Volunteer Spotlight | Judith Cassel-Mamet, parent and artist/educator, East High School, Denver, CO
Music education is important for kids. Plato once said that music “is a more potent instrument than any other for education”. Most people can’t play soccer, or football at 70 or 80 years of age but they can sing, play piano or some other instrument. Music is a gift we can give our children that will last their entire lives.
Today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Judith Cassel-Mamet, who used VolunteerSpot's online sign up sheets to coordinate volunteers for the annual pizza fundraiser for the instrumental music program at East High.
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Please tell us about your volunteer needs.
I worked on the annual pizza fundraiser for the instrumental music program at East High; a very large, urban high school part of Denver Public Schools. The music program offers an amazing opportunity for kids in our school to learn top quality jazz, band, orchestra…all taught by one of the most gifted musicians and teachers in the country. Keith Oxman introduces the kids to music production and they go to a professional recording studio each year to create a CD, along with their busy concert schedule.
Keith also tries to bring in a wide variety of professional musicians to work with our kids throughout the year. Needless to say, this all costs money that our school district does not provide, and it is up to the parent community to try to provide funds for not only the “extras” for this program but for the basic instruments (and their maintenance) for the kids who can’t afford them. To put on the fundraiser, we needed a core group of about 4 committee chairs, then we needed about 30 volunteers to run the evening along with another 20 parents who offered to bring desserts and beverages.
Explain how you use VolunteerSpot to coordinate these volunteers.
I created the “event” on the site and listed both the items needed and the event “shifts” we needed filled. It could not have been easier! In year’s past we had one person making all the phone calls and fielding all the emails (and going nuts with the changes and tracking.) WE would have to send confirmations and reminders, all time-consuming. This year I managed all the volunteers in about 30 minutes so had time to help organize the food and evening entertainment. I did not even have to remind anyone!! The auto emails were terrific and we had a wonderful volunteer crew show up as promised. The evening was a great success.
What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?
Use VolunteerSpot! I found it super easy to go back to the event and edit as we realized we needed more help with certain shifts. The only advice would be to remind your folks to sign up…it couldn’t be easier!
Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?
I was really unhappy with other sites; too confusing, too hard to get folks linked to the forms, too clunky. I noodled around on the internet and found VolunteerSpot, loved the video tutorials, and how simple and clear the directions were. It also felt like there was a “personal touch”, and someone to ask if there was a question (there wasn’t – the directions were really clear and easy!)
Anything else you’d like our readers to know about your group or volunteering?
The East High community loves Mr. Oxman and would do anything to help him – this fundraiser was a big success thanks to how energized the volunteers felt ( since we saved so much time with the organization!)
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To learn more about East High School in Denver, CO, visit www.eastangels.org.
Visit www.jcmamet.net to learn more about Judith Cassel-Mamet, parent and artist/educator.
We salute Judith and all the other volunteer leaders out there making a difference. 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].
