Guidance for those who want to help in the community

SALISBURY — What strikes visitors to the Northwest Corner first is the bucolic beauty of the region, with its rolling hills, its grazing cows and sheep  and its quaint old New England barns.

But for residents of the region, the sense of volunteerism and community that pervades the local towns is as much a feature of the landscape as the miles of untouched forests, streams and lakes.

Every town in the area has numerous organizations designed to help everyone from families who are having trouble buying groceries or paying for heating oil to elder citizens who can no longer do heavy housekeeping and garden work on their own to pets in need of loving new owners.

Volunteers, needless to say, are what keeps these organizations going. Even the best-known groups — and even those with national ties, such as Habitat for Humanity — are constantly in search not only of financial support but also of the donation of an hour or two a week, or one day a year for a special project, or a few months dedicated to organizing anything from a fundraiser to a bus trip.

One day over lunch about a year ago, Salisbury residents and active volunteers Jeanne Wardell and Alice Yoakum were discussing the problem of how to match up people who want to help with organizations that need help.

They decided that a booklet and website would be the most efficient way to let people know what options are available to them. With the help of people-in-the-know in nearby Connecticut and New York towns, they amassed a list of about 250 nonprofits and sent out forms to them with questions on who they are, where they are and what kind of help they need.They got about 100 responses right away, and those were collected and compiled into a booklet that was designed and printed by Stacey Moore of Moore and More Printing in Millerton.

The booklet is now available at various locations around the area, including at town halls, shops — and real estate agents’ offices, because, the women pointed out, retirees sometimes move to the area and want to get involved in the community. Volunteering is a way to use their skills, but also to meet new people.

“People who are out of work, in this difficult economy, might also want to do volunteer work at this time,†Yoakum noted. Students who have just graduated from high school or college can also find volunteer work that might help them focus on what their future career should be.

“And volunteer jobs can sometimes lead to a paid job,†Wardell said.

The directory is organized by town, but there is also an index by area of interest (e.g., arts/culture, environmental programs, religious).

Needless to say, the booklet was put together with the help of many volunteers, including Ella Clark and Heather Dineen in Sharon and Cornwall, Mary Palmer in Falls Village, Ruth Epstein in Kent, Moore and Mariley Najdek of Millerton, Betsy Gill and Barbara Perkins in Norfolk and B. J. Christinat of North Canaan.

An important member of the team is Beth Ritter-Guth, who is educational communication and technology facilitator at The Hotchkiss School. She and students Addison Haxo, Eric Li and Chester Houwink created a website for the volunteer directory. This will allow additional organizations to add their names to the list, so that new copies don’t have to be printed and distributed every few months.

The site is at nwvolunteerdirectory.com. And organizations that want to be added can also send an e-mail to nwvolunteers@gmail.com.