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Cultivating a Generation of Volunteers
www.kidskorps.org

On April 8, 2014, the Kids Korps USA Board of Directors unanimously decided to explore options to merge the Kids Korps USA nonprofit corporation and its programmatic components with another youth development organization in San Diego County. Through this potential merger our mission, members and services will be able to leverage the support of another organization’s infrastructure allowing greater capacity for fundraising, operations, marketing, and technology. The goal is to allow for a more cost effective way to continue advancing the mission of Kids Korps USA: offering meaningful volunteer opportunities to children, youth, and families. The vision is to grow our sphere of influence by opening these extraordinary volunteer experiences to many more children in our county. Today we are pleased to announce that discussions are underway with a well-established and prominent entity within our community and we look forward to the prospects that could unfold.

Since Kids Korps USA’s inception, the commitment of our members, families, and staff has been incredible. It is clear that there is a need to connect youth to volunteerism and to ensure that the value of “giving back” is part of the next generation’s lifelong commitment to service. Similarly, there has been tremendous support and loyalty from individual contributors, grantors, corporate sponsors, and community champions. This has allowed Kids Korps USA to not only impact the lives of thousands of youth and their families but also to fill a need for the nonprofits and charitable organizations who depend on volunteers to meet their missions.

Volunteerism is perhaps even more relevant today than when Kids Korps USA began nearly 20 years ago by our beloved co-founder Joani Wafer. There is a continuing need in our community for easy to access volunteer opportunities for children and youth. The Kids Korps USA board is committed to continuing the legacy that paved the way for providing these opportunities when the organization was originally launched. However, securing sustainable long-term funding has become increasingly difficult over the past several years. After thoughtful deliberation focused on the history of the organization, the needs of our members, and the critical role that volunteerism plays in our community, the Board has concluded that a merger with another youth-oriented charitable organization that can offer economies of scale is the best way to ensure that the mission of Kids Korps USA continues well into the future.

The details of how this transition will unfold are being worked on dutifully by the Board and the staff.  As we work on moving forward via a changed approach to how services are delivered, we ask for your patience and support.  We will be communicating more details over the next several weeks.  Please see answers below to the questions we think you might have.

Things You May Want to Know – FAQ

1. Is Kids Korps accepting any new Memberships?
No.   We are not processing new memberships/membership fees at this time.

2. Can registered Kids Korps members continue to volunteer for projects on the Kids Korps online calendar?
Yes, you can still volunteer for projects on the Kids Korps online calendar.  We are looking at keeping the calendaring system available through the summer.  However, more information will be forthcoming about the calendar.

3. What if I am not a member and I want to volunteer?
Nonmembers cannot volunteer for projects on the Kids Korps calendar, and we are not currently processing new memberships.  However, individuals can independently contact our nonprofit partner agencies to see if they have volunteer needs that a youth could fill on their own.

4. Can I contact staff at Kids Korps?
Yes.  But please be patient with us as we work though these changes and we ask that you only contact us with critical questions or issues. For more information, email info@kidskorps.org.

5. What if I sign up for a project and need to cancel?
You can do this but once you cancel you cannot go back and sign back up again.

6. Will I still be able to apply for the presidential service awards?
Kids Korps is still hopeful that we can offer the presidential service awards. The deadline to enter your hours into your profile is May 30, 2014. Because there is a cost involved to order the award packages and based on the award guidelines Kids Korps is unable to collect fees to pay for the award, we are still determining the details of how we will manage the awards. We will be asking for information soon about who is interested in ordering an award.

7. Will my volunteer hours from the Kids Korps project calendar still be recorded?
Yes, if you signed up on the calendar, the hours will be automatically recorded. But if you volunteer individually, (projects not from the calendar) you will need to go into your individual profile and enter your hours, Kids Korps staff will not be available to assist with this process.

8. Is there a Summer Volunteer Camp?
No. Kids Korps will not be offering a summer volunteer camp this year.

9. Can I record my independent hours?
Yes. However, you must do this yourself. We will no longer require that you send us proof of those hours. You must keep this record for yourself for backup in case you need to show to your school or for some other purposes.

10. Can I print a record of my hours?
Yes. You can go to our individual profile and print out this record for school or other community service requirements.