Location: American Cancer Society Office
Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2015; 6:00-7:45
pm
 |
| Back at ACS |
It was Year 3 and I had received an email from Carrie a long
time ago with this date as the one for our informational meeting. Considering it was end of March and last year
we had started in mid-February, we were getting a late start. Carrie had mentioned that she had been
promoted and hence we would have 2 new co-leads this year. They certainly had some
gigantic shoes to fill. I arrived at the
familiar building with another volunteer who has been with us for the past 2 years.
As we waited for the security to sign us
in, we mentioned how it seems like just yesterday that we were here. We went upstairs and saw that the room had
been arranged with the tables placed like in a classroom. I said that I hoped we didn’t have to
give an exam!
I saw Vikki and Le'Loni and asked whatever happened to us
getting together as a group, something that we had said at our holiday party last year. I sat in the first row as Carrie introduced
Katherine and Allyson, who would be our co-leads for this year. Then it was time for our introductions and
involvement with ‘Strides’. Since I was the only person in the front row,
I was up first. I said that this would
be my 3rd year on the committee and 4th overall, having
walked the first year. Then the rest of
the room introduced themselves and it was done soon since we were a bit light
in attendance.
Allyson started by telling us how this year there would be 3
main “pillars” of involvement in the committee
– “Strides Ambassadors”, “Event Committee” and “Event Leadership Team” or “ELT”. “Strides
Ambassadors” would be - as the names states - the face of the committee,
and would have speaking engagements, visiting various neighborhoods to post
flyers, promotional activities at various community events and ‘Chicago Sky’ games etc. The speakers would need to arrange for their
own transportation to and fro from events, and that ruled me out.
The “Events Committee”
folks would be responsible for the kickoff events and this year there would be
2 of them. Instead of the usual
breakfast, there would be an event in the ‘Southside’
of Chicago, and another in downtown, which would be more of a corporate event. Prior and current team leaders would be
invited for these events, along with participants and families. Besides that, the committee would have to arrange for
food and beverage donations etc. The
reason ‘Southside’ was chosen was
because there are more families with teams from there and this was expected to
truly be a family friendly event. Other
responsibilities of this team would be Volunteer coordination i.e. leading
volunteers on the walk day – something I could do – and securing donations for
their food – something I would not be able to do. Finally, they would be tasked with developing
family friendly activities and secure “in-kind”
donations for that, such as a "face painter" etc.
The “ELT” was
close to what we were doing last year, perhaps even more. All of the committee members on this team
would have the most time commitment, including recruiting teams and sponsors,
as well as participate in Advocacy. Carrie
mentioned that unlike the last couple of years, we would not be responsible for
the “Survivor Tent” as ACS had
partnered with a ‘Greek’ organization
who would be acting as sponsors and one of their contributions was helping with
the “Survivor Tent”. Next was the discussion around the meeting
schedule and for “Events” committee
the meetings would start in July, whereas for “ELT” they would be starting in April. We were expected to attend a certain number of
meetings as per our commitment and then be available on day of the walk, which
was October 24th.
The floor was now open for questions and since no one else
was asking, I raised my hand. I asked
about the meeting schedule, since I would like to do, it but I may not be able
to meet the attendance commitment. Carrie said that
the schedule would be decided by the members and I could influence that. As part of the next steps we were to fill out
a form similar to what we had done last year.
In that we would state our preference for the team that we wanted to
serve on and the reasons for the same. I
saw that others were filling it out right there and so I did the same. I wrote down my preference for “ELT”
as well as mission activities and volunteer coordination. I said that I was a “Primary Leader” with ‘Chicago
Cares’ and so volunteer coordination should be easier for me. Time was up and I told Vikki and Le’Loni that
I would be after their title of “Volunteer
of The Year” - they had won the award for last year. It was wonderful to see everyone again after
the break. Now it time to get working,
but first I have to wait for my assignment.
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