Douglas County United Way receives $19,000 volunteer grant

The United Way of Douglas County’s Roger Hill Volunteer Center has received a Volunteer Generation Fund grant from the Kansas Volunteer Commission for the third year in a row.

The center will receive a grant of about $19,000, one of nine grants for Kansas organizations totaling about $139,000 announced by the commission this week.

Erika Dvorske, executive director of the Douglas County United Way, said the center has used the annual grant to promote youth volunteerism and support its online volunteer opportunity database at volunteerdouglascounty.org.

The database, which as of Wednesday listed more than 100 volunteer opportunities in the county, resulted in nearly 1,000 volunteer referrals in 2012, Dvorske said.

Kansas is one of 19 states to receive funding through the Volunteer Generation Fund, a program run through the Corporation for National and Community Service to support volunteer organizations, according to a Kansas Department of Education release.