How to Volunteer in Collier County during a Pandemic

With over 300 nonprofit organizations in Collier County, there are many ways for you as an employer or employee to volunteer during “normal times”. Nowadays, volunteering can be more challenging, but we have a solution!

Collier County Public School’s NAF Academies is seeking professionals to volunteer a small portion of their time, which fits within their schedule, to assist students with their career-readiness skills and career exploration. NAF Academies are small career-themed pathways within the high schools that are focused on six themes:

• Aviation
• Information Technology
• Engineering
• Finance and Entrepreneurship
• Hospitality
• Health Sciences

NAF solves some of the biggest challenges facing education and the economy by bringing education, business and community leaders together to transform the high school experience. More than ever, students need our continued support, especially since their typical field trips to local businesses and classroom guest speakers will not be taking place this year. Virtual will be the way to go!

“I truly enjoy being a NAF volunteer, and it is a great program as it gives the students an inside view of potential careers. It allows them to be more confident and knowledgeable when making career decisions.” -NAF Volunteer

How does it work?
Alex Breault, director of work-based learning at the Greater Naples Chamber, can help guide you to what might be the best fit for you.

First Step: Choose how much time you would like to dedicate to students.
We can work with whatever the amount is… one hour, four hours, tens hours plus.

Second Step: Decide what activities you would like to participate in.
You can be a virtual guest speaker for an academy, mentor students with career-based projects, assist with mock interviews, support information interviews or hire a virtual intern.

Third Step: Get started! 
We will simply connect you with the opportunities that fit within the scope of your availability and interests.

As the business community, we are a critical partner in providing students with quality and meaningful work-based learning opportunities needed to bridge the gap from the classroom to the workplace. This is our opportunity to create an on-going talent pipeline for our employers and for them to have access to a capable candidate pool. We also can decrease “brain-drain” and grow our own workforce that is college, career and life ready. So many students grow up here and attend our schools, but move away as soon as the opportunity arises because they are unaware of the career opportunities right here in their own backyards. This is our responsibility to showcase these professions, but we can’t do it alone. We need help igniting these students' passion for learning while developing their pathway from all professionals from different backgrounds, industries, cultures and experiences.

“Local NAF volunteers are able to open countless doors for students who never even knew they existed.”- NAF

For more information about becoming a NAF Academies volunteer, please contact Alex Breault, alex@napleschamber.org, for more information on how to get started.

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