Appreciating Our Volunteers
This month’s edition of Performance Counts comes from Volunteer Coordinator Wendy Davis (who is, herself, a volunteer). To read more posts from Wendy, click here.
There have been 53 of us dedicated volunteers this past year, supplementing the work of the Museum’s 11 full-time staff members, along with an additional 35 volunteer Board Members. Some of us only volunteer a few times a month, while others are at the JMM two days a week (like me!). Whether it’s a two-hour shift or a six-hour shift, the time volunteers are able to share with the JMM is incredibly helpful and appreciated. Volunteers are absolutely critical to the success of the Museum.
Nine of those 53 volunteers have been stationed at the front desk, clocking in a total of 744 hours this year. These front desk volunteers make sure our visitors receive a warm welcome, but they do much more than that! These volunteers serve as fonts of information about all the services that the Museum offers, including making sure our visitors know about tour times, current and upcoming exhibitions, and public programs. Plus, they help collect demographic data from our visitors and make sure we maintain an accurate count of Museum visitors each day.
Nineteen of the 53 volunteers have served as docents, clocking in 905 hours this year as they lead visitors through the two historic synagogues on the JMM campus and on group tours of the Museum’s exhibits. Our docents share their knowledge and passion for local Jewish history with our visitors. They also become experts at customizing their tours depending upon the background and age of that day’s visitors.
But our volunteers aren’t limited to just the “front of the house.” 11 volunteers spend their time working with the extensive collections at the JMM, particularly with our archives, cataloging, summarizing, translating, and digitizing. This time-consuming work improves intellectual access to the Museum’s varied collections. This group of volunteers clocked in a grand total of 1,874 hours this year, more than any other group of JMM volunteers!
On the evening of July 29th, all of our volunteers were invited to a celebratory dinner held here at the Museum. In addition to the delicious food, we were entertained by David London, the superb curator of the current exhibit Inescapable, The Life and Legacy of Harry Houdini. Using his story telling and magician skills, David portrayed Harry Houdini, bringing the magic and mystery of Houdini to life.
If you want to be among the “appreciated” next year, call or email me or Sue Foard to make an appointment to learn more about how to join our team of JMMers.
Wendy Davis
443-873-5168
wdavis@jewishmuseummd.org
Sue Foard
443-873-5162
sfoard@jewishmuseummd.org