Limmud
is a conference, a festival, a gathering of hundreds of Jews from all
walks of life, all Jewish backgrounds, lifestyles, and ages.
Limmud is a celebration plus an evening and a full day of lectures,
workshops, text-study sessions, discussions, exhibits, performances and
much more—all planned by a community of volunteers.
Today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Leah Fuhr, Volunticipation Chairperson, Limmud, Atlanta, southeast.
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Please tell us a little about yourself and about your work with Limmud.
I was a public school teacher for five years and now work at a temple. I am very active in the young professional Jewish groups in Atlanta.
I attended the first Atlanta Limmud conference 2 years ago on a whim. Since it is entirely volunteer-run, they ask everyone to volunteer for at least an hour or two. After last year's conference they asked me to be the Participant Care/Hospitality Chairperson for the first ever LimmudFest over Labor Day weekend. My responsibilities included registration, donations, and housing for almost 200 people. We have over 600 participants from the Jewish community each year and a lot of different tasks that need to be done before and on-site. VolunteerSpot has definitely helped me organize all the volunteers for this event.
What are your volunteer needs for Limmud?
Our volunteer needs start months before the actual event. The leadership team is comprised of about 10-15 people with each person leading a different committee (marketing, logistics, hospitality, etc). We need a lot of help for the event. The presenters, musicians, building monitors, registration desk people, set-up crew, clean-up crew, etc - we are all volunteers. Most of the 600 participants will be helping with something during the day.
How did you get interested in volunteering?
I'm not really sure exactly how it got started. I grew up less fortunate than others and was able to overcome that and become a successful adult. So I think that makes me want to give back. I started in high school as a member of the Interact volunteer club and then in college joined Elon Volunteers. I also really enjoy volunteering each Saturday through Hands on Atlanta. We do different types of projects around the city each week - from planting new trees at a park to tutoring at a low SES elementary school to sorting food at a shelter. Last year I participated in two trips to Tampa and New Orleans to assist in those areas of need. That was really meaningful because we stayed for several days and really saw an impact in the lives of the people we were able to help. I also volunteer as the Community Service and Social Chair at my local temple.
What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?
Don't overwhelm yourself (I'm definitely not good at that).
Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?I attended LimmudNY in January 2010. They used it to coordinate their volunteers and I thought it was very helpful. I decided to check it out and really liked it! It's very easy to set up an event, contact volunteers, and manage everything.
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For more information about Limmud Atlanta, Southeast, visit their website.
We salute Leah and all the other volunteer leaders out there helping those in need. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at [email protected]
