Events

There are many ways to list your volunteer opportunities. This short episode goes over some of our favorite volunteer and matching fund portals. They include: volunteermatch.org, benevity.com, and joindeed.org.
Tips include:
Have a checkbox that they agree to have their photos taken and used for your site and social media accounts
Link to a form if you are posting this somewhere like NextDoor or Facebook to get their info into your database
Include a checkbox for privacy policies and your promises to them.
Be detailed and keep the opportunities simple. 
Create a short video for the opportunity landing pages and specific landing pages on your site encouraging people to volunteer.

In this episode of All Volunteer All Heart from Binky Patrol, host Susan Finch welcomes Angie Marie, a community leader from Hood River, Oregon. Angie shares her inspiring story of creating Gorge SpeakEasy, a monthly storytelling event that brings together diverse members of the community while supporting local nonprofits. Through volunteer efforts and innovative partnerships with local businesses, Gorge SpeakEasy has become a platform for connection, personal growth, and community impact. Angie and Susan discuss the power of collaboration between organizations and how companies can give back to their communities beyond financial contributions. This episode is a must-listen for businesses seeking creative ways to make a difference in their local areas, emphasizing the exponential impact of cross-organizational cooperation. Join Susan and Angie as they explore the heartwarming potential of storytelling, volunteerism, and community-building.
 
Gorge Speakeasy on Instagram
Binky Patrol on Instagram
Gorge Speakeasy on Facebook
Binky Patrol on Facebook

Welcome to another episode of Volunteer All Heart from Binky Patrol. I'm your host Susan Finch, and today we have two of our amazing volunteers joining us to share their experiences hosting Bink-A-Thons in their communities.
First up is Binky Patrol director, Carolyn Berndt, one of our dedicated volunteers who helped organize a small but mighty Bink-A-Thon with kids from a local charter school. She knows the power of involving youth in service.
We'll also hear from Daphne Boyd, a longtime New Jersey Binky Patrol Area Coordinator who partnered with her local library for a Bink-A-Thon. Daphne knows the importance of engaging senior volunteers, using online volunteer platforms, and allowing flexible participation.
Both ladies have great tips to share from their events, which the MrBallen Foundation sponsored. They'll inspire you with how our volunteers unite to make blankets and hope for children and families nationwide. Stay tuned!Here are some key tips from this episode and our recent event:
Partner with organizations receiving donations to help promote and recruit event volunteers through their newsletters, social media, etc.
Involve youth groups like Girl Scouts or school kids to participate in service activities. It teaches them to help others.
Engage senior communities in making items, giving them a sense of purpose.
Use online volunteer platforms like VolunteerMatch.org to manage and recruit volunteers. Have multiple admins.
List your non-profit in volunteer directories like 211 and United Way to increase visibility.
Consider hosting events in different seasons to provide more opportunities for involvement.
Block enough time for setup, the event itself, and clean-up when planning. Allow some flexibility.
Develop partnerships with local schools, companies, stores, etc. to host drives or service days.
Provide options for volunteers with limited time, like setup/cleanup help only.
Learn more at https://binkypatrol.org 

October 28 seven states coordinated a national blanket-making event. They each chose who would receive the blankets they made. They all had one thing in common - the recipients would be children and teens who were victims of or traumatized by violent crimes. Listen to this episode to hear the stories from four states: Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Oregon.
We can help any group coordinate one of these events, even if there isn't a chapter near you. We've done this for remote teams, international teams, churches, quilt groups, service organizations, corporations large and small. If you want to bring the like-hearts near you together, consider a Bink-A-Thon.
This national event was sponsored by the MrBallen. Foundation. 
Links from this episode:
MrBallen.foundationBinky Patrol Comforting CoversTheAngelsInTheOutfield.orgCenter for Family JusticeMassachusetts Society for the Protection of ChildrenMission of DeedsCape Cod Children's CenterComfort CasesSecond-Story.orgProject HorizonPhillips Academy (andover.edu)Holy Trinity Catholic ChurchLoudon County Public LibraryPlanet PizzaDutch Bros. Coffee
 
Other sponsors included Planet Pizza in Connecticut, Dutch Bros. in Beaverton, Hoffman Fabrics, Embassy Suites in Tigard, OR and our host locations. Many hands, as the saying goes. 

Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 28.
Locations are to be posted soon.
Bring: Your heart, your smile, sharp scissors, your sewing machine if you want to, thread, possibly a cushion to pin and cut on the ground or a folding chair in a cafeteria, and comfy shoes.
Learn more about MrBallen Foundation here.
Learn more about Bink-A-Thons here.
Contact Susan Finch with questions about this event.
 

Have you ever known the family was coming over, but because of the weather, and varying ages, you didn't quite know what to do with everyone after the meal? What about when your office and workload are lighter due to the upcoming holidays, end-of-year vacations, and more? A great way to bring these groups of people together is to make blankets. It's a chance to lift some of the annual awkwardness, stay busy for those fidgety people, and change lives. Make blankets. We sometimes forget to talk about the overall mission of Binky Patrol. Binky Patrol makes blankets and gives them away to children and teens in need of comfort. Those invisible kids who need a reminder that they matter, they are not forgotten, and that someone cares about them. We do this through handmade blankets - they can be sewn, quilted, crocheted, knitted, or tied - just so they come from your heart and are washable, they are perfect. Please listen to this 7-minute episode.
This podcast is sponsored by Impact4Good.com Connecting companies, organizations, and communities.What difference will you make today?
Impact 4 Good is the one source for bringing community service to your next event! Exciting and engaging team-building activities are just part of what we offer. Let us identify the best cause/beneficiary to support, manage the donation logistics and bring the spirit of community service to your group. From your initial request through the day of your event, Impact 4 Good handles all the details.

We are having two Bink-a-Thons October 8. One in Monroe, Connecticut, and one in Beaverton, Oregon.  A little friendly competition never hurts, right? I really want to win. Jeanne Malgioglio usually wins. But really who wins? The kids who will get the binkies we are all making that day.  This is a fun opportunity to  connect multiple chapters. This is a great idea for other hands-on charities that have multiple locations. We will most likely be broadcasting live that day on Facebook and YouTube. This is a short episode just for fun and a little spunky.  You can sign up for the Beaverton, OR event here. 
A Bink-A-Thon is an event where we gather as many people as possible to make as many blankets as possible within 4 to 6 hours. Blankets can be sewn or tied. We usually have a couple of dozen people on sewing machines, many people helping with pinning, cutting, tying, bagging. There is something for everyone to do. We've been doing these since our first year in 1996 and they end up being more like a reunion for the volunteers who attend every one of them. We've more than 25 here in Oregon since we moved here 17 years ago.

Having events is a great way to expand your audience, donors, volunteers, and build goodwill in the community. Since Binky Patrol is all-volunteer, we rely on partnering with sponsors and hosting organizations that are looking for a fun event to offer their volunteers, employees, members. This episode walks you through some ideas, and a list of what you need to know before you have an event.
If you want to have an event, find partners. For Binky Patrol, we partner with United Way, HandsOn Portland, Comcast, quilt guilds, girl scouts and schools. Local coffee companies like Dutch Bros, sandwich companies like Subway help keep our volunteers fed and energized. You also need a partner to help you at the end of your event. We have our delivery team that will take all of the blankets made that day to deliver them. We have a clean up crew that will take everything to put it away until the next event. You need to plan it from start to finish, before promotions and after thank you notes.

We are still one world and sometimes one very spread out company. A great way to get to know each other is through team-building events, but what can you do that will allow each location to get to know the other locations? An event where you work with one or more charities, perhaps make blankets live, have a guest speaker from the place your teams will deliver their blankets, have a relay benefitting a charity in those big inflatable balls at each location simultaneously rolling in a field. Well, you get it. The ideas coming out of our heads are endless, not very expensive, a lot of fun and build great memories, as well as help you retain talent.  Join Susan and Lisa for this 20-minute event idea firehose. If you have questions, want to talk about more ideas, let them know!

There is no replacing the in-person experience of laughter, and compassion. Time to dip a toe into these events again through speaking, team building, 5Ks, and more! Lisa and Susan go through some ideas to make it easy for you to do what you are comfortable with and will tell you some of their experience at Race for the Cure events, corporate team building, quilt guilds, and even ski events. It's time to get back out there and really connect with your communities!
From sewing blankets on-site during a Race for the Cure, to golf tournaments, and competitive events, they could all use some warmth from your charity. At least that's what Lisa and Susan think in this episode. They share stories from at least a dozen events where Binky Patrol was exposed to entirely new audiences, kept the crowds entertained and made some blankets at the same time. Tune in.