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The Volunteer Family, Inc. was officially created in May, 2003, but it had been on the mind of founder Heather Jack for quite some time.
After I had my daughter, I became acutely aware of the importance of family and community and how the two are interrelated," says Heather. "I did months of research, trying to find opportunities where I could volunteer with my family, but it was a difficult and time-consuming task." Her frustration with the process led to the creation of The Volunteer Family. "Unfortunately, when we have a child to look after, we often put community service on the back burner." Heather realized that if she could find a way to spend more time with her family and volunteer at the same time, "I could teach my kids to care for others while we contributed to an important cause together," she explains.
Extremely community service-oriented throughout her childhood and young adult years, Heather's accomplishments include collaborating with the National Head Start program to write a volunteer recruitment manual for 3000 Head Start centers. Her extensive volunteering earned Heather the National Public Service Award upon graduation from Middlebury College .
Heather then worked at the corporate office of Bright Horizons Children's Centers before leaving to be a co-founder and office manager of a real estate law firm. Three years later, she helped create and organize a mortgage broker company, Residential One Mortgage. During this time period, she also attended Babson College in the evenings, to earn her MBA.
Heather is now returning to her non-profit roots as Founder and President of The Volunteer Family . "We connect families with organizations who need additional volunteers," Heather explains simply. "The results are incredible."
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| Heather and her children - Elizabeth and Alex -volunteering at a Valentine's Party at the Respite Center in Framingham. |
Heather and Bequis, a former AmeriCorps member with The Volunteer Family. |
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