Local women organizing volunteer and nonprofit matching event on Jan. 10

Two of the leaders, Katie Tackman and Annie Safar, stopped by my office to talk about the group’s “Meet your Match” volunteer networking forum to be held at Pybus Public Market on Tuesday, Jan. 10. A social hour and networking opportunity starts at 5:30 p.m. with Jones of Washington pouring wine in a no-host event. That will be followed by a brief talk featuring Joan Quazi, and quick presentations by 20-plus nonprofit organizations seeking volunteer help.

This will give community members who attend the free public event, sponsored by Pybus University, an opportunity to learn about volunteer opportunities with organizations like the Wenatchee Valley Literacy Council, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Alathia Riding Center, Columbia Valley Community Health and others.

Besides Tackman and Safar, the group’s founders include Sally Freed, Jennifer Burke and Patty Stanford. This high-powered group of doers has come together to see what they can do to build a greater sense of community ownership. This model of citizen groups forming to make a difference is becoming a major theme in the Wenatchee Valley. For example, the grass roots-driven Our Valley Our Future community improvement effort is driven by the same community-based ethos.

Safar said the group wants to empower people to figure out what volunteer efforts they are passionate about and give them support and encouragement to put that passion to work with a local nonprofit. Safar has a history of community-building work. She ,worked in a Seattle-area community health office that provided refugee resettlement assistance and spent two years in the Dominican Republic managing interns who were doing social science research in international development. She’s currently applying to nursing school.

Tackman, also a local product, has spent time in Japan and India and traveled all over the world. She and Safar played lacrosse together and were coached by Freed.

Ultimately, the Be the Change group is about trying to make the community better. “The society is not going to change unless you do something,” Safar told me.

It’s that commitment to community building that I find inspirational.