Location: Soldier Field
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2015; 8:00-11:30 am
I had volunteered for them 2 years ago and it had been an ok
experience, primarily because of the people in charge. But this year Jessie was running things and
Carrie was on the committee as well. So
I said that I would help out and she put me on the “Tribute Wall” from 8-1, though I told her that I would have to
leave around 11:30. It was cold and wet
as I took a bus to 'Soldier Field' and then walked over to the side of the
stadium where several tents had been set up.
I saw the "Volunteer check-in tent" where Allyson and Katherine – my new “Strides” committee leads – checked me
in and then gave me a t-shirt to wear; which I promptly put over my
jacket. It was raining and really cold.
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| The "Tribute Cards" |
We had a tent set-up for the “Tribute Wall” and I was paired with another volunteer,
Heather. She had already started setting
up the black maker pens on the table as well as arranged the "Tribute
Cards". The cards had a ‘Velcro’ tape on the back and that would
stick to the ‘tri-fold’ tribute
board. We had plenty of “In honor of” cards, but just 4 “In memory of”. So we decided to just use the “Honor” cards. Besides the cards, there were also ribbons
that said “In honor of” or “Survivor”, which people could put on
their shirt with a pin. As we were
setting up, the wind was playing havoc and there was a risk of our board
toppling over. It needed to be weighted down and so I got some heavy boxes and we used them as
support on the back side. Now we were just waiting for people to come...and stay warm and dry.
As we waited, Heather suggested that we get started by
making some cards ourselves. I made one
for my Uncle, who recently underwent treatment, and stuck it on the board, just
as people started coming in. In the
meanwhile, the cards on the table were getting wet because of the rain and I
was wiping them up before people could use them. There was a suggestion for a donation, though
it certainly was not required. However,
many gave whatever they could and we collected that in a pouch that we
had. And it wasn’t just the visitors; several
volunteers did the same as well. Many
were honoring someone and quite a few were “Survivors”. People asked if we had the “In Memory” cards, but we told them that
they could cancel “honor” on the
existing cards and write “memory” if
they chose. One gentleman came and made
a card for a woman who had passed recently.
Heather was wearing a ‘Red Sox’
cap and he was from Boston as well. In
conversation we learnt that all 3 of us had lived in town a few miles
apart. We also learned that he was a part-time
member of a rock band where he was the only member not in their 20s!
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| Everyone was out braving the weather |
People started coming in droves and the wall was filling
up. Many asked if they could come after
the walk to collect their card and we said of course. In fact, I thought that all of these should
be saved, and Carrie did indicate that these would be boxed. I wondered if there is way that ‘ACS’ could build a wall in their office,
which would be full of these; just like the ‘Make-A-Wish’
office. A group came where one of the
girls had a dog dressed in a pink shirt.
But the poor thing was getting wet and the girl said that they may have
to take her back, which was a shame. One
lady came with 6-8 pre-made cards and then made some more. Everyone wanted to take a picture with their
card or at least a picture of their card on the board. We were letting them come inside our tent to
do so or taking their camera and clicking ourselves. If people had multiple cards, they wanted
them placed in a specific way so as to get all of them in the picture. Hey, this was a great thing that they were
doing and so we did whatever it took on our side.
Jessie stopped by and asked if more people were reluctant to
stop by because of the “donations”
sign and I said not really. She asked us
to use our discretion if we wanted to leave the sign there. People came and asked if this was only for
the “survivors” and we mentioned that
they could make a card to honor whomever they wanted. Many people were also taking the ribbons and
putting them on and it was proving to be a popular thing. Many were asking logistics related questions
such as when the walk was supposed to start or location of various tents, and
we were in turn directing them to the “Information
Tent”. All I knew was that the
walkers, skaters and bikers were all starting at different times and following
different paths.
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| I literally had to "stand" on the tent |
While it was cold and wet, the ‘MC’ on the stage was doing a fantastic of motivating people. He was keeping everyone’s spirits up with his
chatter and choice of music. While we
were shivering, a gust of wind came and one of the legs of our tent came out of
the ground. This was dangerous as the
tent could easily collapse on us. I
informed Allyson about this and she said that she would call Carrie. But
immediate steps were required and so I went outside and put my foot on one leg
of the tent to keep it down. I was
literally standing on one end of the tent to keep it up. Carrie came and said that there were several
other issues going on due to the weather, and so in interests of time and
prioritization, we should just call it quits for this one. I do not like quitting and neither did I
think that it was fair to take the board down since people seemed to like it. But we couldn’t continue the way we were.
I went over to the “Survivor
Tent” and asked them if they could accommodate us, and to the credit of the
lady there, she made place for us to put our stuff. So I carried the board over to that tent along
with some of our boxes. We were now set
up inside the big tent which was much better in terms of managing the wind. Around us were t-shirts, wristbands other
things for “Survivors” and “Caregivers”. There was also a makeover station with makeup,
wigs etc. for women if they so desired. There
was also some breakfast comprised of bagels and muffins. In one corner of the tent there was a couple
sitting with yoga mats but with the weather, that wasn’t happening and so they
left. This was a shame because they
seemed like good folks. I chatted with
the lady who had helped us get set-up and learned that her name was Lisa, and that
she has been a volunteer with ‘ACS’
for 20 years. We had a great
conversation as we waited for the walkers to return.
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| Our "Tribute Wall" |
After a while, the people did come back and a few wanted to collect
their cards as promised, making me glad that we had moved in here instead of wrapping
up. I saw a couple of “special needs” volunteers; a man and a
woman. He had put a card on the board in
her honor – which was smooth move - and was telling us about all the upcoming
things they had in terms of volunteering; including a mid-week protest against the
Governor’s policy on health and housing benefits. I said that their week was looking to be more
exciting than mine! They were a cute
couple and I enjoyed their company. I
waited till 11:30 chatting with Heather, Lisa and some of the other volunteers,
before leaving. The weather had started
improving and the ‘MC’ now had the
crowd dancing. Kudos to him and all of
the participants, for they were the real
stars of today. Certainly makes my job
easier.
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