Mattoon Chamber Encourages You to Volunteer

Thursday, February 4, 2021, Ed Dowd, Executive Director of the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce was a guest on 101.3 WMCI.  Here is a brief description of what he covered during the interview:

Renewed volunteerism will be important once the restrictions are lifted.

Mattoon In Motion is a community wide effort for the betterment of Mattoon and its citizens. It consists of seven different committees that focus on ways to improve the community.

Below are many options for people to get involved as follows:

1. The Parks and Recreations Committee works with the City which has created a Tree Commission to plant new and maintain existing trees throughout Mattoon.
2. The Youth Committee partners with Bill Duey and Fit-2-Serve who just last year won the prestigious Governor’s Hometown Award for Mattoon with their Community Garden Projects.
3. The Housing Committee will be working on improving the appearance of veterans homes that have fallen in disrepair. They are also looking for volunteers to help with these projects.     Other projects not related to Mattoon in Motion with volunteer opportunities include:
4. Douglas-Hart Nature Center is always looking for volunteers. They have many environmental features in their habitat. One of the most interesting is their re-purposing of Ash Trees that were devastated by the Ash Borer beetle infestation. They had to remove the trees as they were killed by the beetles. They decided to cut the trees to 6 feet and carve wildlife figures into them for  visitors who walk their trails to enjoy.
5. Habitat for Humanity will be seeking volunteers for future build projects throughout the County.

If you are interested in joining Mattoon In Motion as a volunteer you can contact the Chamber at director@mattoonchamber.com.

You can reach Bill Duey with Fit-2-Serve at 217-235-3839.

You can reach Douglas-Hart by contacting Jennifer Tariq at 217-235-4644.

Melissa McDaniel is the Executive Director at Coles County Habitat for Humanity. You can reach her at 217-348-7063.

The Chamber has an extensive list of many other opportunities throughout the community that will be available on our website.

Keep up to date at the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce website.

Listen to the complete interview here: