Look Back to Look Ahead was started as a way to celebrate
the International Year of Volunteers in 2001. Energize's contribution
to IYV was to encourage anyone in the volunteer world--to "look
back to look ahead." Since the idea still has value, we continue
to share your activities on this site and encourage others to contribute
their ideas.
What is Look Back to Look Ahead?
| Tips for Starting a Project
Quilt Squares
As part of our celebration of 100 years of service,
we are combing our archives to produce a complete history, and
we asked each of our 54 offices around the world to produce a quilt
square. Volunteers then put the quilt together and it is now "touring" our
offices so volunteers can see the results of their efforts. Story
and picture are also posted on our web site www.nmcrs.org
Submitted on 12April2004 by
Tina
Branco, Director, Volunteer Support, Navy-Marine Corps
Relief Society, VA, USA
Update on SAM Project -
Jan 2004
Update on the volunteer project known as SAM (Station's Archived
Memories) at Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver, CO (described in an earlier
posting):
The SAM volunteers have expanded their project to include conducting
video and audio oral history interviews of staff, community members,
and volunteers who have been influential in the development of
Rocky Mountain PBS since its on-air debut in 1956. Approximately
50 interviews are currently completed with an additional 100+ hoped
for. Each interview is taped and transcribed, then entered into
a database.
Over the past year, the SAM Committee has authored a two-part 140-page
TOOLKIT which details exactly how the archive project is being
done.
The 2 parts include 1) Administration and 2) Committees.
Each chapter includes job descriptions, flowcharts, full reports
on how-to-do each job (photo committee, oral history committee,
station research committee, memorabilia committee, etc), and
samples of every form used to track the information. Two SAM Toolkits
were given to every PBS station and additional copies are available
upon request. A full session was given by SAM volunteers at the
2003 PBS Development Conference on how to organize and develop
an archive project of great magnitude. The response was fantastic.
All data is being entered into a database by volunteers so that
station staff, community members and station volunteers will
have access to the historical information. Every item (article,
photo, interview, memorabilia piece) is assigned a specific accession
number and entered into the database.
The project is ongoing and is now a permanent part of our PBS
station in Denver. The SAM Chair is a volunteer serving as the
historian for the station and as a member of the Volunteer Board.
An office has been given to SAM to conduct work and research
and a 2nd office has been dedicated for storage of the archives
(both physical and electronic).
The SAM Committee hopes to be able to offer videoconferencing
to other PBS stations wishing to ask specific questions about
this archive project.
Anyone wanting further information or with questions can contact
SAM Chair, Laura Sampson, at Rocky Mountain PBS voice mail, 303-620-5734
or e-mail her directly at rmpbs_sam@krma.pbs.org.
Contact is encouraged -- we are very excited about our project!!
IYV2001 Legacy
Speaking of IYV2001 legacies...wanted
to share some exciting developments. In New York, the coalition
of volunteer
managers
and their agencies on Long Island that came together to celebrate
IYV2001 decided to remain together and have focused their efforts
on creating a "VOLUNTEER HALL OF FAME." The initial
honorees were all founders of their respective non-profit/volunteer-driven
groups and were recognized at a ceremony in November 2002 at
Stony Brook University. A trade-show style display was donated
by Fleet Bank and will be touring various venues around Long
Island during 2003 to help spread the word about the honorees,
as well as the Hall of Fame itself. A calendar featuring the
honorees has been printed and is being distributed at this time.
We're gearing up for this year's nominations and ceremony too.
Just
curious -- Does anyone know of any other VOLUNTEER Halls of
Fame, in the US or elsewhere??
Submitted by Frank Pomata, NY
Celebrating Volunteer Accomplishments
Steve McCurley just shared a wonderful example of volunteer recognition
via an agency Web site: http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/press/091599.htm
See how the State Historical Society of Wisconsin celebrates volunteer
accomplishments as an integrated part of public information (and
recruitment, too).
Newsletter Feature on Volunteerism in NYC
This month's feature Volunteer View on www.nyciyv.org is "Hidden History- Volunteerism in NYC." The
article encourages folks to get involved by connecting with The
Look Back to Look Ahead project and links them to you. Thanks
to Karin Hogan, Chief of NYC/IYV Communications for this excellent
piece.
