Plans for VIGOR began in the spring of 1972 when a group of concerned citizens and city administrators explored the utilization of volunteers in all aspects of municipal government, to the benefit of both the citizens and the city. Mayor Moon Landrieu enthusiastically endorsed the plans for the VIGOR program in October 1972, and placed the program in the Mayor's Office, under the Human Relations Committee.

VIGOR opened its doors to citizen volunteers in January, 1973. In 1974 it became a branch of the Mayor's Office, under the Executive Assistant for Policy Planning. Its first director, herself a volunteer, was Mrs. Margery K. Stich. An advisory council, composed of twenty-four community leaders, assisted the VIGOR staff in carrying out its goals, as listed below:

To involve citizens in the workings of their government--bringing through first hand experience, more awareness of the responsibilities and complexities of city government; To promote new and needed programs for the city and its citizens by providing semi and highly skilled persons and groups to fill unmet needs in the city; To build a sense of pride in and responsibility for city government, replacing frustrations and suspicions with realistic knowledge about city government; To elevate the quality of volunteerism in government to the level of professionalism, through conscientiousness, achievement, ingenuity, and dependability.

One of VIGOR's long-range projects was the Clear-A-Date Community Calendar, designed to provide organization leaders with information regarding planned activities in the civic, cultural, and athletic areas of our community. Its major goal and function was to help others avoid conflicts and duplication in planning major events. Publication of the Clear-A-Date calendar began in 1975.

VIGOR has continued after the administrations of Mayors Landrieu and Ernest Morial. the Clear-A-Date calendar, for example, ceased production in 1986. In 1987 a VIGOR volunteer, Joseph Lazaro, was instrumental in the preparation of The 1987 Citizens' Handbook of Private Foundations, published jointly by the city and the Greater New Orleans Foundation