Note from the Editor: today is Valentine’s Day, but it’s also Generosity Day. We wanted to honor the generosity of Megan Fleming and all the stalwart work and time she has given to Jolkona. Be inspired by her generosity.

Megan Fleming, Jolkona volunteer since 2010, is a part of the Social Media and Communications team. Previously with Banyan Branch and now working on the Social Innovation team at Waggener Edstrom (where a few other stellar Jolkona volunteers also work), Megan is taking the lead on Twitter engagement for Jolkona and we are so grateful for her contributions.

In addition to the hours she spends tweeting for Jolkona, she also has assisted in procuring and fundraising for Jolkona’s annual fundraiser Corks n’ Forks as well as participating in strategic planning sessions.

Megan’s passion for volunteerism started before she came to Jolkona. Traveling through South East Asia in 2009 and 2010, Megan explored Cambodia. As she traveled to the beaches of Sihanoukville she witnessed the ugliness of pedophilia, sex tourism and general lack of respect for young children living in poverty.

Wanting to help these children, who live on less than $1 a day, she dedicated her time and energy to CCPP Cambodian Children’s Painting Project. At CCPP children not only have a safe place to visit, but also can learn and play.

At CCPP, children complete 2 paintings a day and then the pieces are sold at a gallery for $4 each. $2 goes to the child and the other $2 goes back to the program. Additionally, there are English lessons, typing classes, arts and crafts as well as games. They also experience field trips and receive hot meals, dental care, health care and clothing if needed.

Megan worked with children ranging in age from 1.5- 18 years old and came home with stories of little ones that warmed her heart, made her laugh and always had a smile for her. After her travels, Megan started working in social media and joined Jolkona as a volunteer to continue working towards funding global development and spreading awareness about Jolkona and its partners.

“One of the things I love most about Megan is her passion and enthusiasm for global development and poverty alleviation and her commitment to use her professional skills and expertise to give back.  For the past couple of years, Megan has been an instrumental piece of our social media engagement with donors and supporters and has helped keep our community engaged and aware of what’s going on with Jolkona and how they can help.  She’s also is willing to help support other teams and spread the word about Jolkona as needed which is always great in a small organization.  We’ve loved having her involved and a part of the Jolkona team!”  -Nadia Mahmud 

“As the person in charge of this blog, having people spread the word about what we’re saying is essential. Megan has totally been that person. That makes Megan essential. But it’s more than just spreading the word; it’s about believing in the message and wholeheartedly getting behind it. Megan has done this, and this is indispensable. She’s been the perfect confluence of passion, enthusiasm, and professionalism. Thank you, Megan!” – Gabriel St. John 

Megan has been an instrumental part of our social media success and is in charge of much of our engagement with our amazing tweets. Because Jolkona doesn’t spend any money on marketing or advertising, we really rely on the power of social media to outreach and spread awareness of our work and the amazing partners we work with. We are so thankful for Megan’s continued contributions and energy. Thank you Megan for being a part of Jolkona over the past couple years!

You can follow Megan on Twitter @MegMarieF.

Be inspired; be generous. Make a difference today. 

Share the love with those in need this Generosity Day by making a donation through Jolkona.

Or send one of Jolkona’s Valentine’s Day gift cards to the ones you love.

Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and re-pin our pins on Pinterest.

In preparation for our annual Corks & Forks fundraising event, our team envisioned an amazing event with all fundraising elements- silent auction, live auction and program to highlight and illustrate all of the wonderful work Jolkona does. As the planning continued, we knew the elements of the evening’s program had to include a media piece about Jolkona. For the guests who were familiar with our organization and for the guests who were getting to know us, we needed a video to encompass all parts of Jolkona.

Enter Lucas Gregor, new Jolkona intern, fresh out of college and willing to take the lead on writing, shooting and editing Jolkona’s first impact video. For weeks, he dedicated his time to shooting in various locations from the Seattle Art Museum Sculpture park to Cal Anderson park on Capitol Hill to the Jolkona office downtown. With every part of the video from scouting locations, to bringing confidence and empathy to the video participants to editing, Lucas displayed passion and ease. The video encompasses testimonies from Jolkona partners, donors, volunteers and a board member to highlight what giving is all about. Here is Lucas’ brilliant work and final video:

In addition to giving over a hundred hours in creating the Jolkona impact video, Lucas is always available to help with other volunteer needs. In the month of October, Lucas volunteered at the Corks & Forks event, manipulating the media for the evening’s program. He also was a stellar bar tender at Jolkona’s Microsoft Giving Campaign’s international fashion show A Night of Fashion and Giving. Even with a last minute request, Lucas is always willing to help others and to be available to support Jolkona.

