3rd Quarter Newsletter 2025
1. PLEASE Submit Projects for Leadership Centre County Teams to do in the Spring of 2026!
a. Projects should take around 24 hours to accomplish
b. Teams of 5-6 class members on each project
c. Application attached as a docx file. Deadline 5 PM on October 24, 2025
2. Community Partner Share: Host Trunk or Treat for the State College YMCA
a. Deadline October 17, 2025
b. Link to sign up appears below
3. Volunteer Centre County is providing 10 membership scholarships to PANO: $110 each
a. Deadline October 31, 2025
b. Instructions below
4. New Community Partners!
5. What Volunteer Centre County Has Been Up To
a. Fresh Start
b. Downtown Rotary Ice Cream Fest
c. Sponsored: Girl Scouts Make 160 “turkey hand” placemats for State College Meals on Wheels clients
d. Facebook Snafu Fixed
6. Start Preparing Now for Giving Tuesday – December 2, 2025
7. Let Us Know if You Need Anything From Volunteer Centre County
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1. PLEASE SUBMIT! LEADERSHIP CENTRE COUNTY –
CLASS of 2026 SERVICE PROJECTS!
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Can your organization benefit from a few extra hands and minds to help carry out a short-term project? If so, please read on.
Each year, Leadership Centre County (est. 1993; LEADERSHIP) divides its newest class members into small working groups called Juntos. During their class year (2025-2026) each Junto is responsible for developing, assisting with, and executing a community-based service project for a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization.
This keystone project is a significant part of LEADERSHIP’s community leadership program, and a great way to encourage class members to become active volunteers in our community (and with your organization).
LEADERSHIP is seeking six (6) projects in which the new Juntos can become engaged.
Criteria for your Consideration:
1. The projects typically take no longer than 24 total hours to complete.
2. Any dollar amount needed to complete the project is either provided by the organization or raised by the Junto. LEADERSHIP does not provide funding.
3. Average projects require about 5-10 hours of service.
4. LEADERSHIP Juntos are 6-8 class members working as a team.
5. Projects often involve solving a community problem or direct need for your organization.
Project Proposals and Timeline:
We are calling for proposals for the LEADERSHIP Class of 2026 Juntos to be completed by October 24, 2025. Please see the attached form. Volunteer Centre County is managing the collection of projects to submit to LEADERSHIP. Please contact Ann at info@volunteercentrecounty.org if you have any questions.
A member of the LEADERSHIP team will confirm that your proposal has been received and will identify and address any questions, concerns, etc. Please submit proposals to info@volunteercentrecounty.org. LEADERSHIP class members will learn of the projects available at their October meeting and select which project they want to complete at their December meeting. This gives them a month to decide. Our goal is to have all projects moving forward at the beginning of the new year. Completion of all projects will be by May 2026, as class members present their projects at the LEADERSHIP graduation ceremony.
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2. Community Partner Share
SIGN UP: Host Trunk or Treat for the YMCA
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Host a trunk at the State College YMCA Trunk or Treat - The deadline to sign up is October 17th, 2025.
The State College YMCA’s annual Trunk or Treat event is on Friday, October 24th, from 5 PM -7 PM.
Sign Up to Participate Here:
If you have questions, please contact: Jamie SanFilippo, 814-237-7717 ext. 1138, jsanfilippo@ymcaocc.org
CONTACT: Jamie SanFilippo
Branch Executive Director
YMCA OF CENTRE COUNTY
677 West Whitehall Road
State College, PA 16801
814-237-7717 ext. 1138
jsanfilippo@ymcaocc.org
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3. TEN PANO MEMBERSHIP SCHOLARSHIPS GIVEN
JOIN BY OCTOBER 31, 2025, TO RECEIVE $110!
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Volunteer Centre County is offering 10 PANO membership scholarships for 1 year to our Community Partners at $110 each, applied to an individual or an organizational membership. To receive this scholarship, please use code VCC2025 when you join PANO and email your registration confirmation to info@volunteercentrecounty.org along with the address you would like us to use to mail a $110 check. Deadline to join with this offer: October 31, 2025.
The first 10 to join will receive the scholarship.
