Why volunteer?
Without any paid staff at all, LLI programs and the organization itself are a kind of miracle of widespread volunteer effort. The process may not be highly visible, but without the more than 200 volunteers, we would not have our program. We see it in every class, with our class managers and tech support, we see it in the hospitality room where we are welcomed with refreshments and some homemade goodies, we see it when the catalog arrives in our email inbox, and, if we stop to think about it, in myriad other ways. But who are these people? Do you have to be an LLI veteran?
Here are three interviews with volunteers who are new to LLI doing less visible, but vital work. Why are they doing what they are doing? How hard is it to volunteer? Why do it?
Deborah Schwartz
Deborah Schwartz spent all her career involved with technology — teaching, consulting, and creating not-for-profit websites, and for her own company. She is coming to the end of her first year of involvement with LLI and has taken on a vital job — redesigning the LLI website and helping to bring our operations into the digital present and future.
What were her impressions of her first year? “I loved LLI. I felt like I was accepted. It was instant community… I chose classes that I knew nothing about. I’m done with academics, I don’t have to get a grade, I can totally explore whatever was interesting so I took things I didn’t know anything about and I found that delightful and wonderful.”
She found an accepting, intellectually curious community. “This is home. When I applied for LLI, I felt it was a privilege that I got accepted… I thought, I want to give back. Here are all these presenters who come here and share what they have learned, here are all these people who work so hard…I wanted to be a part of that.”
From her vantage point as a technology expert, Deborah looked at LLI’s operations and thought, “Maybe we can raise our game a little bit… here’s a place I can make a contribution… I was responsible this year for redesigning the website.”
She found everyone wonderfully supportive as she worked to implement her ideas. There’s a lot more to come, Deborah thinks, especially because LLI has just become a Google Suite for Education domain. There is a huge opportunity to use technology to make it much easier to collaborate and work together and to cut back on the numbers of emails. That technology will be available at no cost to all of our members who want to use it.
Asked about balancing the effort she is putting in to realize our technology vision with her time available, she said, “I think it’s about asking for help when I get overwhelmed…. Each person has to know his or her own personal limits… and everybody is totally willing to help… We are all here working to make LLI better.”
What would she say to someone who wants to volunteer? “Do it! It was a little hard for me even figuring out where I would fit in…. I did go to the new member orientation…and that made it a little less intimidating, but it took me a little while to find out where I would fit. But the more contacts that I made and the more I had coffee conversations in the hospitality room, I was guided in the right way. I suggest come to some of the meetings, walk up to people and talk to people in the hospitality room or Kline Commons. Everybody seems really open and you hear what they do, what would be exciting, what you could do.”
Robert Inglish
Robert Inglish will be starting his third year with LLI. A retired civil rights attorney, he moved from Oklahoma to Woodstock. Looking for new challenges and opportunities to meet people in the area, he joined LLI and is now the co-manager of the mentor program for new LLI members.
Robert’s interest in volunteering and his development of the mentor program grew out of his own experiences as a new member. He felt a little lost at first and wanted a more personal connection to LLI. The result: the mentorship program, which offers orientation and support for people new to LLI. It pairs new members with veterans, organizes campus tours for new members, and generally helps newbies meet people, learn where things are on campus, and feel welcome and at home in LLI.
Robert’s introduction to LLI was serendipitous. He was at a concert in Woodstock, talking to a woman during intermission. “I was fairly new in the area and eager to meet people. She suggested LLI, which I had never heard of. It turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. It’s wonderful. I’ve met the nicest people. Everybody is interested in learning. Everybody is in a similar stage of life.”
At first, Robert said, he didn’t realize the amount of group effort that went into LLI, but after he volunteered for some things, that became apparent. But, he said, “It’s a joyful effort…they like it like I do…. When I cross the river and pay the toll, I know I’m going to sit down with ten people or so that I really like and enjoy.”
Robert’s effort on the membership committee has focused on new members, particularly the mentor program. He is also interested in what services can be provided to existing members and recruiting volunteers to help fill those needs.
“I felt a little lost when I first joined and wanted more personal connection… [The mentorship program] was created to establish that personal connection and send that email saying, ‘I’m here, I’m from LLI, what can I do to help you in your experience?’ …Just a personal touch…
At first, you just go to classes and it seems very seamless, but then, when you think about the effort that went into developing the curriculum…yes, there is a curriculum committee…there are events…registration…so when you really see the whole organization operate, yes there’s quite a bit involved.” People shouldn’t feel pressured to volunteer, Robert believes, but, since it is an all-volunteer organization, it wouldn’t succeed if people didn’t participate. “If everybody contributes just a little bit, then the organization will work.”
Tim Allanbrook
Tim Allanbrook, who joined LLI in Fall 2017, took the big leap to be a presenter at SummerFest this June. His class on Four Iconic New York City Buildings described the architectural restoration of the exteriors of the Woolworth Building, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Public Library – all projects that he directed in his work as an architect specializing in restoration and preservation.
Our big question was how did Tim decide to offer to do a course drawing on his expertise? “Somebody in the fall semester figured out I was an architect and put me in the queue,” Tim said. It took some back-and-forth discussion to figure out the right content, but ultimately Tim settled on four major projects he worked on during his career. “I’m proud of this stuff and I like to share it. Chris Taverner, who was my producer, was very helpful. That made it a lot easier.”
The class came together from materials Tim used in various presentations over the course of his career. “In my 40-year career, I worked on four major projects…. I had the opportunity to present four classes at the SummerFest, so it was a good fit.” And how did people respond? “Very enthusiastically. There were lots of questions and it was a small class so that it was very informal. People got it… they appreciated the insights of what is involved in restoration… I was a little concerned it would be too technical, but after the first class I got a sense people were taking a lot out of it.” Tim feels people don’t really understand this kind of work unless they see a presentation or actually get up on the scaffolding of the project to see what’s going on. “Instead of the architect’s glossy picture…it’s not just before and after, it’s details of how you actually carve … and because they are such wonderful buildings. It’s fun to get a fly’s eye view.”
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