Study and Help Recruit Volunteers to Sustain and Grow Committees

Volunteerism has been around since medieval times, where, according to Bloomerang, "over 500 volunteer-run hospitals operated to help the poor and sick" in Great Britain. In the United States, volunteerism "dates back to the Revolutionary War when civilians contributed to the war effort". Today, about 63 million Americans volunteer, and according to the NJ Center for Non-Profits, "over 1.4 million volunteers at NJ nonprofits provide over 106 million hours of service valued at more than $3.4 billion".

Here in Oakland, volunteerism has long been a part of our fabric and local culture and because of the time and efforts of some residents, Oaklanders save unknown sums of dollars of salaries, benefits, pension costs, and more. Unfortunately, over the last decade or so, if you ask any non-profit, board, committee, and commission, the number of people stepping forward and wanting to volunteer has decreased at a saddening and alarming rate. Television Committee Chairman Jim Barry stated, "When I joined the TV Committee in the mid-2000s, there was nearly 30 members and there were more people than we knew what to do with. By the mid to late 2010s, we were down to only 6 or 7 members."

Since taking over in 2018, OCC Chairman Ryan Schwertfeger has put a lot of importance and effort into being responsive to any interested volunteer, showing up to more events to be seen and to recruit, and to build working relationships with the Governing Body, Borough Administration, and key community players in a effort to stop the bleeding of volunteers and start growing the ranks. While the Television Committee is now up to 16 people (as of July 2025), other committees are still lagging behind and need help.

Friends of Oakland Communications would like to use some of its efforts and time to study this issue and come up with some ideas to continue to grow and retain the volunteer base. We will focus on hearing from current volunteers, former volunteers, Oakland residents, and residents and college students of neighboring towns who could be volunteers on the OCC's committees to find out their opinions and what could be done to better entice and support them as they consider or are actively volunteering.

Additionally, we would like to explore creating a college scholarship for Junior Volunteers (13-18 years old) that are active on the Communications Commission and its committees, in addition to our non-profit, in an effort to encourage young people to get involved in their community.