PANO Office: 717-236-8584 | Direct Line: 717-839-6560
www.pano.org | Upcoming Events | Subscribe to Our Emails
WHY JOIN PANO? A list of membership benefits is below:
· Public Policy and Advocacy Action Alerts and Info
· AskPANO (formerly known as The Nonprofit Helpdesk)
· Discounted Trainings and Events (55% off for Members)
· Discounted Registration Fee to our Annual Conference (typically held at the Penn Stater in State College)
· Customized Training for Your Organization
· Standards for Excellence Free Educational Resources
· Standards for Excellence Accreditation and Recognition Program
· Discounted Fundraising/Donor Management Softwares w/ Auxilia, Bloomerang, and Impala
· Discounted Publications and Reports
· Unemployment Insurance Savings Program with First Nonprofit
· Free Membership to The Nonprofit Risk Management Center
· Employee Benefits Packages through My Benefit Advisor
· Job Board (75% off 30-day Job Postings)
· Discounted Online Recruitment Tools with PXT Select
· Discounted HR Solutions w/ Trinet
· Discounted subscription to GrantStation
· Discounted Marketing & Websites with Firespring
· Discounted Accounting and Financial Services
· Discounted IT services and products with Splashwire
· Discounted board management/stakeholder engagement platform with Cureo
· Discounted advocacy policy tools with Ujoin
· Discounted Tech Support with TechImpact
· Discounted Background checks
· Discounted Student Loan Management online tool with Savi
MEMBERSHIP DUES:
· Individual $126
· Organizational Membership Levels
· Nonprofit Organizations (Budget Under $50,000) Join - $110
· Nonprofit Organizations (Budget Between $51,000 and $199,999) Join - $131
· Nonprofit Organizations (Budget Between $200,000 and $499,999) Join - $220
· Nonprofit Organizations (Budget Between $500,000 and $699,999) Join - $383
· Nonprofit Organizations (Budget Between $700,000 and $999,999) Join - $441
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4. MEET OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER RELEASE
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Welcome!
Ghana Medical Relief
American Philatelic Research Library
Pasa Sustainable Agriculture
Philipsburg Revitalization Corporation
Print Factory Bellefonte
Performing Arts School of Central PA
Serendipity Horse Rescue Ranch
Snow Shoe EMS
Tempest Productions, Inc.
The Fred H Carlin Community Vision Foundation
Penns Valley Youth Center
Ridgelines Language Arts
Easterseals of WCPA Child Development Center
AIDS Resource Alliance, Inc.
We are 136 Community Partners Strong!
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5. WHAT VOLUNTEER CENTRE COUNTY HAS BEEN UP TO
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FRESH START
Ann Echols, Volunteer Centre County’s Executive Director, spoke at Penn State’s Fresh START Day of Service - held Sunday, August 31, 2025. It was very motivating to see hundreds of students eager to volunteer on a Sunday morning right after a home PSU football game!
The primary purpose of Fresh START was to introduce first-year and transfer students to service opportunities to help them 'get rooted in service' while attending Penn State. Overall, just under 370 volunteers helped out at 22 different nonprofits’ locations. The Fresh Start Team celebrates a success, as they had about 365 volunteers help out at 22 different locations. There was a lot of positive feedback from students, with many being appreciative of learning more about the local area that they otherwise likely would not have found out on their own. We are grateful for helping Penn State students get rooted in service.
DOWNTOWN ROTARY ICE CREAM FEST – BOUNCE HOUSE SPONSOR
SPONSORED GIRL SCOUTS HEART OF PA MAKING 160 “Turkey hand” PLACEMATS FOR STATE COLLEGE MEALS ON WHEELS CLIENTS
On October 3, 2025, 21 Girl Scouts, mostly Brownies, gathered to make 160 “turkey hand” placemats to add joy and care to State College Meals on Wheels clients’ Thanksgiving deliveries! 21 girls did a whirlwind service activity! Amazing!!
FACEBOOK SNAFU FIXED
Volunteer Centre County set up a new Facebook page since the hacked page still has the hacker’s emails in the Meta account. 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 Kately Crean and Devin Kos for their help and support.
Here is our new page: https://www.facebook.com/VolunteerCentreCountyPA/
We will begin posting again soon.
Thank you for your patience.
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6. START PREPARING NOW FOR GIVING TUESDAY
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GivingTuesday 2025 will be Tuesday, December 2. The date is always the Tuesday after Thanksgiving each year. Because Thanksgiving is the fourth week of November, GivingTuesday either falls on the last Tuesday of November or the first Tuesday of December.
GivingTuesday: Gear Up with These Resources – A 12 Week Plan! https://www.givingtuesday.org/participate/
GivingTuesday is December 2. And to help you plan for your unique fundraising campaign, the organizers behind the global generosity movement have put together a handy collection of resources. Get branded Canva templates, comprehensive how-to guides, data insights, and more!
This year’s GivingTuesday comes at the end of a year of unprecedented challenges for many nonprofit organizations, making it ever more critical for nonprofits to run a successful and compelling year-end campaign. To help your organization prepare, The Chronicle of Philanthropy outlines nine tactics to craft a winning campaign.
One of the recommendations: develop your communications campaign now!
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/create-a-winning-year-end-strategy-in-2024-heres-how
Source: National Council of Nonprofits, 9.17.25 Nonprofit Essentials E-newsletter
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7. LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING
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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. Email: info@volunteercentrecounty.org
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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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!
Volunteer Centre County is an IRC 501(c)3 Charity serving as a free volunteer center for Centre County, PA.
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