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Students pitch 'Mission Marion' volunteer platform to connect residents with yard help
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Summary
Linmar Venture Academics students presented 'Mission Marion,' a volunteer-based program that would use United Way’s Volunteer Now to match vulnerable Marion residents with volunteers for lawn care and seasonal tasks; city staff were directed to take over implementation.
Linmar Venture Academics students presented a volunteer-matching proposal, “Mission Marion,” to the Marion City Council on April 7, offering a way to connect residents who cannot perform seasonal tasks with vetted volunteers.
The students — Olivia Getz, Evie Horn and Hunter Zoll — told council that Mission Marion would use United Way’s Volunteer Now platform as the backbone for sign-ups and job postings. Olivia Getz described a typical case: “Let’s say we have an elderly resident who has just received knee surgery and can’t mow his lawn,” she said, and said the program would let that resident submit a request that a volunteer could accept.
City staff and the students described program safeguards and logistics: a volunteer intake form to collect contact information and reasons for volunteering; printed guidelines for residents and volunteers; and an 18-and-over buddy system for safety when volunteers enter private property. The students said they are working with United Way representatives and school clubs (Key Club, National Honor Society) to recruit volunteers and that Elizabeth Scaff from United Way joined the presentation to answer technical questions.
During questions, council members asked how residents would learn about the service and whether people could proactively sign up before receiving a code enforcement notice. Hunter Zoll said the plan includes outreach through school networks and local publications such as the Marion Messenger, and that Volunteers would receive email notifications when they accept a posting.
City staff described the next steps: a handoff from the students to staff to create an organizational profile on Volunteer Now, finalize IT and communications tasks, and set up a verification and vetting process. Kim Downs said staff (including Amber, Kara and Carol) would address the technical launch and communications plan.
Council members praised the students’ work and agreed staff should continue development. The council’s direction was for city staff to pick up the project and work through implementation details before bringing a final operational plan back to council.
