As someone who has used his skills to make a significant impact assisting local charitable causes and  nonprofits, Branford's Ken Engelman has a view into just what may be keeping others from helping out in their community: they just haven't considered the skills they have are exactly what's needed.

That's why he's putting on a push to inspire others to engage on a local level, and to spread the word through his Community Volunteers of America (CVA) website, which supports the mission of CVA, a program Engelman founded in 2021.

Sharing Your Skills

"Having fundraisers and asking people to show up on a Saturday morning is great, but a lot of times there are back-end wants and needs that local residents could step in to help out with; because they're experts in those wants and needs -- but just didn't think about calling a non-profit and offering 30 minutes a week," said Engelman.

The skills could be of a type most may not think about offering, such as putting in some public relations savvy, lending a hand at creative poster design or other layouts, working on a website, providing social media boosts and much more.

"All residents of all communities have skills and abilities that their local non-profits could benefit from,

said Engelman. "If you were to ask Siri or Google 'List local nonprofits near me,' that would provide them with the names and phone numbers of different non-profits that they could call and offer to help."

Engelman also notes the concept can expand beyond adults in the community. He will soon embark on an effort to reach out to local high schools to promote the idea for students seeking community volunteer hours or experiences. Engelman said that type of service could be as simple as spending 30 minutes a week on their smart phone promoting a charitable event or cause on social media channels.

Starting a Movement

A past Person of the Week (2013), Engelman earned a Shore Publishing Beacon Award in 2019 for his local volunteer work, including supporting the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter by creating and running Woofstock on the Branford Green (2013-2016), Animal Carnival at the Pine Orchard Yacht Club (2014), and Bark-A-Luau at the Owenego Beach Club (2015). Engelman also established the annual Stony Creek Duck Race to benefit nonprofit Orchard House Adult Medical Day Center.

In November, 2021, Engelman announced the establishment of CVA, which will be a 501c3 non-profit organization expanding on the successful social media-based volunteer service effort founded in 2020 by Engelman and friends, #VolunteerItsWhatWeDo.  Through its Facebook page and eye-catching vinyl sticker campaign, #VolunteerItsWhatWeDo has "...advertised there's a group of volunteers that's willing to help out," said Engelman. "And that advertising started a movement, where people are now stepping up and saying 'How can I help?' and jumping on our Facebook page to say what their specialty is and asking how that can help a small, local non-profit or charity."

#VolunteerItsWhatWeDo also allows volunteers and local nonprofits to communicate directly at the page. Between the Facebook group page and its #VolunteerItsWhatWeDo sticker advertising campaign, the effort has inspired "... many non-volunteers to start volunteering, and I have seen some new community nonprofits start up, which is very exciting to see," said Engelman. "The vinyl stickers have been placed on vehicle rear windows, restaurant doors, and peoples' laptops; motivating more people to join our free Facebook group."

Some of the area nonprofits assisted by Engelman and others through the Facebook group include Orchard House Medical Adult Day Care, Stand Up Speak Out!, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital Toy Closet, CT Department of Family Services, Branford Compassion Club, Branford Early Learning Center, Branford Heat Smart, Community Dining Room, East Haven Food Pantry, Boxes to Boots (overseas servicemember care packages), Motorcycle Relief Project (benefiting veterans) and Pets for Vets, which matches veterans with shelter animals as compassion pets.

Extending Reach and Resources with CVA

Engelman's own experience as a non-profit volunteer and professional has also shown him that many local charitable organizations may not be reaching beyond a small core group of volunteers and/or hardworking board members to gather resources for wants and needs, outside of traditional fundraising efforts.

"All nonprofits will ask a community for fundraising, but not a lot of nonprofits will ask community residents for assistance by taking what they do in their careers and providing it as actual work that's needed by the non-profit," said Engelman. "For example, a nonprofit may have a fundraiser to pay for products and services. What if those products and services were provided by community residents who could kindly do the work in-kind, or a small business that could donate the products needed in-kind?"

Engelman said many nonprofits have the built-in ability to benefit a small businesses and others who support their needs, by promoting the services or products provided in-kind through communications shared with supporters, event publicity, mentions on social media and press outreach to media outlets.

"So there's also mutual benefit by working together. A lot of times, people don't think to support local businesses. But if they hear about a local business that's doing something to in-kind to help a local nonprofit, there's a good chance they'll go to them next time they need something," said Engelman. "Richlin's in Branford is a good example of that. They're going to donate $2,500 to sponsor Branford's first annual Cornhole Tournament in July for the Orchard House; and [event] publicity can help bring supporters to Richlin's to shop."

More to Share Through CVA

Engelman has been working to draw people to CVA's website to learn more about how easy it can be to offer assistance to local nonprofits and charitable causes. He also welcomes community members to contact him through the website to discuss ideas.  The CVA website is also accepting donations to help build momentum for promoting CVA's mission as well as building and providing tools for nonprofits to access online, such as templates for flyers or other promotional materials.

Engelman hopes to have CVA's mission and message spread across Connecticut and the country.

"Communities helping communities is something we can all do on our own," said Engelman. "This campaign can kickstart that conversation in Branford, and then East Haven and Guilford and it can spread out across the state of Connecticut and beyond. I believe that, a healthy community is a strong community and a strong community is a united community. I will be happy to speak with anyone and explain the value that comes from volunteering locally; and together, we will be improving the health and well-being of communities from coast to coast."

Learn more about Community Volunteers of America at communityvolunteersofamerica.org