Wanted: a few good volunteers

County officials are looking for a few good citizens to serve on area boards, committees and commissions. Annually, supervisors appoint county residents to represent their fellow citizens on county, regional and state boards ranging from libraries to disability services. And it seems to be getting more and more difficult to find folks willing to serve.
There is one at-large seat open on the Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Board. Of the Skyline Community Action Program board’s six Orange County seats, three are unfilled at-large seats. The District 1 seat on the social services board expires at the end of the month, the same for the District 2 seat on the board of zoning appeals. 
District 3 Supervisor Teel Goodwin said he recently asked about 20 people in his district to serve on the youth commission-with little success. Only one agreed, he said, and only then because the term in question was due to expire relatively soon, so the commitment of time was minimal.
Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Lee Frame said finding folks to fill the slots is simply a matter of getting the word out.
“My sense is that we have not marketed or solicited enough people for these positions,“ Frame said. But preliminary efforts to round up volunteers are already starting to pay off. Frame said simply explaining functions of local boards and committees to citizens, and describing board and committee members’ duties has generated some response from reader of his regular column in Lake of the Woods’ “Lake Currents” newsletter.
Frame said some of his constituents, after reading about his column, have inquired about serving on the Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Board and Area Agency on Aging. That agency provides services to individuals of all ages with disabilities related to mental illness, mental retardation, and substance abuse and operates an array of services for senior citizens in the area from advocacy to meals programs and senior centers.
Members can receive a $600-per-year stipend for their participation and compensation for board-related expenses for travel, training and conferences.
The Skyline Community Action Program board, like the RRCSB-AAA, is in danger of losing local representation. That not-for-profit’s mission is to help reduce the causes and effects of poverty in Orange, Madison an Greene through crisis assistance, and programs which promote self-sufficiency through job, education and budget counseling and programs.
Representatives from Orange, Madison and Greene Counties make up the Skyline CAP board; there are six from each county. Board members are not compensated.
Frame said a lack of local volunteers on various boards, committees and commissions doesn’t mean they’ll cease to operate. But lesser local representation on those boards could still have a negative effect on services and programs available to county residents.
“Most of these organizations have staff that will continue to function even if their boards are not filled,“ Frame explained. “However, the lack of dedicated volunteers will result in less community input to the functions of the organizations and less advocacy for the organizations with county government.“
County residents who may be interested in serving on boards and commissions should contact their supervisors. Board and committee members are appointed in staggered terms by supervisors to the airport commission, economic development authority, Germanna Community College Board, Lake Anna Advisory Committee, library board, litter control committee, nursing home commission, planning commission, Rapidan Service Authority, Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Board, Rappahannock-Rapidan Disability Services Board, Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission, Skyline Community Action Program, social services board, Thomas Jefferson Area Criminal Justice Board, and youth commission.
Members of the electoral board and the board of zoning appeals are appointed by the Circuit Court.