Volunteer Spotlight on Shelly Mintz!
Shelly Mintz has been a Front Desk Volunteer for about a month at the Jewish Museum of Maryland. While growing up in New Jersey, Shelly has spent most of her life in Maryland. Shelly shared with me that her mom worked in Stone’s Bakery which was right around the corner from the JMM. After becoming a member of B’nai Israel Synagogue three years ago, she took a docent led tour of our two historic synagogues. It was there that she found out about volunteer opportunities at the JMM. Shelly decided to join our volunteer corps because she loves museums and was also looking to meet people with similar interests. While she is not related to Rabbi Mintz of B’nai Israel, she thought the fact that they shared the same last night was also a good sign to become involved at our museum.
Shelly works as an Assistant Attorney General and represents the Department of Juvenile Services. When she is not at the JMM, she ushers at local theaters, volunteers at the Walters Art Museum, travels to exotic locations like New Zealand and Australia and is a passionate animal rights activist.
Although Shelly has only volunteered a few times so far, she has quickly learned our new ticketing system and has been very good with our visitors. She also helped us by conducting evaluations of our last exhibit, Beyond Chicken Soup: Jews and Medicine in America. As it has sometimes been difficult finding volunteers for Sundays (one of our busiest days), we were particularly excited that Shelly was interested in volunteering on that day. While at the JMM, Shelly likes how people often start talking to her about their lives and experiences. Whether it was a genealogy researcher who was thrilled to explore the Voices of Lombard Street exhibit and see where his family came from or visitors who come back with joy in their eyes after going on a Synagogue tour, Shelly has found the JMM to be a unique museum that allows people to reconnect with their heritage on both an intellectual and emotional level.
If you know of anyone else who would like to volunteer with Shelly at the Front Desk (or in any other area of the Museum), please contact Sue Foard at sfoard@jewishmuseummd.org.
Post by Visitor Services Coordinator Graham Humphrey. Every month we highlight one of our fantastic JMM volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering with the JMM, send an email to Sue Foard at sfoard@jewishmuseummd.org or call 410-732-6402 x220! You can also get more information about volunteering at the Museum here.