Carlsbad offers some unique ways to volunteer. The city went beyond the standard volunteer program to create a Special Volunteer Action Team. SVAT encompasses a widely diverse group of community-minded people who have identified the specialized skill sets they are willing to offer for free. This perspective:

• Offers staff a “Craigslist” of skill sets.
• Opens staff thinking to new options for volunteers.
• Strengthens the volunteer program by expanding the opportunities to serve.

Quantifiable accomplishments include a website project in which SVAT members re-wrote web content, built new links and assisted in moving more than 2,000 pages to a new website. Also for more than two years SVAT members have helped the city’s GIS department with a huge project to map every unit in all multi-unit parcels in the city. When complete, public safety personnel will know the exact locations of every unit.

Some of the talents offered by SVAT members include:

• Graphic artist
• Grant writing
• Environmental report writing
• Event planning
• Hazardous waste manager