How do I get month only from post data?

Would like to get JUST the_month() …. which doesn’t exist. Can someone clue me in here?

function getVolArchives() {
	query_posts('category_name=volunteerspotlights&showposts=5');
	while (have_posts()) : the_post();

		echo '<li>' . the_title() . '</li><li>' . the_date() . '</li>';
	endwhile;
}

add_shortcode('getVolArchives', 'getVolArchives');