Community engagement #1: Capitol Hill Volunteer Fair this Saturday

"In my opinion" there isn't a lot of coherent and ongoing community involvement in most DC neighborhoods, outside of Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Petworth (an interesting case study that I am remiss in writing about), and Takoma (abetted in part by glomming off the community institutions in Takoma Park Maryland, next door).

In my entry on an ideal ward-focused councilmember campaign platform and agenda, one of the community building activities I suggest is a regular "community organizations" fair, focused on introducing residents to groups, getting volunteers, etc.

It turns out that in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, the Hill Center has been doing this for the past few years, and the fourth edition of Volunteer Capitol Hill: Volunteer Fair, is this Saturday, April 30th, from 10am to 1pm.

Close to 40 organizations will participate (they are listed on the webpage), and as many as 500 people are expected--the number of attendees is, as you can imagine, weather-dependent.

According to people at the Hill Center, organizations find the volunteer fair is a great opportunity to engage residents and introduce them to their organization and what it does, as well as to gain volunteers, and build new relationships.

Additionally, it's a great opportunity for the organizations to work with each other, and over time groups exhibiting at the fair are developing partnerships and relationships with each other to maximize the value and effectiveness of their program and activities.

To facilitate this, the Hill Center organizes a networking event for the participating organizations a week or two before the Volunteer Capitol Hill: Volunteer Fair, so that they can meet each other and find common ground.