Volunteer administrators (n=32) participating in Australia's Voluntary Work Initiative, designed to assist welfare recipients who were required to perform volunteer work, were interviewed. Although volunteering helped overcome isolation and develop job skills, low levels of commitment and short stays (especially among younger participants) and…

Interviews with 44 Australian cultural groups provided an overview of volunteering outside of formal organizations. Results make a case for recognizing nontraditional or informal volunteers and demonstrate the productive diversity that builds valuable social capital in communities. (Contains 41 references.) (JOW)

The Greening Challenge, an Australian volunteer-based environmental project, engaged employees of Western Power and their families in an annual tree-planting venture to plant 1 million trees by 2000. The goal was reached in 1999. (JOW)

Discusses the history of Britain's Workers' Educational Association and suggests that it must show why its philosophy and practices work in order to remain viable. (JOW)

Focus groups with 26 Alberta agencies and 16 volunteers with disabilities addressed success factors, barriers, and accommodations for fuller participation by persons with disabilities ("supported volunteering"). Results were used to help develop supported volunteering in local agencies. (JOW)

Survey responses from 513 4-H volunteers found that 70.6% have Internet access; 52% use it at least weekly; 65% were willing to communicate with 4-H via e-mail; and only 12% were not likely to access 4-H materials on the Web. Results were used to determine policy for disseminating information to 4-H volunteers. (Contains 10 references.) (JOW)

A survey of all known Ohio maple syrup producers indicated that economic self-interest is an important factor explaining the levels of participation in the statewide association. Although maple syrup is an important source of income for many Amish, none was involved in the association. (JOW)

Examined effects of first year of participation in Big Brothers program on self-esteem of Big Brothers (N=46) and Little Brothers (N=46). Results revealed that self-esteem increased significantly for Big Brothers over the first year. No significant differences in self-esteem were found between pretest and posttest scores of Little Brothers versus…

The authors discuss the contributions made by millions of older volunteers in the United States. They focus on the federal senior volunteer programs, (1) the retired senior volunteer program, (2) the foster grandparent program, and (3) the senior companion program. These model programs have been successfully replicated in other countries. (CH)

Describes how a typical high school in Huntington Beach, California, curbed disruptive student behavior by personalizing the school experience for "problem" students. Through mostly volunteer efforts, an adopt-a-kid program was initiated that matched kids' learning styles to adults' personality styles and resulted in fewer suspensions…

By skillfully structuring volunteer assignments, organizations can be successful in persuading a significant number of retirees to accept assignments and to devote a minimum of two days a week to those assignments. (Author/JOW)

Participants in an intergenerational school volunteer program (26 adults over 60) completed memory instruments at 3 time periods. The effect of program participating on actual and perceived memory function varied with age and educational level. Dramatic positive mood changes were noted for those over 70 and those who were college educated. (SK)

A Texas elementary school is meeting home-school parents halfway by fostering a once-weekly project involving adolescent, home-schooled tutors and fifth and sixth graders. The home-schooled kids get a break from their routine, and the public schoolers benefit from help with academic subjects and community service projects. (MLH)

From interviews with five older adults and information about six fictional and historical persons emerged a seven-stage continuum of motivations for adult civic involvement: basic needs, basic skills, emergent cause, project definition, project immersion, becoming an expert, and becoming an advocate. (SK)

Argues and empirically demonstrates that a model based on S. Feld's focus theory validly describes the activity structure of a local church, and that this activity structure is significantly related to communication links among the membership, organized by a latent hierarchy of activation. Finds relationships between activation and personal…