CENTENNIAL —Kathleen Murray retired from her career as an executive assistant, but since 2014 she’s been getting a weekly taste of corporate life by serving as a volunteer for Arapahoe County .
“Volunteering, to me, is all about, at the end of the day, did you make a difference?” the Aurora resident said after a recent shift handling phone checks-ins from people who are part of the county’s . “It’s about helping them and connecting them with the service they need. And they are great in this office. You do feel appreciated.”
Murray checks in the clients under the conditions of their bond, and provides them with other important information. She handles the phones one day a week, usually for about three hours.
Linda Mullen, a community corrections specialist for the county who works with Murray, said her assistance — and that of many other Judicial Service volunteers — is invaluable.
“If our volunteers are answering phones three hours, that frees us up to get a lot of work done,” Mullen said, estimating she is three times more productive when she doesn’t have to break to take phone calls. “It makes a huge difference for us.”
Murray is not alone. In 2014, she was among an estimated 400 volunteers who worked with a wide variety of Arapahoe County departments, putting in more than 25,700 hours and saving the county more than $580,000, officials said.
Now, the county is looking to grow those numbers and expand volunteer opportunities under the guidance of Nira Duvan, to lead the county’s program.
“This is a way we can expand our reach, expand our services without passing on cost to the taxpayers,” Duvan said of the seven-year-old program. “It’s also a way to engage citizens in meaningful volunteer opportunities.”
Though working at the and the annual Fall Festival at 17 Mile House are popular opportunities, volunteers can help in , from providing clerical support as Murray does, to leading 4-H youth programs or working with the master gardener program.
For Duvan, formerly the volunteer coordinator for in Jefferson County, there is room to expand and diversify those opportunities even further.
“With creative eyes, we can create literally hundreds of volunteer opportunities in the next year,” she said. “We know our baby boomers are retiring and we want to provide meaningful, but also interesting, projects for them where they are using their job skills and life skills.”
As one example, Duvan said she would like to bring on a volunteer to serve as a liaison for the ” ” snow-shoveling program, taking calls from disabled residents and senior citizens and then connecting them with shovelers in their area.
Don Klemme is the director of the Arapahoe County , which includes the Volunteer Connections program. He supports Duvan’s efforts to expand responsibilities for some volunteers and thinks it may “lead to some additional energy in the program.”
County Commissioner Nancy Jackson is a liaison to Klemme’s department and called Volunteer Connections “a wonderful thing.” She said beyond the impressive budget relief it provides the county — more than $1.58 million between just 2012 and 2014, according to Duvan — it provides a great way for residents to make a positive impact on their community. She encourages everyone interested to at least take a look at the opportunities available.
“People are looking for purpose and meaning,” she said. “Working for fellow citizens, working for their community is a wonderful way to give back.”
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or @RubinoJC
Volunteer connections
To see a listing of opportunities available, visit co.arapahoe .co.us and click on the “Volunteer” tab in the menu bar on the right side. Reach Nira Duvan at 303-738-7938.
