Celebrating Our Volunteers

This post was contributed by Jillian Winters, AmeriCorps Museum Educator.

Last week, April 10 to 16, Providence Children’s Museum celebrated National Volunteer Week. It was a fun-filled week complete with spirit dress-up days and an ice cream sundae bar to honor and recognize the incredible work our volunteers do to make the Museum the wonderful place that it is.

The Museum would not be able to open its doors without volunteers. Volunteers greet visitors at the Admissions Desk, play with children and grown-ups in the exhibits, help staff develop programs, and work behind-the-scenes to complete special projects. In 2015 alone, 375 dedicated volunteers, interns and college work-study students collectively gave 11,147 hours of their time to the Museum!

“Getting to work with our volunteers and work-study students is wonderful in and of itself – seeing their playfulness and how much they take the Museum’s mission to heart. But even something as simple as tracking volunteer hours becomes a daily reminder for me of the tremendous impact they have on our organization as a whole. Whether those hours were spent playing with families in exhibits, stuffing envelopes for a mailing, or setting up the night before a big event – it ALL matters.”

– Turenne Bedell, Volunteer & AmeriCorps Coordinator

“I simply couldn’t do my job without our interns. I’ve always felt that, because the Museum is such an enthusiastic and exciting place to be, we attract the best of the best to our internships.”

– Sara Clarke, Events Manager

“My favorite part of my job is getting to interact with our volunteers. Whether they are in Water Ways or at our front desk, our volunteers inspire play and learning through their passion and commitment to our Museum.”

– Amanda Howard, Experience Coordinator