A politician once said "it takes a village."  The truth it takes an army, an army of volunteers to make a community great. April is National Volunteer Month, and next week is National Volunteer Week which makes this the right time to recognize and appreciate the many ways volunteers assist the City of Yakima in its outreach to serve residents.

One example is in the help provided to residents through the Office of Yakima’s Office of Neighborhood Development Services (ONDS).

In a City of Yakima press release ONDS Manager Archie Matthews says, “ONDS uses volunteers to provide free snow removal, lawn and debris services, alley and vacant lot clean up, graffiti removal, and assembly of wheel chair ramps....In 2017 we logged 9,527 volunteer hours and in the past 10 years we have logged a total of 104,362 hours.”At the City of Yakima’s Harman Center, volunteers provide a variety of services including working in the kitchen, teaching classes, helping with gardening and organizing a library.

To volunteer at the Harman Center call 576-6402 and for information on volunteering with the City’s Office of Neighborhood Development Services call 575-6101.

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