Newtown Nonprofit Council (NNC) saw about a dozen representatives from local organizations at its Tuesday, February 21 hybrid meeting. Those attending in person convened at C.H. Booth Library with others connecting online through Zoom.

Since there were many new faces, everyone was invited to introduce themselves and speak about the nonprofit that they are affiliated with.

C.H. Booth Library Reference Librarian and meeting moderator Lily Mac Hugh announced, “We have probably the most people I have seen here at the Nonprofit Council. That is wonderful. Thank you all for attending today.”

She handed out the meeting’s agenda, which was also available electronically for those signed up to receive e-mails.

“The council, I think, should be a collaborative effort for Newtown. We are trying to improve the community, work together, bring people out, and make the place better,” Mac Hugh said. “Right now, it feels a little disjointed. There is not as much collaborative effort as we would like. We are not seeing as many volunteers as we used to.”

She asked the attendees what they believe should be worked on and changed.

Former local Commission on Aging Chair Curt Symes, who said he represents the senior community of Newtown, observed, “We have so many things in play in Newtown nowadays … that people are not at a loss of things to do. There is a shortage of volunteers, is the best way to describe it.”

Moving forward, he proposed focusing on “education and awareness” to help fix this dilemma.

Mac Hugh asked for a show of hands among attendees indicating who uses the “Get Connected, Newtown!” site — a volunteer hub through Galaxy Digital supported by the Jeniam Foundation. The platform is being used by the NNC for its events calendar and as a tool for the public to sign up for volunteer opportunities.

With not many people raising their hands, Mac Hugh responded to the results saying, “So, not a lot.”

She asked why this may be the case and if it is not best serving people.

Newtown Forest Association (NFA) Executive Director Trent McCann said that he uses “Get Connected, Newtown!” for finding volunteers.

“Prior to coming to the NFA, I spent seven years working as a volunteer coordinator for an organization in Stamford. It’s a larger community, but we used a very similar type of platform. Speaking from experience, I know it’s sort of like a critical mass thing. It needs to be a place where people in a community know if they go look here, they will find outlets for volunteering … we just need to hit that critical mass point,” he said.

Tripp Killin of the Jeniam Foundation inquired if anyone uses another volunteer management system. Friends of Edmond Town Hall Co-Chair Julie Brunelle said they use SignUpGenius.

“I’ve gotten feedback that people absolutely do not want to create another login, and that’s why they don’t want to use Galaxy Digital. You can sign up on SignUpGenius and not have a password to do it … using that is easy for the Edmond Town Hall staff,” she said.

Brunelle said ETH volunteers have said if the nonprofit switches to only Galaxy Digital they will not volunteer anymore.

Steve Bennett, who represents multiple nonprofits, including Newtown Lions Club and Newtown Congregational Church, said that SignUpGenius has been “an excellent tool” for organizations that he has been part of for years.

Livable Communities

NNC also took up discussing the Livable Communities initiative and its current progress.

Friends of Newtown Seniors (FONS) President John Boccuzzi, Sr, shared how his organization has put together a long-range plan that describes Newtown and its history, as well as its goals and objectives for the town to be more livable.

He encouraged everyone to visit the FONS website, friendsofnewtownseniors.org, to access the document, which can be printed out to read if needed.

“Do an honest reading of it,” Boccuzzi said, because he would like feedback. Attendees expressed interested in getting more publicity for this topic.

Mac Hugh noted that going forward for future NNC meetings, instead of always meeting for 10 am, she would like to swap to an evening time every other month. Her reasoning is to try and best accommodate more people’s schedules.

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Reporter Alissa Silber can be reached at alissa@thebee.com.