History Project
Team in Australia
Volunteering Western Australia will launch its history
in June. Prepared by the History Project Team over the past 4
years this story is told by the people who have lived it. It is
a story of vision, commitment and fulfillment. To those who have
lived it, it is exciting and factual. To volunteers and people
working with them, it is a message of hope for the future.
A grant to commemorate the Centenary of Federation in Australia
has made publication possible in this International Year of Volunteers.
This grant reflects the spirit of those volunteers who pioneered
settlement in Australia and reminds us that volunteers are the
spirit of community. Volunteers,indeed, can change the world.
Submitted by Sallie Davies, Volunteering Western Australia
Medical Center Auxiliary Celebrates 40 Years
The Greene County Medical Center Auxiliary, Jefferson, Iowa, celebrated
its 40th anniversary this year. We compiled our history and showed
it off with displays and brochures. We even sewed and displayed
quilt blocks from past quilts that have been raffled by our organization.
We then held an open house that featured these displays and tours
of departments where our organization donated funds for specific
equipment and furnishings. Refreshments were served and commemorative
pens were given.
This event got us busy and worked on compiling our history. Before
that, we had bits and pieces, but this really pulled it together.
The volunteers worked very hard to get ready for this event, with
very little help from our staff. It was a fun celebration.
Submitted
by Shelly Berger, Administrative Assistant and Auxiliary Liaison,
Greene County Medical Center, Iowa
The Virtual Volunteerism Millennium Caplet
The Virtual Volunteerism Millennium Caplet has been created to
compliment the Voluntas Time Capsule for Volunteerism (stored
at the Regis University and developed in 1990 - http://academic.regis.edu/volunteer/Ivan/sect21.htm)
and provides an opportunity for people worldwide with an interest
and passion for volunteerism to post their comments.
The responses will be collected to create a special booklet, "Voices
from the Millennium," that will be sealed in its own capsule
and reside along side the Volunteerism Time Capsule, scheduled
to be unsealed in November 2050. A commemorative memento is available
to those who post their comments. This memento can be shared with
family, friends and grandchildren so that the opening of the Volunteerism
Time Capsule/Caplet in 2050 can be marked with great celebration.
Comments you might consider posting are:
-
Your agency: Name, mission, services you provide,
number of volunteers, etc.
-
What did your organization do in honor of IYV2001
that you would like to share with the future?
-
What do you enjoy about your current volunteering
experiences?
-
What difference do you think volunteering is
making for organizations, or to the community in general?
-
Share a special volunteer story, poem or song
-
What hopes, dreams or aspirations about volunteerism
would you like to see fulfilled by 2050?
-
I volunteer because.......
-
A message or greeting for the people of 2050
Submitted on 4/18/01 by Mary Lou McNatt, Regis University,
Denver, Colorado, USA
"Women Volunteer: From Benevolence
to Justice" was the title of the presentation that
we used at Regis University to begin our yearlong celebration
for IYV2001. The presentation highlighted the streams of
women who have volunteered through the history of the United
States. Because of the breadth of information, the presentation
only got to the Depression Era, but will be continued as
a work-in-progress. Once all the copyright issues (revolving
around the use of photographs) can be resolved we would hope
to have that presentation loaded online so that others may
use it.
Submitted on 4/18/01 by Mary Lou McNatt, Regis University,
Denver, Colorado, USA
Five Year Archival
Project
At Rocky Mountain PBS (Channel SIX in Denver, CO),
we established a new Volunteer Board Committee in May, 2000, which
is called SAM (Station's Archived Memories). The committee is
working towards having a special "archival" project
completed by the year 2006 to help celebrate our station's 50th
anniversary.
Making the Project Manageable
Our committee felt overwhelmed by the ideas which we brainstormed
as possible projects. It was decided to break our 5-year project
into smaller pieces (phases) which can be more easily digested
-- and accomplished -- by the members of the committee who are
already very busy, overly-committed people!!
Collecting Photographs
The first phaseincludes collecting, organizing and cataloging
photographs relating to volunteers' history at RMPBS from the
past 45 years (1956-2000).
