17 Apr We LOVE our Volunteers. Here’s One of Many Reasons Why.
We LOVE our Volunteers. Here’s One of Many Reasons Why.
By Jenna Watanabe, Marketing & Development Coordinator
This video was recorded at one of our most popular volunteer events called Skill Drills, an introductory sports clinic that teaches 1st-5th kids the fundamentals of basketball, soccer and volleyball. Email jenna@rocksf.org to volunteer. Video created by our amazing volunteer, Mark Wieser. Check out his website to see more of his awesome work.
It was my second month on the job and I was eager to meet a brand new volunteer who just two days prior, eagerly expressed his interest in teaching kids basketball skills. As a former youth basketball coach, he couldn’t wait to get back on the courts and help kids discover their love for the sport, too.
On Mark Wieser’s first day of volunteering, we had the chance to chat for a few minutes before all the volunteers broke out into groups to practice basketball dribbling with kids from all over Visitacion Valley.
Then a few days after his first day, he reached out to express his appreciation for the event along with an offer to explore more ways to help our kids. He said he was always looking for ways to combine his passions for helping kids, basketball and making videos. We quickly arrived at one of the best decisions ever—he decided to create a video that captured our Saturday volunteer opportunity called Skill Drills, which is an introductory sports clinic where San Francisco volunteers help teach 1st through 5th graders the fundamentals of basketball, soccer and volleyball.
In just two Skill Drills sessions, one of our very own volunteers was able to capture the amazing footage that you can watch.
Perhaps what was most amazing about producing the video, is that in addition to showcasing the awesome ways to get involved with R.O.C.K. and become a positive adult role model for our kids, it also revealed the full circle of impact R.O.C.K. has on the Visitacion Valley community—a tiny section of San Francisco that most may not even know about.
We hope you enjoy a little snippet of how consistency and years of hard work have materialized from the very kids who grew up with R.O.C.K. and now return as staff members, as volunteers, or as community members who teach the next generation how important it is to give back.
Our mission is to provide youth with more options than what is offered in their neighborhood and give them more opportunities to see the world around them.
In our eyes, if our program only helps some children to become happy, healthy adults, then we’ve already accomplished something big. As a tiny nonprofit with an even tinier operations team, we always encourage passionate people who want to lend their skills and talents to help our nonprofit.
We hope that you can be a part of that impact too, and we invite you to join us any time during the year. Visit us at rocksf.org to learn more about our programs.
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