UH Cougars for Kids, and BlueLance, Inc. hosted a breakfast event for volunteer coordinators from The Texas Medical Center and area school districts on Wednesday, February 20, at the UH Hilton. Originating in the College of Technology, Cougars for Kids is the largest community service program at the University of Houston in which more than 1,000 student volunteers have registered to work with children in hospitals and schools throughout Houston.
BlueLance has signed on as this year's presenting sponsor, and their generous funding will be used for a variety of activities targeting the program's participants and community.
"Volunteer coordinators manage many elements of volunteering for their organizations and have highly critical leadership responsibilities that deserve special celebration," said Dr. Jerry Evans, Director of Cougars for Kids at UH.
Umesh Verma, BlueLance's Chief Executive Officer, UH alum and member of the College of Technology advisory board said, "This is a fabulous initiative and we are very proud and grateful for the opportunity to be an active participant."
Kim Evans, President of BlueLance, thanked the volunteer coordinators for their great service and commitment. "BlueLance looks forward to working with the University of Houston on this energetic, high impact community program. It has great potential for expansion and doing even greater good for our children," said Evans.
Generation Y (Gen-Y's) - people born between 1982 and 1995 - are volunteering in mass numbers. According to USA Weekend.com, 30% of them are volunteering more than 80 hours per year. Breakfast keynote speaker Jan Carroll shared valuable insight and tips about understanding, communicating with Gen-Y to enhance their volunteer experiences. Carroll is a Volunteerism and Non-Profit Consultant, specializing in leadership development, team building and philanthropic planning. She earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Psychology and a Master's in Social Work (Cum Laude), all from the University of Houston.
"Partnering with BlueLance is going to greatly support our ability to get more students involved in community service. Our vision to have most of our 40,000 students actively engaged as volunteers," said Dr. Jerry Evans.
BlueLance provides cyber governance solutions ensuring regulatory and internal policy compliance and helping organizations have assurance their organizational trade secrets, Intellectual property (IP), confidential information, critical infrastructure and other digitally managed assets be appropriately safeguarded.