Location: Marriott
Date: Saturday, February 08, 2014; 2:00-10:30 pm
I was free this Saturday and
found this while looking at the ‘Volunteer
Match’ website. I applied for it and
in days that followed, the Volunteer coordinator Jeanne did a good job of
communicating. One of her emails was a
request for the volunteers to go to the suburbs for training and that wasn’t
going to happen for me! Thankfully that
got cancelled, meaning that now we had to arrive at the location at 2 pm in the
afternoon, a full 2 hours before the original check-in time. Since the venue was near me, it wouldn't be a
problem as far as the commute was concerned.
Well, so I thought, because it was snowing heavily, and since they wanted
us in black shoes and trousers, it was challenge getting there without the
proper grip of snow boots. Even then,
this was going to be an evening to support a great cause. According to the website, “From infants to seniors, Aspire serves
people with disabilities across their lifetimes. We offer a comprehensive array
of support for individuals with developmental disabilities. Our name – Aspire – best sums up our
approach. We help our participants and their families to aspire to a world of
possibilities. Aspire is one of the
largest human service nonprofits in west suburban Chicago. We assist more than
1,000 children, adults and families each year with services focused on
achieving potential and independence. Aspire is recognized throughout Illinois
for our dedicated team of 250 staff who provide personalized services at 22
locations in the western suburbs. We help infants and toddlers begin life with
as many abilities as possible and encourage adults with developmental
disabilities to participate as fully as possible in community life.” Well then, on to the event.
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| Here we go |
I arrived at Marriott and went up
to the 7th level to find Jeanne with a group of volunteers already
assembled. I picked up my shirt and then
we all took the back stairs to the 6th level, where the volunteer
break room was situated. We left our
stuff in the break room and then went back up, where more volunteers had
started to assemble. Jeanne asked if we
could help direct these new volunteers to the break room and so made several
trips up and down. Finally we all
gathered and Jeanne was ready to tell us about our tasks for the evening. My duties were going to be helping out at the
‘Silent Auction’ as well as the ‘Pledge Auction’. Jeanne told us that during the ‘Pledge Auction’, the volunteers would
be spread all over the ballroom and as the auctioneer would ask for pledges,
people would raise their “bid paddle”. We were to approach the person, confirm with
them their pledge amount, and then ask them to initial the paddle, followed by the volunteer’s
initials. Sounded similar to stuff I
have done before. She then asked for 8
volunteers to work the “Live Auction”
and I raised my hand. We were going to
be given torches similar to those seen with ground crews at the airport and our
job was to help the auctioneer by pointing the torches at people when they
bid. I was glad that I had raised my
hand, because not only was that a cool looking device to be carrying about, I
was now on deck for all sorts of auctions that were possible tonight!
A gentleman then asked us to
gather in the volunteer break room for script session that was to be led by him
and a lady named Candy. She was the “producer” for tonight’s show, and
certainly knew what she was doing, having been a producer on ‘Oprah’ for many years. She told us that her oldest son has
developmental disability and that’s the reason why she had gotten involved. He is 11 years old now and was here tonight,
along with her younger daughter. Candy
was one of the most upbeat people that I have come across and has a terrific
attitude about everything. She got the
room going and her enthusiasm was infectious.
She wanted things to be said in a very precise manner and she took us
through the script, including the greeting, “Welcome
to the Aspire Experience”. Try
saying that fast! The good thing for me
was that the script was only for greeters and those at registration, and I was
doing neither. The gentleman also chimed
in and told us about his connection with Aspire - a 50 year old sister with developmental
disability. Like Candy, he was great at
this and we asked them a lot of questions and they answered most of them very
well.
 |
| The grand ballroom |
Jeanne came to check if everyone
understood their duties and when she saw that many volunteers had cancelled
because of weather and other reasons, she moved some people around. Next, we were going in for focused training
and I went upstairs and gathered with other silent auction volunteers near the auction
tables. I looked around and saw that
there were some of the usual things like signed sports memorabilia and other
goodies. The auction would be conducted
on people’s smart phones and we were given login information in order to help
them. In case they did not have a smart
phone, there were people walking about with ‘iPad's’,
who would be able to help them. I
chatted with my fellow volunteers and saw that one of them was a One Brick
volunteer and recognized me. My next
training session was with Paul, the auctioneer.
This was easier said than done since gathering all the live auction folk
was a challenge. Once we did so, he went
through all of the live auction items and we practiced our pointing and
waving. Candy wanted to make our entrance
into the room a spectacle, with us rushing out screaming and looking
enthusiastic. She made us practice that
and kept asking us to put more energy into it.
One would have thought we were entering a football arena rather than a
formal auction room!
All the volunteers went down for
dinner and the spread was better than most volunteer dinners that I have
seen. It wasn’t just cold cut
sandwiches, but an actual hot buffet style dinner. I was hovering around the desserts section
and picked up a conversation with another volunteer and learned that like me
she loved all things food. Then she told
me that she was a model, specializing in swimsuits. Over 18 months of volunteering and I was now
introduced with a swimsuit model. What
was that about patience being a virtue!
I went back upstairs and saw some volunteers at a Wine table and they
were selling some expensive Italian Wine.
Some well-dressed guests had started to come in to explore the silent
auction area and I positioned myself at a “gourmet
table” with items such as 18 bottles of wine, chocolate cooking experience,
movies for a year at ‘Cinemark’
etc. Looked like my kind of things, plus the model was going to be working the same table with me. Seriously, there are days when volunteering
has many superficial perks! Many people needed
help with the smart phone app and we did our best to educate them, as well as
encourage them to bid. I would go as far
as saying that if they did not bid, I would try to get the item for
myself. One gentleman came wearing a
suit made of sequins and he loved it when we mentioned that he was by far the
best dressed gentleman in the house.
 |
| The torch! |
People went inside for dinner and
around 8:15 pm; it was time for me to go help out with the live auction. I collected the torch, a sheet of paper with
the 7 bid items on it – such as a trip to Hollywood and private chef cooking
experience - and a sharpie and then we
assembled in a swanky lounge area, waiting for them to call on us. We then went to the backstage and the program
was running late, not least due to some technical difficulties with the guest
of honor, who was joining via ‘Skype’
and kept getting disconnected. Finally,
we were on and as Candy announced us, I tried to run out with as much
enthusiasm as I could muster and placed myself in the center of the room. The auction started and my side of the room
was very quiet, so much so that the auctioneer said that the people in that
area were allowed to bid! I did have to
point a few times, but nobody in my section won anything.
Next up was the pledge auction
and the auctioneer started with $10,000 and went all the way down to $100. As usual the rush started at lower numbers
and I got at least 3 or 4 of the bidders.
I went over and collected their paddle after both of us had initialed
it. The goal was to raise $50,000
through this, though one couple announced that they would make up the
difference. Wow, that was a grand
gesture. As I walked back to hand over
my paddles, a few people thanked me, including the CEO of Aspire! The silent auction had been extended to 10:15
pm and so I waited by the table in case anyone had questions. As soon as the auction closed, I started
packing the items in the boxes and carried them to a room behind registration. It was time for me to
leave, though the check-out volunteers would be there for a long time;
considering that the party was just getting started. I walked back home in the snow, tired but
satisfied. I had the privilege of working
for a fantastic organization and for some of the best people like Candy, who
had made volunteering fun. Definitely a
standard some of the other organizations can “aspire” to reach. Boy, I
have been waiting this entire blog to use that!
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