In my August “How Can I Help?” letter, I noted some questions CVN is asking about better supporting the network based on your needs and creative ideas. I also shared the many efforts we have made this year to help you and your programs. Now, I am happy to share that RESPONSE 2021 is almost ready for distribution!

For over 55 years, RESPONSE has been a key resource for telling the story of faith-based service. It helps CVN member programs connect with volunteers and, in many cases, catalyze their journeys for decades to come. The CVN staff invests so much thought and energy into the production of RESPONSE. I hope you agree that it is a quality resource. And I trust you feel that RESPONSE 2021 will be an asset to your mission.

In a year that has changed much about how the world works, we too will adapt. We will continue to mail RESPONSE and make it available whenever possible in the same settings as past years. In addition, promotion of the online version will ensure that the opportunities you offer will be known widely despite the impacts of COVID-19. We will promote RESPONSE 2021 heavily at this key back-to-school time – and throughout the year. Moreover, RESPONSE 2021 will be featured during CVN’s upcoming Virtual Recruitment Fair.

This fair – the first of its kind – will connect CVN programs with leaders and students at college campuses for two days in November to learn and foster relationships. The event schedule is more holistic than a traditional fair. It will offer students a variety of member-led information sessions, as well as spaces for discussion and discernment support. Thanks to guidance from our dedicated working group of CVN members and campus partners, we are confident that this event will be of value for young adults seeking a hopeful answer to “What’s Next?” in an unusual academic year. We hope you will find it valuable too.  Learn more about how to participate later in this newsletter.

CVN looks forward to this being a successful event that benefits members, as well as exploring other creative ways this year to ensure that you are known to those seeking to make a difference at this time.  Creative visibility – via RESPONSE 2021, virtual events, and more – will ensure that lives will continue to be transformed through your commitments.

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I invite you to place an order for copies of RESPONSE 2021. With so many in need, and a growing interest in service, please think about new ways in which you can get RESPONSE into the hands of even more people. PLACE YOUR ORDER now!

With you in service,

Yonce Shelton
Executive Director