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Pasco County podcast spotlights volunteer roles, flexible hours and hiring pathways
Summary
On the Pasco County podcast, Volunteer Services Manager Sarah Sukram and long-time volunteer Danny Reich described volunteer opportunities across county departments, flexible time commitments, emerging corporate volunteer time-off trends and examples of volunteers moving into paid county roles.
Pasco County Volunteer Services Manager Sarah Sukram and volunteer Danny Reich appeared on the county's Pasco podcast to outline volunteer opportunities in animal services, libraries, Cooperative Extension, parks and veteran services and to explain how the county is expanding remote and corporate-group volunteer options.
On the Pasco podcast hosted by Mike Carballa, Sukram said volunteers help county programs stretch limited budgets and also bring donations and connections. "There are volunteers, not just the service that they give, but there's volunteers that through their connections have brought donations into our friends group," she said.
Why it matters: Pasco County officials said volunteers allow programs to offer more services amid budget pressure and that volunteer roles can range from a few hours a month to regular shifts. That flexibility is intended to broaden participation and to provide skill-building opportunities that sometimes lead to employment with the county.
Sukram described a wide range of roles available: animal-services positions (including kennel support and socialization), library maker-space and clerical roles, assistance at Cooperative Extension including an interview-clothing closet, and an expanding parks program with planned park ambassadors and invasive-species control tasks. She also said the county is exploring greeters and support roles for veteran services.
"We have roles that you can do a couple hours a month, you know, and still be really contributing to our community," Sukram said. She added that volunteers perform data-entry and clerical work as well as hands-on tasks at shelters and parks.
Longtime county volunteer Danny Reich, who previously worked for Pasco County for 31 years before retiring, described his work in animal services: "I like to spend time with them, talk to them very softly, get them to start trusting me," Reich said. "And then when I take them out, when I see that tail start to untuck and come up there, maybe even wag, it's really good feeling. And then to see them get adopted to a nice family is really, really rewarding."
Sukram also highlighted volunteer pathways into county jobs. Speaking of animal services specifically, she said, "I can count right off the top of my head, probably 8" volunteers who later became county employees.
The podcast covered trends in volunteer management, including corporate volunteer time off (VTO) and remote volunteer tasks. "Volunteer administrators across the country, we're actually seeing a huge trend with what's called VTO, which is volunteer time off with companies," Sukram said. She gave an example of remote-friendly tasks such as writing pet bios that volunteers can draft at home and submit for review.
How to sign up: Sukram said the county refreshed its volunteer webpage; volunteers can find opportunities via the "How do I?" menu at mypasco.net or contact the Volunteer Services team at volunteering@mypasco.net.
The episode framed volunteering as both a way to expand program capacity and a pathway to skill development and community connections for residents.
The podcast episode concluded with thanks to the county media relations team and an invitation to listeners to visit mypasco.net for more information.
