Published: Nov. 25, 2016
‘Do-gooders’ take their new bus out for a spin
ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043
Bus No. 952.
Starting in 2017, the long yellow school bus from Johnson School Bus
Service in West Bend will not have a number. Instead, it will have a
different purpose. To help people get out and do good.
On a cool, overcast and misty Wednesday morning, more than 30
community members, including West Bend School District Superintendent
Erik Olson and West Bend Mayor Kraig Sadownikow, went on a test run for a
program with the Volunteer Center of Washington County, which is
excited to finally be rolling, rolling, rolling.
It is the Do Good Bus volunteer program.
“Last week, this was Johnson Bus number 952,” said Susan Millin,
executive director at Volunteer Center of Washington County. “Today
it’s the centerpiece for the Volunteer Center Do Good Bus initiative.”
Getting to this point has taken about 13 months.
Millin said the process started when the center began to study ways to
remain relevant. Finding volunteers hasn’t been the problem. It’s that
the way people volunteer has changed.
Millin said fewer people do volunteer work that requires a weekly
commitment, for example. Instead, most who volunteer do it as a one-day
thing, such as dishing out meals during the holidays.
“We were looking at ways at engaging more and more people,” Millin said.
She perused the Internet looking for an idea and she came across the Do Good Bus.
“How were others addressing this shift in volunteer trends because
we knew we needed to do something to keep up with the millenials and
today’s mentality,” Millin said.
Here is how the program will work:
■
Those interested in volunteering can sign up through the center’s
website. There is a catch. The destination or destinations will be a
surprise.
■ After signing up, volunteers will gather at the center, 215 N. Main St., West Bend, and get on the bus.
■ Then, it’ll be time to do good somewhere in Washington County.
“They gave us a couple of hints as to where we would be, what we might
be doing, but we really didn’t have a full grasp of the magnitude of a
group of people like this, volunteers scattered from all across West
Bend and Washington County getting together for one good cause and that
is to be thankful for what we have and help others be thankful too,” Sadownikow said.
Wednesday’s test run was the second of three planned test runs. But
this one was special, it was the first time the school bus purchased by
the center was wrapped, which was done by TD Graphics in West Bend.
That was a special moment for Millin.
The test run took the group to Wellspring, a nonprofit education and
retreat center, and organic farm. The mission, according to Wellspring’s
website, “is to inspire and teach people to grow, prepare and eat
healthy food.”
Wellspring was founded in 1982 and is the longest-running Community
Supported Agriculture program in Wisconsin. The first board meeting was
in 1983, with programs held in Milwaukee.
In 1987, Wellspring settled in its current location, 4382 Hickory
Road, West Bend, with more than 35 acres of gardens, nature trails,
woods, meadows, ponds, prairies and an outdoor labyrinth.
Of the 35 acres, 6 acres are an organic vegetable farm and 1 acre is
an education garden. There is also a solar-heated greenhouse.
Upon arrival, the 30-plus volunteers were sent to the field and picked
parsley and kale. From there, the group returned to the bus and went to
The Norbert in downtown West Bend.
There, the group helped prepare the Thanksgiving dinner that the restaurant later hosted Thursday.
“The key word is community,” Sadownikow said. “A city is a bunch of people living around each other.
But a community is how I would describe West Bend; folks recognizing a
need and going after it, filling a hole, filling a void.”
The idea is rare. Los Angeles has a similar program. Nowhere else is
there a program like the Do Good Bus, according to Millin.
“Look at the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge,” she said. “People dumped water
over their heads, patted themselves on the back and they go on with
their day.
“It’s a much more fastpaced society that we live in.”
Not only was the destination a surprise for all, but for Sadownikow,
he was amazed he learned there are more volunteers out there.
He thought he’d met them all.
“It’s neat to know there’s other people out there that care about this community,” Sadownikow said.
That’s one of the goals for the program and that was something Olson
learned Wednesday as he continues to mesh into the community as the
first-year superintendent.
“As I’ve entered into the community, I’ve learned that there’s a
strong support for the community within this area,” he said. “As I
learn more about the Volunteer Center of Washington County, it’s been
pretty amazing.”
“This
is a super exciting initiative,” Millin said. “It’s really a rolling
billboard for the power of good. But it’s what is inside that bus that
really counts, the groups of friends, families, co-workers making a
difference in our community.”
“I think we’re onto something good,” she added.
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