We love our volunteers!
No doubt about it, some things are just better done in person – but in this season of social distancing, we still wanted to say “thank you” from the JMM team during Volunteer Appreciation Week. We miss you. The whole team wanted to share some thoughts. I want to just share my gratitude (and perhaps in the not too distant future a piece of this cake – the real kind).
~Marvin
Even though I haven’t seen you all in person in quite a while, I feel like Volunteer Appreciation Week is more important than ever. I wish I could show my appreciation to each and every one of you face-to-face, as you make the front desk a warm, welcoming place. Your enthusiasm for our Museum and mission, in showing each person kindness and care when they walk through the door, is obvious, and I miss being able to learn from that energy every day. We all miss your smiles and stories, and I can’t wait to sit next to you again very soon. Happy Volunteer Appreciation Week! ~Talia
It can be difficult to work on archival collections when the people and the papers are in several different locations – there’s no stopping by to ask a quick question or offer assistance, not to mention that we must rely on digital versions rather than originals – but I’m delighted that so many of you have stepped up to the challenge! Even more importantly, it’s the work our archival and collections volunteers have done over the years that lets us do so much from home, using those digital versions. Your many, many hours of scanning, numbering, transcribing, and describing are what provide the access to digitized collections that is so vital right now for staff and researchers alike. Thanks so much, as ever, for all your hard work. ~ Joanna Church
You have processed and digitized thousands of documents and photographs and have created databases that are so helpful for research and understanding the community we represent. I look forward to getting back to the museum and being able to say hello and seeing you each week. ~ Lorie Rombro
This year is certainly teaching me that forced separations help underline how much you rely on a person! I hope you are all well, and I am very much looking forward to when we can all be together again. ~ Tracie Guy-Decker
This week is Volunteer Appreciation Week and while I am at home trying to acclimate to new technology and this new (temporary) lifestyle- I can’t help think about all of the volunteers at the JMM and I hope that you are all getting along and that you are safe and healthy.
Your commitment to the JMM and its mission is unwavering, and I look forward to when we can see one another in person- and we can continue our shared excitement of working with school and adult groups and telling the history and stories of the Jewish experience in Maryland and beyond! ~ Ilene Dackman-Alon
Volunteers are the backbone of any successful museum, often bringing unmatched passion, knowledge, and commitment with them. They are the faces visitors see and interact with on a daily basis, making them invaluable to the daily tasks of the office. Their commitment is demonstrated through the years, sometimes a decade or more, of work at the museum on top of their normal commitments and their willingness to help out with any project or task. Volunteers make our jobs easier and more insightful. To that, we say thank you. ~ Chris Sniezek