Volunteer Coordinator Connects Kids With Life Work Opportunities

As the Youth Volunteer Coordinator at the Volunteer Center of San Gabriel Valley, Cindy Portillo embodies the spirit of outreach. In addition to promoting volunteer opportunities throughout the region, Portillo provides a forum for youth to pursue their goals and aspirations through local projects that match their talents and interests.

“You have to start where you live,” she said. 

The job is a natural fit for Portillo, who participated in many community service projects as a teenager at San Gabriel Mission High School, although at the time she didn’t realize she would be able to incorporate those experiences into a career.

“I never realized I was a volunteer all my life,” she said.

Both of Portillo’s parents were involved with the school, church and the community, and she and her siblings participated in numerous service projects, as well as working at the family’s Video Update store. She admits that as a teenager, she didn’t always appreciate her parents’ attentiveness. However, now she is grateful for their influence.

“Our work ethic is different. I see it in my brothers. They give 110 percent to all they do,” she said. "They not only work hard, they have fun doing it. We love being out and doing silly stuff,” she said. 

The experiences she shared with family members ultimately brought out her enthusiasm for volunteering, and now her job gives her opportunities to coordinate events and participate in them outside the office, such as when she led students in a garden project on Martin Luther King Day. Another event the volunteer center recently sponsored was a tree-planting ceremony in Baldwin Park on Cesar Chavez Day. 

The next project Portillo is looking forward to is the “I like to Move It, Move It” event on April 16, when the center will be sponsoring four different hikes in , Pasadena Eaton Canyon, Sierra Madre Mt. Wilson, and the Duarte Trails. Healthcare professionals will walk with participants, and they’ll also get a backpack with snacks, sunscreen, and lip balm. Participants will also be able to learn about volunteer opportunities at each location.

Although many of the events Portillo coordinates are youth-oriented, she welcomes adult volunteers who want to participate. Since 2004, 1,746 adults have volunteered, mostly through “Make a Difference Day.” The youth program started when she was hired in 2010, and to date she’s had about 675 youths volunteer through the center. 

One of the features of the program is the “Volunteen Guide” on the San Gabriel Valley Volunteer Center’s website.  Portillo asks kids to look through the guide and tell her which opportunities fit their interests and would work out, location-wise. Then she will instruct them to contact the organization themselves.

“I want to give them some responsibility and choices,” she said. 

Portillo also gives kids the most updated information on a 2 GB flash drive, and provides training in which she advises them on how to fill out applications and make inquiries. She coaches them on phone and e-mail etiquette and instructs them as if they were looking for employment. Over the summer, students from the Pasadena Unified School District even received credit from one of her training courses

“If you want to volunteer in a place on a regular basis, a lot of the time they are going to interview you, just like a job,” she said.   

Youth are also welcome help her with clerical tasks in the office, but they need to take it seriously, as if they were going to work.

“If you don’t come, I’m going to contact somebody,” she said.

She also reminds people that volunteering not only looks good on college applications, but sometimes volunteer opportunities turn into jobs.

“Just because you’re not getting paid doesn’t mean you don’t have work experience,” Portillo said. 

In addition to referring volunteers to , Santa Anita Family YMCA, and the , Portillo has referred youth to opportunities with , animal shelters, food pantries, libraries, museums, and medical and dental clinics. 

Portillo learned about her current position long after she began working with the city in December 2001. She already enjoyed working for in Monrovia, and when she went to city hall to apply for a passport, she heard about the opportunity to work nights and weekends at the community center. To pay for a trip she wanted to take, she took the second job, and discovered she loved it. 

At first, she registered people for classes in the community center. She also showed rentals for events, and became the assistant to the recreation coordinator. As she became more involved through the community center, Portillo learned about an opportunity to work at the volunteer center in 2010 and applied for it.  

Formerly known as the Monrovia Volunteer Center, the organization has been around since 1943. In the past, the volunteer center was mostly a referral service for people who wanted to volunteer, although it also had a Meals On Wheels program. When Portillo came on, things began to change. 

