2nd Quarter Newsletter 2025
1. Meet Deb Baysinger!
2. Callout from CARES of Central PA, Inc.
3. Sign Up for Penn State’s Fresh START Day of Service - held Sunday, August 31, 2025
4. Centre Gives
a. Volunteer Centre County Only Needs 20 Unique Donors ($10 Minimum) at Centre Gives to Qualify for a Stretch
Pool—please support us in meeting this benchmark!
b. Volunteer Centre County is Sponsoring a Prize at Centre Gives - Learn More Below
5. Volunteer Centre County Platform: New Features/Updates
6. New Community Partners
7. Facebook Snafu
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1. WELCOME DEB BAYSINGER!
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Welcome, Deb Baysinger! Deb is working with Volunteer Centre County by reaching out to touch base and learn what our Community Partners’ needs are to keep the platform fresh and updated. Here’s a little bit about Deb:
I was born and raised in NJ and have been a resident of Centre County since 2012. My Husband and I have 3 children and one dog. We enjoy hiking and living an active lifestyle. I have been a health and fitness coach for the last 7 years, as well as taking on the role of Nursery Coordinator at my church since 2024. I look forward to assisting Volunteer Centre County and its Community Partners.
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2. CARES HAS VOLUNTEERS WILLING TO HELP
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Need volunteers? C.A.R.E.S has VIPs looking to volunteer!
Reach out to: Noelle Ulrich
Program Specialist
CARES of Central PA, Inc. (814) 769-0187
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3. SIGN UP TO PARTICIPATE IN FRESH START AT PENN STATE
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Penn State Fresh Start is in the process of seeking Community partners for the 2025 Fresh START Day of Service event being planned for Sunday, August 31st. The primary purpose of Fresh START is to introduce first-year and transfer students to service opportunities to help them 'get rooted in service' while attending Penn State. Penn State’s efforts are not meant to take away anything from the United Way's Day of Service, typically held in October, but hopefully, it will provide another opportunity to benefit local organizations. Similar to the MLK Day of Service event, but with more flexibility and warmer weather to go offsite, the goal is to have 400+ Penn State students help local organizations with various service activities. Below is a link to a Community Partner Interest Form providing more details on the event itself, as well as collecting information from any interested organizations
Fresh START Day of Service 2025 - Community Partner Interest Form
https://forms.office.com/r/n1Bhtw0Lvh
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4. CENTRE GIVES
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This year, we need 20 unique donors to participate in the stretch pool. Please donate to Volunteer Centre County to help us participate in the stretch pool funds. We are a free community service supported by several private donors, and typically do not get more than a handful of donors each year at Centre Gives. Please consider being one of those unique donors - a $10 minimum donation will do it! We appreciate it!
Centre Gives – everyone knows the dates! 5.14.25 8 AM – 5.15.25 8 PM.
Volunteer Centre County typically donates each year at Centre Gives to each of our Community Partners as one of our ways of supporting each of them. This year, we are supporting our Community Partners by sponsoring two prizes. As a result, Volunteer Centre County will not be able to participate in any prizes for our organization. Volunteer Centre County is listed on the prizes page as sponsoring two $500 Power Hour prizes on Thursday, May 15, from 6-7 PM: one each for large and small organizations. https://centregives.org/prizes#upcoming-prizes
Volunteer Centre County will be participating in the Centre Gives Fest on May 15th. Please come and say Hi to Deb and Ann at THE BRASS 16823 in Bellefonte that evening!
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5. NEW PLATFORM FEATURES/UPDATES
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a) Refresh: 30-day Timer Installed for Ongoing Posts Only
Every 30 days, only for ongoing posts, Community Partners will receive an autogenerated email asking them if they want to keep the post active or not.
Specifically, on day 25 of a post’s active period, the Community Partner receives an autogenerated email notifying them that they have 5 days to refresh the post without making any changes. If they don’t refresh it within that time, the post becomes inactive, and they’ll need to go into their portal, make any edits necessary, and send it for a new approval. Once the post is inactive, it can be edited, but it cannot be edited while it is active.
b) Editing Posts
Here’s how post management works for Community Partners. The system works in a way that an active post can only be refreshed or deactivated. If a Community Partner wants to make changes, the first step is to deactivate the post. Once it’s inactive, the “Edit” option becomes available.
c) NEW! WHO’S HIRING – A JOB BOARD FOR OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS
We have a new feature on the platform – a jobs board – where Community Partners can post paid jobs that they have. This is free. Check it out in your Community Partner portal on the Volunteer Centre County website.
d) See Something That You Think Needs Changing?
As always, if you see anything that you think can be improved on the website or app, please let us know. Our developers are constantly tweaking the platform every month for improvements.
e) Need Statistics?
Does your organization need Google statistics on page views? Does it need information on the number of people who apply to your organization’s posts, or the number of posts your organization makes? We have these statistics for you! Sometimes they can be helpful in grant writing, or just for your Board’s information. Let us know if you’d like your organization’s statistics, and we will be happy to share them with you!
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6. MEET OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER RELEASE
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Welcome!
Bellefonte Community Band
Nittany Valley Charter School
Darkness2Hope
Lemont Village Association
Footprints in the Field
Pets Come First
State College Food Bank
Pennsylvania Pink Zone
Autism Diagnostic Evaluations Resources and Services
Burning Ma'aM
Central PA July 04, Inc.
Rhoneymeade
Pennsylvania Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation
We are 124 Community Partners Strong!
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7. FACEBOOK SNAFU
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Volunteer Centre County does not advertise on Facebook for itself, it advertises each Community Partner’s needs and events that are posted. Thus, we are not using Facebook directly as intended. We use it to promote others, not ourselves so much. That ends up being an interesting situation. We were using “posts” to share Community Partner’s needs, but moved over to using “ads.” The ads option has a special selection for social issues organizations, and we got in trouble because we did not select this for a Community Partner. In trying to appeal this, and with poor judgment by doing so on an unsecured network in a hotel in Boston, a hack occurred. So, double whammy. We are starting over. Thanks to Hello Social Co. in Bellefonte (https://hellosocialco.com/) for setting up a new page for us! Here’s a HUGE high-five to Ellen Mattis and Kately Crean for their help and support.
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Thank you for working with Volunteer Centre County!
info@volunteercentrecounty.org
814-308-5052
Let us know how we can best support you with volunteer requests, needs for donated goods, spread the word events posts, and “who’s hiring employment posts!
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