Our volunteer office houses several hundred photographs, but we
are also requesting and collecting photos and memorabilia from
current/past staff and current/past volunteers. We already have
close to a thousand photographs and they keep coming in! The photos
are priceless and conjure up lots of memories. Phase 1 is still
collecting photos and will soon begin the process of sorting and
cataloging them for preservation purposes. Some day, we may even
decide to digitize our photographs - - - but, that takes $$ which
we currently do not have.
An Overview of Our History
To kick off our SAM project this September, we invited one of
our retired general managers (Don Johnson) to give a 2.5 hour
seminar presentation on the history of public (educational) television,
the history of our own Rocky Mountain PBS (previously known as
KRMA-TV), and the history of how our community of volunteers have
made the station what it is today. Without volunteers, our public
television station simply would not exist! The production staff
videotaped Don's presentation and will edit it so that we'll have
it for posterity!! Don's presentation was our first official "archived
memory."
The volunteers on the SAM Committee range from having volunteered
at the station for 5-40 years. Therefore, we felt that having
Don's historical presentation would give us ALL equal information
on the history of our volunteer corps and how it has evolved into
what it is today. Don's information was very valuable to the efforts
of the committee!! An understanding of how the Rocky Mountain
PBS volunteer corps was first conceived really gave us a much
greater appreciation for what we are today.
Promoting SAM
To raise awareness, curiosity and participation amongst fellow
volunteers and staff members at the station, the SAM Committee
members wear buttons saying "ASK ME ABOUT SAM." Also,
articles about SAM have appeared in recent volunteer newsletter,
e-mails have been sent to all staff members explaining the SAM
efforts, and written requests for donations of photos and memorabilia
are appearing in invitations being mailed to our volunteers for
two special events which are being hosted and attended by our
volunteers this Fall. By the way, we have 2500 volunteers,
so by the time we collect photos and memorabilia from our volunteer
corps, we anticipate a LOT of work ahead to organize and catalogue
everything - - but we know it'll be a lot of fun!!
Personal Stories
We hope to eventually expand our archival efforts to additional
Phases to include requesting, receiving, and cataloging personal
stories from staff and volunteers. We want to know the history
of our PEOPLE -- how did they get involved? Why did they get involved?
What keeps them involved? What memories of volunteering do they
treasure?
These stories may eventually include videotaped or audio taped
oral history interviews (a professional archivist has offered
to train us to properly conduct oral histories) of key staff members
and key volunteers. For people who are no longer living in the
Colorado area or for those volunteers or staff members who don't
feel comfortable being taped, their stories may be written and
submitted to the archive project. The stories that will be requested
will include things such as: "I'll always remember when .
. ." or perhaps "Why I volunteer for Rocky Mountain
PBS." There are so many stories out there!!! We can't wait
to hear and read them.
We are also keeping audio tapes, minutes and photographs of our
SAM meetings realizing that we are creating history as we work
on preserving it!! That might be another great story on "How
To Preserve Volunteer History" once we really get this going
. . . .
The hope is to make the SAM committee a permanent committee on
our Volunteer Board of Directors so that our past, present and
future continue to work hand-in-hand throughout the years. We
know that by preserving our history, we will enlighten our future
Submitted by Laura Sampson
First Volunteers in NYC History (1737) Honored
The first recorded volunteer organization in New York City history,
the Volunteer Fire Department of the City of New York established
in 1737, were memorialized with a ceremony and a plaque near what
had been its headquarters in Downtown Manhattan. The plaque was
unveiled as part of the IYV2001 celebrations in New York. Peter
Rothenberg, curator of The New York City Fire Museum, had on hand
several artifacts or replicas representative of the early days of
New York City's Volunteer Fire Department, including: a wooden rattle,
the first fire alarm used to alert the community of a fire; a leather
bucket used by early firefighters to get water to a fire; and a
speaking trumpet through which the foreman of a fire company barked
directions to the volunteer firefighters.
Volunteer Quilt
In May 2000 we celebrated "50 Years of Volunteers"
in healthcare in Loveland, CO. As the DVS, I asked the volunteers
to create quilt blocks and the quilt was set together and quilted
by volunteers. A group of volunteers also helped me research old
newspapers, scrapbooks, and interviewed older volunteers and we
put it together in a story book form.
Submitted by Patty Morrison, DVS McKee Medical Center
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