Oxford Stories: Volunteer Oxford Continues to Grow

Sarah Ball is the director of Volunteer Oxford.

Volunteer Oxford is housed in a small office, but what they do for the city of Oxford is just the opposite. They are a matchmaker for volunteers and nonprofit organizations in the Lafayette-Oxford-University community.

They encourage volunteerism within the community, and they are the city’s premiere spot for anyone looking to volunteer or for a nonprofit organization.

Volunteer Oxford is located at 606 South 16th Street in Oxford. They share office space with other businesses such as RSVP and The Dwight L. Young Group CPA office. They are part of the Oxford Park Commission and funded by Volunteer Mississippi through the Volunteer Generation fund.

“Our main goal is to support, promote and develop volunteer opportunities in the community that we serve,” Sarah Ball, Volunteer Oxford director, said. “Volunteer Oxford serves Lafayette, Pontotoc and Yalobusha counties.”

Volunteer Oxford has a big impact on the LOU community by shedding light on the importance of volunteering. They filter volunteers to nonprofits in need of extra help. They also help nonprofits recruit volunteers, working on both sides of the volunteering spectrum.

“You can look at it from both ways – from the volunteer’s perspective and then also the organization’s perspective,” Ball said. “So for example, if an organization needs help, we can recruit volunteers for them, or if someone wants to volunteer, and they’re not sure where they want to volunteer, we can help provide some suggestions.”

Shelby Bryant, a senior at the University of Mississippi is very impressed by Volunteer Oxford and its services. “The website is easy to navigate and makes finding different volunteer opportunities easy,” she said. “I especially love the Volunteer Spotlight as it inspires me to get out in the community and volunteer”

Volunteer Oxford has one full-time employee. Ball became the director in July of 2013. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Mississippi and previously worked for the North Mississippi Regional Center in the Recreation Therapy Department.

“My role as the director is to help keep everything moving forward with our grant,” she said. “That means meeting all of our objectives, promoting all of our organization’s volunteer opportunities, and making sure that we are current with what is going on with the community.”

Volunteer Oxford Director Sarah Ball checks the Facebook page to keep track of volunteer interactions.

Spreading the word about Volunteer Oxford is very important for Ball so everyone in the community will be aware of the business. “That is a big piece of what I do,” she said. “I go talk to maybe some small group or individuals and inform them about how they can sign up to be on our computer software Give Gab,” Ball said.

Give Gab is Volunteer Oxford’s primary resource in linking volunteers. Anyone can access this software through Volunteer Oxford’s website, and once you are registered as either a volunteer or an organization, you can browse through all the surrounding organizations and events that need volunteers. There are search functions that can be adapted to certain types of organizations or can even be regulated by location.

UM senior Kelsey Sanders is always looking for ways to get involved in the LOU community and thinks Volunteer Oxford’s Give Gab site is the most efficient way to do so.

“I like to volunteer in the community, but before I knew about Volunteer Oxford, I wasn’t sure how to do it. I went to a meeting on campus where Volunteer Oxford had a presentation about their organization. I signed up for the site, and from there, it was so easy to find volunteer opportunities that I was interested in.”

Volunteer Oxford also puts on major events throughout the year, such as the 9/11 Day of Service, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and Volunteer Week. “Those are all designed to inspire people to volunteer,” Ball said.

Volunteer Oxford has quickly grown in the past four years since it was established. The first year was all about setting a foundation for the volunteer center and learning how to recruit volunteers and nonprofit partners. Since that first year, Volunteer Oxford grew to include Pontotoc and Yalobusha counties in their services and continues to grow their impact in the LOU community.

“We have generated partnerships with over 115 nonprofits, and the transition over to Give Gab has built more of an online presence,” Ball said. “So we have over 2,000 volunteers made up of Ole Miss students and residents from Pontotoc, Lafayette and Yalobusha counties.”

Volunteer Oxford is preparing for the future and hopes to increase their impact in the LOU community.

“I see us continually growing, getting more volunteers and getting our name out there,” she said. “The end goal is to get more people to volunteer, to spark that interest and inspire people to volunteer.”

Sydney Nutt can be reached at sgnutt@go.olemiss.edu. Read her work on Oxford Stories Longform.

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