Bakersfield.com: Recruitment event seeks volunteers for local community service jobs

BY JOHN COX, Apr 3, 2024

Local leaders came together Wednesday to call on young people around Kern County to serve their community by putting in time on priorities like climate action, food insecurity, mentoring and tutoring — all in exchange for college tuition money.

An initiative led by California Volunteers, based in the state governor’s office, stopped by Bakersfield’s Career & Technical Education Center Wednesday morning as part of a push to recruit more than 10,000 paid workers, including more than 1,000 in the Central Valley.

The event featured words of inspiration from civil rights icon Dolores Huerta and others, as well as personal testimonials from two students at Cal State Bakersfield who spoke about how dedicating their time to helping young people had given them direction in life.

Huerta told the small audience including reporters how important she views volunteerism, and what a key role it played in her own history as a schoolteacher who learned how to organize people.

“You’re delivering hope. You’re delivering dignity,” the co-founder of the United Farm Workers labor union said. “You’re giving people (reassurance) that they’re important.”