Volunteers needed for Join Hands Day project

A group of volunteers in Fort Scott is striving to make a difference in the community, and is asking for additional help from volunteers for an upcoming local project.

The project will take place on Join Hands Day, which is Saturday, May 7, a national day of service sponsored by Modern Woodmen of American and other fraternal benefit societies. The project will involve planting of flowers for a retirement village. It will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Presbyterian Village, 2401 S. Horton.

"It's a national service day," local Modern Woodmen of America Representative Jolynne Stainbrook said. "We're trying to get more people to participate. We're trying for a better turnout."

Join Hands Day is the only national day of service designed to bring youth and adults together to plan and implement volunteer service projects in their communities.

"Modern Woodmen is proud of the thousands of volunteers nationwide who give back on Join Hands Day," Modern Woodmen's Fraternal Director Steve Van Speybroeck said in a news release. "We're encouraging local community organizations to join hands with us in 2011."

As the generations work side by side, they learn more about each other, sparking a new level of understanding and respect, which is one goal of the campaign, the release said.

"Modern Woodmen uses it (Join Hands Day) to bridge the generation gap between adults and youth," Stainbrook said. "And it's for improving communities."

Another goal of the campaign is to help make the Modern Woodmen society "more well known in the community," Stainbrook said.

"Hopefully, it brings all of our adult and youth service members together, and volunteers from the Village will hopefully help as well," she said. "Having volunteers helps create new relationships."

Modern Woodmen Youth Service Club Representative Adina Findley, project coordinator for the local initiative, added, "We want to make a difference in our community on May 7. By connecting with others, we can make an even greater impact."

Stainbrook said past projects on Join Hands Day involved picking up trash at Gunn Park and a laundry detergent drive for Mother to Mother Ministries. She said projects in past years have been successful in raising awareness of Modern Woodmen and the society's efforts.

Modern Woodmen sells life insurance, annuity and investment products not to benefit stockholders but to improve the quality of life of its stakeholders -- members, their families and their communities. They do this through social, charitable and volunteer activities.

In 2010, Modern Woodmen provided more than $20 million and 1 million volunteer hours for local community projects.

Founded in 1883, Modern Woodmen of America touches lives and secures futures. The fraternal benefit society offers financial services and fraternal member benefits to individuals and families throughout the United States, the release said.

Each year, adult and youth organizations across the country partner together for Join Hands Day. Local Modern Woodmen members coordinate adult and youth camps that provide opportunities for members to take part in social activities and community service projects in their communities. The club helps community members through monetary donations and also helps teach local youth the importance of community service and involvement as well as patriotism.

For more information, or to volunteer to help with the local Join Hands Day project, contact Findley at (620) 224-6779, or visit www.modern-woodmen.org.