The Serve Virginia Volunteer Hub!

Motivated by her desire to welcome others, Tanya has found purpose and connection through her role volunteering as the lead Dance Instructor for the Sacred Heart Folklorico dance group at the Sacred Heart Center in Richmond, Virginia. She teaches children and youth traditional Mexican and Latin American dances and helps the students perform at area festivals and events. Her service builds community among the children and families participating in the dance group, as well as the larger Richmond region. In the fall of 2025, her dance group received an invitation to perform at a local nursing home to bring joy...

As a Summer 2024 Serve Virginia Honor Roll honoree, Dee Dee Schrader's inspiration to serve comes from her grandmother. She recalls employees at the local card store asking her grandmother if they could take her coat: "They knew she would be there for hours picking cards for everyone she knew, not just for holidays or birthdays, but for bad days, sad days, and days she thought we needed a lift. She wanted to brighten people’s spirits; to let everyone she touched know they were loved. They did matter." Dee Dee reflects, "I was never forgotten by her and those cards...

Congratulations to Lucy Cummins of Richmond - winner of the 2021 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Young Adult Volunteer! The Health Brigade, a free clinic in downtown Richmond, became a vital resource for many as COVID-19 infections began to rise in Central Virginia. Lucy Cummins may have originally stepped into her role as a patient navigator to assist with Spanish interpretation and translation services, but quickly pivoted to address and overcome a number of challenges presented by the pandemic. Putting aside her own academic needs in developing her translation skills, Lucy got to work helping to get...

In her retirement, Barbara Johnson found herself with too much time on her hands, so she turned to AARP to help her find a way to get involved with her community. They connected her with the VCU Head Start program in Richmond Public Schools, where retired seniors are trained to become teacher’s aides. She loved the opportunity to learn while supporting youth, but the program limited her to a four-year contract. When that time ended, Barbara took the advice of some of the teachers she’d been working with, who recommended she get involved in the AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program at Senior Connections.  ...

In her time as an early educator, Mackenzie Vuotto began to see the pivotal impact that service and volunteerism can have on young people and families. "An important part of educating young children is informing them about who is in their community, and how their 'community heroes' (like firefighters, doctors, or mail deliverers) help them every day," says Mackenzie. "I realized it was also important to educate children, from a young age, about ways they can help others so we had multiple food and supplies drives in my preschool classroom throughout the year!" Mackenzie is now serving as an AmeriCorps...

Robyn Pratt has spent her life using her personal and professional experiences to serve the people around her. Robyn is from Virginia but has spent the last four years in community with folks from California, Oregon and Georgia. Robyn's desire to serve was planted by her mother as a small child, and her love for service continues to grow with each passing day, as it did through her years of AmeriCorps service. She graduated college many light years ago with a degree in Human Services. She has since been an advocate for sexual assault survivors with The Center, taught many little...