Christine Reyna Maxwell to address Group of Volunteers
May 15, 2008
Wiesbaden, Germany
Christine Reyna Maxwell will be the Keynote Speaker at the annual Wiesbaden ACS Volunteer Recognition Award ceremony on May 15, 2008. The ceremony will honor those volunteer individuals in the Wiesbaden United States Army Garrison community.
The topic of Christine's speech will focus on "Leading by Example".
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Volunteer’s Book Hooks Youth on Helping Others
By Matt Millham - Stars and Stripes/Scene Magazine
Sunday, March 16, 2008
If Christine Reyna Maxwell’s social studies teachers were forced to bet on which of their students would write a book on charity, they might not have put their money on her.
Her sketchy memories of volunteering as a Brownie in Corpus Christi, Texas, don’t exactly paint a picture of youthful altruism. She remembers taking part in high-school fund- raisers, but, she laments, they were all for the benefit of the school, not others.
Then three years ago, at age 30, Maxwell got an e-mail from an Army friend who was deployed to Afghanistan. The message pleaded with Maxwell and others to send pots, pans, clothes, blankets—whatever they could—to give to poor Afghans and Pakistanis living in squalor. The request included pictures, graphic depictions of the state of affairs there.
“It was just horrible,” said Maxwell, a former registrar at Wiesbaden Middle School in Germany. The Pakistani refugees were crammed into a compound of windowless concrete buildings. The local Afghans didn’t have it much better. “It was just heartbreaking to me to see that,” she said.
Maxwell started a donation drive, but, she admits, she didn’t really know what she was doing. She scoured the Internet for ideas and books on what to do.
“I just felt like I didn’t have a guide,” she said. “There’s more to it than, ‘Hey, if you have any clothes, bring them on by.’”
When the ideas she came across didn’t pique her interest, she came up with some of her own. With help from friends, the community and the school, the drive collected 120 moving boxes’ worth of donations over a two-week span.
When the drive was finished, she wanted to do it all over again. “It’s addicting,” she said.
Maxwell, who still lives in Wiesbaden with her husband, looked for other volunteer opportunities in the area, collected eyeglasses to send to poor countries and traveled to Romania with Habitat for Humanity to build a home for a needy family. And then, almost as an afterthought, a book happened.
Maxwell and her husband, Marc, were in the process of adopting a baby girl when she started writing down a list of activities she wanted to do with her daughter. The list included all kinds of charitable things she wished she’d done growing up.
“I just want to make her life better and see the world in a positive way and be a positive person,” she said.
The list grew in length and detail, while the arrival of the Maxwell’s daughter was delayed over and over again. When her husband saw what she had, he suggested she turn her ideas into a book. He was a published author, and Maxwell figured he knew what he was talking about.
Writing a book wasn’t something she had considered, but with the adoption delayed, she worked nights and weekends to turn her list into something other people could use.
It was taking shape as a guidebook—the guidebook she needed but didn’t have during her first drive—to execute volunteer projects such as cleaning up nearby streams and organizing auctions for fund-raisers.
She typed away with the understanding that if it were ever published, she’d donate all proceeds to charity.
That happened more quickly than she expected. The first publisher she contacted snatched it up. “I thought her idea was terrific,” said Bruce Franklin, her publisher at Westholme Publishing. “There really isn’t much available that explains the many options and ways young people—those between 6 and 24—can contribute to their communities through volunteering.”
But Franklin wanted more. Maxwell had already come up with about 25 step-by-step volunteer activities; Franklin wanted 25 more. “You have to commit yourself to volunteer work,” she said. “You can’t just quit.”
She didn’t. It had taken her eight months to come up with and design the first three activities; she redoubled her efforts and churned out the whole second half of the book in six months.
Maxwell’s “The Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People” was published in November, and was mentioned in January on the Web site www.VolunteerMatch.com. After that, the book briefly sprang to number three on Amazon’s list of books about volunteering, and number one on its list of non-formal education titles. Maxwell was excited, but, she said, it’s more important to her that people use the book.
“I do want it to raise money for my causes, the causes that I care about,” she said, “but mostly it’s actually (about) doing the volunteer activity itself.”
“The Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People” is available through Amazon, or the Web site www.ultimatevolunteer.com.
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Christine Maxwell's The Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People was recently mentioned in the Saint Martin's University Alumni magazine: Insights.
Spring, 2008
"Christine Reyna Maxwell ’03 was awarded the Department of Defense Humanitarian Service medal for her volunteer efforts for Afghan refugees. She authored a new book, The Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People, which was released in December. All of the profits from book sales will go to charity. Christine, her husband Marc, and daughter Meredith reside in Wiesbaden, Germany".
The book is now on sale at Read More....
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#1 ranking Amazon.com
January 16, 2008
The Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People reaches a #1 ranking Amazon.com's Hot New releases for "Volunteer Work" books as well as #1 on their bestsellers list for "Non-Formal Education" titles.
The book is now on sale at Amazon.com.
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Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People
VolunteerMatch.org - January 2008 Newsletter
Are the kids alright? If their community involvement is any indication, you better believe it.
According to recent studies, more than 15 million youth volunteer each year. Not only does this account for more than 55% of all young people, it’s also nearly double the rate of adults.
Young people may have a lot to share about the meaning of commitment, but author Christina Reyna Maxwell believes they still have plenty to learn about volunteering. That’s why she created a resource to help do just that.
Maxwell's new Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People provides instruction, key tips, and inspiration for young people who are interested in finding a great way to do something positive. Forget about stuffing envelopes and licking stamps -- here's a resource that covers truly cool ways to give back like growing an organic vegetable garden, learning CPR, and hosting a camping trip.
Maxwell, who currently lives in Wiesbaden, Germany, believes in the power of youth volunteering, and she’s even pledged to give all her profits to her favorite charities (including VolunteerMatch). She wrote the book with the idea that with a little guidance, young people have the potential to become even greater volunteers.
"To teach children well is to bring out the best of the them," writes Maxwell. "A child who volunteers learns compassion and kindness for others."
The book is now on sale at Amazon.com. For more information, visit more of our site: www.ultimatevolunteer.com.
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Book Release Dinner Party
November 9, 2007
Christine Maxwell hosts a dinner party with her friends celebrating the release of her book. The dinner is at Christine's favorite restaurant, El Chico's Steakhouse in Mainz, Germany.
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Greg Baldwin decides to write the Foreword
April 2007
Christine Maxwell is proud to announce that Greg Baldwin, President of VolunteerMatch.com has agreed to write her book's Foreword for The Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People.
Greg Baldwin joined what is now VolunteerMatch in the spring of 1998 as its Chief Imagination Officer to finish engineering the Internet to help everybody find a great place to volunteer. Today, VolunteerMatch is a leader in the nonprofit world. Its popular web service is strengthening communities and organizations across the country by making it easier for good people and good causes to connect.
Greg is a life-long volunteer and regularly speaks at nonprofit events and conferences on the subjects of volunteering, communication, and the Internet.
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Westholme Publishing signs Christine Reyna Maxwell
March 2007
Westholme and Publisher Bruce Franklin will publish the author's The Ultimate Volunteer Guidebook for Young People, set to be released in December of 2007. Westholme Publishing is an independent publisher of American and world history and culture, military history, sports, and regional interest and is housed in Yardley, PA.
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