The AME Home Team members are dedicated, talented individuals working diligently every day to make the AME an incredible organization in which to share, learn and grow. Did you know they are also passionate volunteers outside of AME? In addition to all they do for AME, they find time to contribute their energy and talents to other personal organizations, many of them nonprofits, like AME.
Nonprofit organizations play a crucial role in society by addressing a wide range of social, economic, and environmental issues and would not survive without dedicated volunteers. In the United States, about 30% of adults volunteer annually, contributing an estimated 7.8 billion hours of service. The value of this volunteer work is over $187 billion. Worldwide, an estimated 1 billion people volunteer their time.
AME recognizes the value of volunteering. This year, AME will be supporting our Home Team members by providing a paid personal day to each of them to enable them to give back to the organization of their choice.
Desiree Dolecki, director of conferences & events, said she will use her volunteer day to support the Focus on Book Arts. FOBA brings super passionate creatives together for the art of bookmaking, which she claims she “knows nothing about.” She says she is “hoping to be an asset on-site by handling logistics so they can focus on their craft.” She may not know about bookmaking, but we know she knows how to manage conference logistics and will be a true asset to the organization.
Barb Clayton, director of membership & operations, shared, “There are events at our church, the schools and in our community that I have wanted to support and now I can find time.” We know Barb also volunteers for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and advocates for World Vision Global, which provides clean water to children in communities around the globe.
Sara O’Hara, conferences & events manager, spends her time volunteering with her church. She also volunteers for the Kids Hope program and mentors at the local elementary school. She supports “Blessings in a Backpack,” where she helps pack food for school children to take home on Fridays so they have food to eat over the weekend. This year, she is directing and producing a Christmas Radio Show Dinner Program. Most of you who know Sara know about her passion for the Palatine Historical Society: Clayson House Museum. She maintains the museum collection and house and helps with the upkeep of the museum’s gardens. With all these volunteer opportunities, she shares that she will use her day to help serve as a docent at the Clayson House Museum. They give tours to elementary school children in the Palatine School District.
Jessi Elder, senior marketing specialist, is a dedicated member of the Utah trail running community. She will spend her volunteer day supporting the runners at the Wasatch 100, a 100-mile race through the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. She shares, “I adore the Salt Lake City trail running community and would be so happy to give back in this way. There are so many ways to support a race like this—supply food, water, and encouragement at aid stations, offer medical services, be a pacer for someone in the backcountry, pick up runners in the middle of nowhere who DNF (did not finish), maintain the trails, and more. Woohoo!!!”
Of course, I plan to use this day either advocating and volunteering at a local animal shelter (and reminding myself that I cannot take them all home) or volunteering my services as a Virginia Supreme Court-certified mediator mediating family cases pro bono.
AME loves our volunteers. If you are looking for an opportunity to volunteer with AME, please email volunteersupport@ame.org or contact me personally. Additionally, if you plan to attend the AME Atlanta 2024 International Conference, we will be calling for volunteers to help in a variety of ways. Look for an email from volunteer extraordinaire Ellen Sieminski, AME VP, volunteer support, with details in the coming weeks.
Thanks for all you do for AME and all the charitable and nonprofit organizations you support! As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.
