During Times of Fiscal Crisis, Volunteers Are Ideal Work Force : Motivated workers can save millions of dollars at many levels of government.

These are indeed desperate times for Orange County--but desperate measures may not be necessary to solve all our problems. In fact, following county CEO William J. Popejoy’s lead, we can start saving millions of dollars by employing our county’s greatest resource: its volunteers.

This isn’t some cruel joke or a Pollyanna fantasy. Last year, San Diego County received $20 million worth of volunteer time.

The San Diego model is a good example of how volunteers perform vital functions and participate as integral team players. The San Diego area has both city and county volunteer coordinators who direct qualified individuals to support specific needs; the county itself has 6,000 volunteers servicing 70 programs.

San Diego volunteers work as law clerks, translators and administrative support staff. The San Diego County Parks Department, for example, uses volunteers for cleanup, gardening, maintenance, public relations and security functions.

The Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County already places 31,500 volunteers each year--that translates into a $23.3-million value.

The city of Los Angeles uses a less costly approach: It hired an L.A. Volunteer Center coordinator to work out of City Hall and direct volunteers to needy city departments.

By interfacing with county departments, our volunteer center could find people to support vital county functions as well.

Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fullerton, San Clemente and Anaheim, as well as the Orange County Health Care Agency, already use the center to fill their volunteer needs. Virtually all facets of county government could benefit from doing the same.

According to the 1994 Orange County Annual Survey, county residents are three times more likely to volunteer than others throughout the United States.

Two out of every three county adults rate volunteering as “highly important” and believe that volunteering can help solve community problems; however, only slightly more than half actually participate in volunteer activities. The real challenge is mobilizing this potential work force and helping turn their words into actions.

Volunteers may not solve the county’s financial problems or even stave off a proposed sales tax increase, but they are a highly motivated work force that can save millions of dollars and hundreds of hours for Orange County. Volunteerism works. Let’s put it to work for Orange County.