“Lucas is easy going, dedicated, and has an eye for creating great videos. He has been an amazing asset to the Jolkona team over the last six months. One of the first projects he worked on was our Volunteer Dancing video which was an editing project piecing together videos from around the world with our volunteers dancing while visiting our partners. The goal was to inspire more people to get involved with volunteering and he did an amazing job. Lucas’s internship is coming to an end and we’re sad to have him go but are truly grateful for all the creative storytelling he has helped Jolkona with in just a short period and we wish him all the luck in his future endeavors.” – Nadia Mahmud (Jolkona CEO)

“Lucas was a gem to work with from the start! The first time I met him, I showed him our dance clips – there were more than 20 clips, filmed to different songs, different tempos especially when we couldn’t hear the music, and often had shaky hands as our volunteer cameramen. I thought he would need at least 3 weeks to get this sorted out but he came back in a week with a rough cut that blew all of us away. The quality of his work continues with the video he made for corks and forks and I’m excited to see his artistic abilities continue to grow as Jolkona grows!” – Nancy Xu (Jolkona Volunteer)

Lucas has easily become part of Jolkona’s amazing volunteer team and we are so very thankful for his time and commitment!  Thanks so much Lucas!

It’s been a while since the last Featured Volunteer Post, but that doesn’t mean that our volunteers aren’t superstars! I would introduce you to Gabriel St. John, but if you’re reading this blog, you know him already. Gabriel is our Online Content Manager, in charge of keeping the Jolkona blog fresh, informative and engaging. He first got involved with Jolkona as the Editing and Writing Intern in the fall of 2011, working with Laura Kimball on the blog. Since then, he became the lead on the blog team, establishing his personable and understandable style in a series of increasingly successful posts.

I met Gabriel by working with him as the 2012 summer Editing and Writing Intern. In addition to being a quick-witted, likeable individual, he effortlessly orchestrated our blog schedule for the entire summer, and taught me so much about effective communication. Gabriel has a great passion for creative writing, and uses these skills to tell the more personal stories from Jolkona. Yes, we can see the projects, the statistics, the need. But without Gabriel’s work on bringing the stories behind many of our issues to light, it isn’t necessarily easy to see why we do it.

My experiences with Gabriel are echoed by the rest of Jolkona:

Gabriel is such a critical part of the Jolkona team. He’s an amazing writer and helps tell the Jolkona story and that of all the partners we work with through our blog. He has done an amazing job curating, editing, and writing content for our blog ever since he’s led the team. What I especially like about Gabriel is how he makes the social issues we talk about personal, bringing in stories from his own childhood or experiences to make it real. I really love reading our blog posts and learning more about the issues I didn’t know as much about or simply getting even more inspired to do something about them. Thanks Gabriel for bringing your dedication, passion, and fantastic writing skills to the Jolkona team! -Nadia Khawaja

Working with Gabriel is always incredible; he has a unique ability for developing (and editing) compelling stories that resonate with Jolkona donors and readers and he is also aware of how to work within the limited resources of a nonprofit. Gabriel is a huge asset to the Jolkona team, not only for his online content management skills but excitement about the organization and how he’s always willing to jump in and help out whenever needed. He brings a plethora of information and writing experience to his volunteer work at Jolkona and we are lucky to have him as part of our team. -Daljit Singh

Storytelling is critical to Jolkona. Whether it is telling the impact of our partners or the work of our volunteers, Gabriel has helped us to tell our stories and connect with our communities. He and I don’t agree on football, but, I respect all that he has done to support Jolkona over the past year! The way he really took ownership over the blog and works with interns really embodies the sort of volunteers Jolkona and any non-profit strives to have on their team. -Adnan Mahmud

Gabriel’s ability to seamlessly spin together the tales of Jolkona, the stories that make our work real, is invaluable. The fact that he can find time for us in addition to working his day job shows his dedication and resourcefulness. Jolkona is incredibly fortunate to have each and every one of our volunteers, and Gabriel is a stellar member of that group. Thank you, Gabriel, for being a fantastic volunteer, and for sharing Jolkona’s story around the world.

Follow Gabriel on Twitter! Has his volunteering story inspired you? Do you want to join us in changing the world? Find out more information by emailing us a contact@jolkona.org. We’ve got a Twitter too! You can find us on Facebook and Pinterest as well.