Volunteer Spotlight: Phil Sagal

It’s time to highlight another of our wonderful volunteers!

Phil Sagal has been volunteering at the JMM for around 5 years.  He came to the JMM at the suggestion of a friend, who was already volunteering as a Docent.  One of our best volunteer recruitment tools is via word-of-mouth recommendations.

Phil began at the JMM after retiring from a Human Resources position in the Office of Personnel Management for the Federal Government in Washington, DC.  One of his favorite parts of the job was that he got to move around a lot—he was involved with reviews of other departments and agencies.

At the JMM Phil volunteers as a Docent.  He volunteers for both walk-in tours and for private groups of all ages.  Although he likes the aspect of being assured of giving a tour when scheduled for a private group, he also enjoys meeting the visitors on the walk-in tours.  He never knows who he’s going to meet and enjoys meeting people of diverse religions and ages.  He appreciates having the opportunity to learn more about his heritage and share that knowledge and kibbutz with the JMM visitors.

Outside of the JMM Phil also volunteers at the Baltimore Visitor’s Center and he enjoys playing golf, practicing yoga and going to the gym.  He and his wife also like to travel.  Recently they’ve been to Israel, Italy and France.  They have a trip to Spain planned for the fall.

Phil  jokes that the best part of  volunteering at the JMM is the pay, but we all know that although volunteers don’t get paid, it is not because they are worthless, but because they are PRICELESS.

A blog post by Volunteer Coordinator Ilene Cohen. The first Monday of every month she will be highlighting one of our fantastic JMM volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering with the JMM, drop her an email at icohen@jewishmuseummd.org or call 410-732-6402 x217! You can also get more information about volunteering at the Museum here.