Nonprofit Group Volunteer San Diego Abruptly Closes Doors

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 2:25 p.m.

After serving the region for 42 years, Volunteer San Diego announced Friday it has closed its doors.

In a letter on its website, the nonprofit stated, “After careful deliberation and weighing all the alternatives, Volunteer San Diego (VSD) has elected to close its doors. Despite an all-out effort by staff, volunteers, and the Board of Directors, VSD has not been able to secure sufficient funding to sustain its operations in this economy.”

The closure is a result of a "decrease in individual, corporate and foundation giving, due in large part to the economy," said VSD's director of corporate relations Maureen Polimadei, who added that "it was just not feasible for VSD to continue."

In the letter posted Thursday evening, VSD also thanked the public for its support over the years.

“We thank the public for demonstrating year after year how important volunteering is to our community,” the letter stated. “We thank our partner organizations for providing excellent service opportunities across a broad range of interests and skills. We thank our corporate sponsors not only for believing in and supporting us, but also for understanding that there is a cost to volunteering. And we extend special thanks to our individual donors, those who gave of their time and talent, as well as their dollars.”

Volunteer San Diego served as a division of United Way from 1969-1999 and became its own nonprofit in 2000. According to its website, it helped about “62,000 individuals, families, corporate and community groups fill volunteer needs at 500 community organizations.”

According to its latest annual report, the total income for the 2008-2009 fiscal year was $1,062,340. Expenses for the year were listed in the condensed summary of the report as $1,074,722. (See PDF of annual report).

The 2009-2010 annual report was not available on the organization’s website.

Volunteer San Diego is run by a five-member board of directors headed by Brent Shintani, Baxter Healthcare Corp.; Alton Kwok, San Diego Gas & Electric; Susan Emery, a financial consultant; Bob Alden, L-3 Communication; and JR Raines, Union Bank Foundation; and seven staff members.

News of the closure was announced via Facebook about 11 p.m. Thursday and Twitter at 12:42 a.m. Friday.