City Launches Social Network

COMMUNITY LINK HOPES TO ENGAGE RESIDENTS, VOLUNTEERS

Julie McQuade, Fayetteville community outreach coordinator, details a new city website called Community Link during a presentation Tuesday at the Fayetteville Public Library. McQuade promoted Community Link as a resource exclusively for Fayetteville residents, featuring community events, city announcements and volunteer opportunities.
Julie McQuade, Fayetteville community outreach coordinator, details a new city website called Community Link during a presentation Tuesday at the Fayetteville Public Library. McQuade promoted Community Link as a resource exclusively for Fayetteville residents, featuring community events, city announcements and volunteer opportunities.

— The city has leapt further into the 21st Century with the launch of a social networking website called Community Link.

The website was hailed Tuesday during an event at the Fayetteville Public Library as a place where residents can find city announcements, post community events and coordinate volunteer opportunities.

“It connects good causes with good people,” Mayor Lioneld Jordan said.

Jordan noted residents’ already strong commitment to volunteerism. More than 20,000 people logged more than 500,000 hours of volunteer work in Fayetteville last year, he said.

“We already have a tremendous volunteer community,” said community outreach coordinator Julie McQuade, who along with Christina Campbell, a business systems analyst for the city, was largely responsible for designing the website. “I didn’t really know how to make it any better than it already was.”

“Luckily, through creating this tool, I think we have created that resource,” she said.

WEB WATCH

Community Link

To register or subscribe to Community Link, go to www.fayettevilleforward.org.

Residents can peruse the website any time or opt to receive email or text messages catered to their specific interests, such as art and culture, economic development, green initiatives and volunteer opportunities.

Those who create a Community Link account can post information themselves, submit an event, leave a comment or apply to volunteer through the website. Or they can register using their Facebook account.

“We wanted to make it accessible to every comfort level,” McQuade said.

A volunteer database on Community Link will be hosted through a Washington-based company called Truist using the same technology nationwide nonprofit organizations such as United Way use, McQuade said.

McQuade said building the database cost the city $5,000 and will cost $4,000 each year to maintain.

McQuade will be responsible for administering the site but said she hopes, once it gets going, it can rely on direct feeds from the city’s website, www.accessfayetteville.org, and resident-submitted postings to maintain itself.

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