Seminar on new volunteers scheduled

Boomer volunteers becoming resource Conference readied to help potential recipients use them

A wave of baby-boom-age volunteers is heading to the area. Are nonprofits and government agencies ready to receive their time and talent? How will this potential resource help meet community needs?

On Thursday, answers will be shared during a one-day conference for nonprofit and government agency executives, geriatric and health service professionals, volunteer coordinators, and leaders of faith-based and neighborhood outreach programs.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Student Commons of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Experts will share their advice and strategies, as well as new data about what Richmond region boomers are looking for related to volunteer engagement.

Featured speakers include: Bob Blancato, executive director of the 1995 White House Conference on Aging and a member of Commonwealth Council on Aging of the Virginia Department for the Aging; Jill Friedman Fixler, expert in volunteer resources management and the author of "Boomer Engagement: Collaborate Today, Thrive Tomorrow"; Richard Goldberg, director of the "Coming of Age" initiative at the Center for Intergenerational Learning at Temple University; John Martin, CEO of the Southeastern Institute of Research and the Boomer Project; and E. Ayn Welleford, chair and associate professor in the department of gerontology at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The program is sponsored by the Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence and the Older Dominion Partnership.

A $25 registration fee covers all materials and lunch. To register, go to http://www.vaservice.org/go/volunteer/boomer_ engagement.