mellofan Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 As much as I have always wanted to volunteer for a week or two with my daughter's corps during her seven seasons, other family obligations kept me from being away from home that long. I have found other ways to help out when her corps is in my area for a day or two, or we are at their housing site before a show. 1. You are the expert for your geographic area and know where to find things. I have taken the cook to the local grocery/food warehouse for supplies. One summer, I transported a corps member to the local urgent care facility and waited while he was treated. In the other thread, I explained how I took the corps volunteer and sewing machine to the repair shop. 2. Donate fresh fruit when it is in season. I usually provide local cherries to the corps. When finals were in Pasadena, we provided fresh, tree-ripened peaches. Then we spent hours peeling them for the cook, and she made peach cobbler (with ice cream) for their evening snack. 3. Donate Gatorade, Otter pops, or other food snacks. Usually, there is space in the food truck fridge to cool/freeze the items. (Milk and bread are two food items that corps use daily. Also, when it is extremely hot, they need plenty of ice.) 4. Take a load of towels, aprons, and rags home or to a local laundry and wash them for the kitchen crew. They need these cleaned and sanitized more often than the two week laundry day schedule. 5. Wash dishes and serve the food!!!!!!!!!!!! The kitchen crew can always use a break. 6. Help the staff wash uniforms. We have helped during finals week as the staff invades the local Laundromat to wash and dry 150 uniforms. The uniforms are usually washed weekly. If there is a show in your area, find the housing sites for the corps and jump in. Your help is always appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kansasDC Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 As much as I have always wanted to volunteer for a week or two with my daughter's corps during her seven seasons, other family obligations kept me from being away from home that long. I have found other ways to help out when her corps is in my area for a day or two, or we are at their housing site before a show.1. You are the expert for your geographic area and know where to find things. I have taken the cook to the local grocery/food warehouse for supplies. One summer, I transported a corps member to the local urgent care facility and waited while he was treated. In the other thread, I explained how I took the corps volunteer and sewing machine to the repair shop. [sNIP] If there is a show in your area, find the housing sites for the corps and jump in. Your help is always appreciated. Blue Stars has actually formalized this into a volunteer position this year. We call the person "The Local". This position is really important to the corps and you get to meet some great corps members and staff this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerriTroop Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Blue Stars has actually formalized this into a volunteer position this year. We call the person "The Local". This position is really important to the corps and you get to meet some great corps members and staff this way. That's AWESOME! What an incredibly insightful position to create. Now you've got my wheels turning! Other things you can do as "The Local": 1. Organize and serve a donated meal for the corps to give the cook staff a break 2. Offer to help wash uniforms 3. Ask the medical staff and food staff if they need any restocks of items you can get at Costco or WalMart 4. Be a night owl and help the corps arrive at a housing site - be the person to arrive 30 minutes or so before the corps, meet the show site host, have signs ready to point people to bathrooms, showers, sleeping areas for drivers (FAR from the rest of the corps, and dark if possible). When the corps arrives be ready to help translate all that info to their tour director/corps director/drum major - whoever is in charge of getting folks off the bus and on the floor. I did this last year, and I felt like I was helping the corps get on the floor a LOT faster for those few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos001 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 i helped a certain corps with several of the things that were suggested in the OP. this year i've decided to step up the help. i'm going on tour for 11 days. i know the basics that i need to bring, but is there some other things that you guys suggest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Blue Stars has actually formalized this into a volunteer position this year. We call the person "The Local". This position is really important to the corps and you get to meet some great corps members and staff this way. What a great idea! I could envision a "Local" being assigned to each arriving corps, with the first question asked: "What do you need?" I think I'll implement this idea into our local show. Great idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4T Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 What a great idea!I could envision a "Local" being assigned to each arriving corps, with the first question asked: "What do you need?" I think I'll implement this idea into our local show. Great idea. I agree this is a great idea, but don't some of those functions usually go to the hosting band director at the school? (especially having the logistics of the housing site figured out, signs made, directions to local stores etc.) Someone I was talking to in the last couple years had the idea that at each housing site band students (drum majors most likely) could volunteer to kind of get to know how a corps works by spending the day with the corps, spending part of the time helping out with the food truck etc, and the rest of the day helping the drum majors, and get to go in to the stadium with the corps at night helping with equipment or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 I agree this is a great idea, but don't some of those functions usually go to the hosting band director at the school? (especially having the logistics of the housing site figured out, signs made, directions to local stores etc.) Someone I was talking to in the last couple years had the idea that at each housing site band students (drum majors most likely) could volunteer to kind of get to know how a corps works by spending the day with the corps, spending part of the time helping out with the food truck etc, and the rest of the day helping the drum majors, and get to go in to the stadium with the corps at night helping with equipment or whatever. This is a good thought, but I'd be concerned having a student be the Local. An arriving corps wants to know there's an adult there, who can unlock doors and make decisions. I think THE Local would need to be an adult to "accept" the corps into the facility. That said, having a band kid tag along during the day would be great. He could be a runner, a "go-getter", a helper-outer to the administration of the show. Even a liason between the corps director and the event staff. I can't speak for other areas, but our show is run by a central group of six volunteers, and a host of school staff who do things like sell food at the show, be ushers, etc. The local band director(s) are not involved; heck we have to remind them a dozen times to make show plans with their kids. No luck getting them involved in the actual show admin. They're "on vacation". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4T Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 This is a good thought, but I'd be concerned having a student be the Local.An arriving corps wants to know there's an adult there, who can unlock doors and make decisions. I think THE Local would need to be an adult to "accept" the corps into the facility. That said, having a band kid tag along during the day would be great. He could be a runner, a "go-getter", a helper-outer to the administration of the show. Even a liason between the corps director and the event staff. I can't speak for other areas, but our show is run by a central group of six volunteers, and a host of school staff who do things like sell food at the show, be ushers, etc. The local band director(s) are not involved; heck we have to remind them a dozen times to make show plans with their kids. No luck getting them involved in the actual show admin. They're "on vacation". Oh yeah, a high school student definitely shouldn't be in charge of anything like that. This would be in addition to the local adults who are helping out during the corps' stay. I have heard of instances where band directors either aren't around at all like you mentioned, or they are only hosting a corps because it's 'easy money'... and don't really do a whole lot to give the corps the basic support they need. In those instances, a designated "local" would be fantastic, "locals" even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos001 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Blue Stars has actually formalized this into a volunteer position this year. We call the person "The Local". This position is really important to the corps and you get to meet some great corps members and staff this way. so...is this who i think it is? http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=9...5d-7dd8234de5f4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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