Danette Matty
Group/Simply Youth Ministry, 2012, 200 pp., $7.99
During my years of leading teenagers as a professional or hired staff, I often looked for resources I could hand off to my adult volunteer team. Practical and inspirational products often were lacking. No longer. Matty has brought adult volunteering out of the shadows by offering this delightful little book—and just in time for the next volunteer appreciation event or training date.
In 99 Thoughts for Volunteers, what your volunteers will receive: a fair amount of inspiration (i.e., Thought # 9, What Matters Most), plenty of humor (i.e., Thought # 8, Share the Toilet Scrubbing) and copious amounts of practical helps and answers (i.e., Thought # 78, How to Be Your Own Kids Youth Leader). Among the 99 Thoughts—with explanations—there is more than enough solid advice here to go around and help any motley crew of volunteers.
Thought # 100: Keep a few copies of this book on hand for your next leadership training event or sprinkle them around when you feel your crew is becoming restless or listless. Even the best volunteers need a rudder now and then—or maybe they need to be reminded of why they are involved with teenagers. This is a low-cost way to affirm those core leaders on your team.
