
that we're able to share these messages and just share what we all have to offer with
one another, the better our world will become. Be sure to leave us a rating review on whatever
podcast platform you're listening to this to. And as always, have fun, stay safe, and
be yourself. See you guys next time.