An organization linking travel, tourism and service was launched today by Clinton School student Nicholas Hall in partnership with the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau and several Little Rock non-profits.
Volunteer to See (www.volunteertosee.com) enables individual, business, group and convention travelers to participate in volunteer service activities while visiting Little Rock. Hall will initially administer the program as part of his Clinton School studies.
People visiting Little Rock for meetings and conventions as well as leisure travel can now access Volunteer to See on the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau (LRCVB) web site, www.littlerock.com.
“Volunteer to See provides a unique opportunity that we can market to both group and individual travelers,” said Dan O’Byrne, CEO of LRCVB. “We believe that travel organizations and major hotels are going to be very interested in it. Nicholas Hall has done a great job executing this idea.”
With the expansion of programs like AmeriCorps, Teach for America, Peace Corps, City Year and many others, there is a growing interest in public service across the country, O’Byrne said.
Clinton School Dean Skip Rutherford agrees. “Volunteer to See has enormous potential,” Rutherford said. “It can do for tourism and public service what Teach for America is doing for education and public service. It’s very exciting to see an idea from a Clinton School student piloted here in Little Rock.”
Central Arkansas organizations participating in the program include Habitat for Humanity, Arkansas Rice Depot, The Ronald McDonald House, Little Rock Parks and Recreation, and Volunteers in Public Schools.
Interested travelers to Little Rock can sign up for these volunteer opportunities through the Volunteer to See Web site.
“The program is designed to accommodate the needs of the group or individual traveler,” Hall said. “Some may want to spend a day building a home with Habitat for Humanity, while convention travelers may choose to donate supplies to a local school or bring necessities for the Ronald McDonald House. The volunteer opportunities and possibilities are unlimited, and we’ll work with interested individuals and groups to tailor their experience.”
Hall, a native of Genoa, Ohio, and a graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., came up with the idea for Volunteer to See in 2006 when he worked with AmeriCorps in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
“My coursework and field project work at the Clinton School provided me the tools to turn an idea into a reality,” Hall said.
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