On Portillo’s first day, she attended the Volunteer Center of South Bay’s Martin Luther King Day event.  She immediately noticed the heart on their logo, because her volunteer center is represented by a similar symbol. She was extremely impressed by their program, and she hoped to emulate many aspects of it, especially the leadership of the youth. Ultimately, she wants to create a youth council and pick a student from each school district to represent their area in the San Gabriel Valley.

“The goal is to pretty much have the youth run the volunteers,” Portillo said. 

While South Bay’s program is older and more well-established, it also has fewer cities to cover. The San Gabriel Valley Volunteer Center has over 32 cities to reach between South Pasadena and Claremont. Portillo also likes grow the program by working with volunteer centers from other areas, including Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.

“There are volunteer centers everywhere, which I didn’t know,” she said.   

Portillo has often found herself talking to people who are looking for volunteer opportunities or services outside the San Gabriel Valley, so she created a list of all the different cities and where to call. For example, if someone asks for Meals on Wheels outside of their service area, she can now direct them to the proper organization. She tries to be as helpful as possible, even if she’s not their direct point of contact.

“I say, ‘I’m not sure.’ I don’t like saying, ‘I don’t know.’ I say ‘Let me have your name and number and I will call you back,’” she said.

“My parents were good at teaching us to do that, too,” she added. 

She likes to joke that she’s a “Mexi-can,” meaning she likes to show what she can do to help others. Her goal is to help everyone seeking an opportunity, especially those who might not have all the resources at their fingertips. Some people who contact her might not have Internet access, so she will find other ways of communicating by phone or in person. 

“I think, ‘How would I want people to treat me if that were me?’” she said. “It takes a little extra outreach. In the long run it gives us a better name.” 

She also uses the Internet by sending out announcements on sites like volunteermatch.org.  

“We’ve gotten so much response from that. People are really looking to volunteer in general,” Portillo said. “We’ve had more volunteers from out of state than ever.” 

Recently, the center received decorated lunch bags and cards from Seattle and Pennsylvania, which they are able to include in projects and through the Meals On Wheels program. Portillo thinks programs like Meals On Wheels are a way to not only provide people with food, but with meaningful personal interaction. Through the Gabrielino Interact program, youth have also delivered meals to the seniors.

“Sometimes we’re the only people they talk to that day,” she said. “Those seniors want to have a conversation. They want to offer coffee. And it’s such an important thing to have that conversation.”

“To let little kids volunteer is amazing,” she added.  When lunch bags decorated by 2nd and 3rd graders are delivered along with the food, people will fold up bags and put them on their refrigerator. 

“They don’t want to throw it out,” she said. “They appreciate the small details.”

Portillo says she often gets calls from people who are amazed at getting something for free. During the “Loaves of Love,” project, an older woman called her crying and told her “God bless you,” because her husband didn’t believe the bread was free. She tells the kids about the thank you cards and phone calls, and they get recognition for their volunteering.

“All that stuff is a reward to me,” Portillo said. 

The San Gabriel Valley Volunteer Center has grown from its beginnings as a small referral center to one with an expanded outreach, which connects youth and adults with ways to give back to their communities.  

“When you have a closed door, it’s not inviting,” Portillo said. “Now we have so much traffic that comes in and out of our office.”

“I tell people all the time I’m shy. They laugh. When I’m really passionate about what I do, I can talk about it. I like what I do and I think it shows,” she added.  

Portillo is constantly thinking up new ways to provide youth and adults with opportunities. She carries pictures of volunteer projects in a flash drive on her key chain. That way, if she goes anywhere, she can show people the projects and get their feedback.

“Volunteering is so different now. You have so many options. It’s not just ‘let’s deliver some canned food, let’s give ten dollars,’” she said. She thinks it’s good if people can work at something they truly love, and tries find ways to match volunteers with the opportunity that’s best for them. 

“When you do something you like doing and then you see the results, that’s amazing to me,” Portillo said.