Volunteers

New post from Sean Redmond

Pride Weekend Volunteer Opportunities

In case you haven’t been keeping count, 40 days until Pride! So, the subject of volunteering during Pride weekend is on the table. Our commitments for the weekend have been reduced by almost 50% from last year in an effort not to burn volunteers out and give everyone an opportunity to participate in other Pride events. Our commitments for Pride weekend (July 13th and 14th) are the parade, festival booth, and festival emergency exits. We are asking for a minimum of 5 hours from each patrol volunteer for this weekend.
Please provide your availability for the following:
Parade, Saturday, July 13th, 0900-1200, 2 patrol volunteers to carry the banner
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Pride Festival Booth, Saturday, July 13th, 1030-1530, 1 patrol volunteer to open and recruit
Pride Festival Booth, Saturday, July 13th, 1200-1700, 1 patrol volunteer to recruit
Pride Festival Booth, Saturday, July 13th, 1500-2000, 1 patrol volunteer to recruit
Pride Festival Booth, Saturday, July 13th, 1800-2300, 2 patrol volunteers to recruit and pushout (2200-2300)
Between the hours of 1200-2000, the festival booth will always have one patrol volunteer. Any additional patrol volunteers may be requested by Guests Relations to conduct a foot patrol with a Guest Relations volunteer around the festival grounds.
Pushout duties include to secure the Festival Booth and proceed no later than 2215 to the south end of the festival grounds. There, patrol volunteers will combine with festival staff to sweep the festival grounds north to the crossroads and ensure there are no guests remaining inside after closing.
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Pride Festival Booth, Sunday, July 14th, 1030-1530, 1 patrol volunteer to open and recruit
Pride Festival Booth, Sunday, July 14th, 1200-1700, 1 patrol volunteer to recruit
Pride Festival Booth, Sunday, July 14th, 1500-2000, 1 patrol volunteer to recruit
Pride Festival Booth, Sunday, July 14th, 1700-2200, 2 patrol volunteers to recruit and pushout (2100-2200)
Between the hours of 1200-1800, the festival booth will always have one patrol volunteer. Any additional patrol volunteers may be requested by Guests Relations to conduct a foot patrol with a Guest Relations volunteer around the festival grounds.
Pushout duties include breaking down the Festival Booth and proceed no later than 2115 to the south end of the festival grounds. There, patrol volunteers will combine with festival staff to sweep the festival grounds north to the crossroads and ensure there are no guests remaining inside after closing. The festival booth breakdown can be left on-site for pickup later.
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As an organization, we are also managing the Festival Emergency Exits. This year’s Festival Emergency Exit Team is lead by our very own Yuo Wu, Patrol Volunteer/Treasurer! This is being done through a Community Partnership with San Diego Pride. Our services and management save San Diego Pride on paying contract security to just basically stand at an Emergency Exit. The savings is directed right back in the community through Community Scholarship Grants. Last year San Diego Pride reinvested nearly $175,000 to LGBT organizations, Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol is one of them!
If you are not able to participate in the parade or festival booth, please consider the following shifts:
Saturday, July 13, 100-1500
Saturday, July 13, 1400-1900
Saturday, July 13, 1800-2300
Sunday, July 14, 1000-1500
Sunday, July 14, 1400-1900
Sunday, July 14, 1700-2200
Regardless of which area you volunteer in, you will receive a two-day free festival pass, access to Pride Village, snacks and drinks, and a Pride volunteer t-shirt. This means when you use your two-day free festival pass, you will still check-in at Pride Village and not the main gate, so another benefit to volunteering. As a Community Partner with San Diego Pride, during your volunteer time, whether at our booth or at an Emergency Exit, you will also receive a meal ticket for any available meal offers inside Pride Village. In addition, we are the only Community Partner that is authorized to wear our patrol t-shirt while volunteering with Pride. So, this is an opportunity to show our Pride with our brand!
So, plenty of opportunities to assist with San Diego’s largest one-day civic event and over a $26 million local economic impact! So many benefits and a great opportunity to have some fun!
So, some volunteer opportunities are first come, first scheduled. The sooner you reply, the better your chances are to receive your preferred location and time. I will be asking for a response from each of you, so please answer in a timely manner. For those who have been part of planning an event this size, you know that last minute scheduling and waiting for answers are time-consuming and stressful. Being 40 days out is a good reasonable time to ask volunteers to response and commit to ensuring a successful weekend. I thank you in advance for your time and consideration regarding this matter.
One last request, regardless if you are volunteering or not, be consider sharing the following with your friends, co-workers, other organizations, and acquaintances to assist with recruiting. Numbers and outreach are in our favor to succeed. If anyone has any issues with signing up, please direct them to myself at sredmond@stonewallcitizens.org or 619-990-5510 and I will personally walk them through the process to get them to sign up. For those who say ‘yea, sure, I will sign up’, please make a note and follow up until they do get signed up or let me know and I will follow up with them until they either sign up or state ‘no’. Of course, I am respectful in my persistence, I mean dedication to getting everyone involved. Please cut and paste the following (between *** and ***:
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Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol has partnered with San Diego Pride to manage this year’s festival emergency exits. By training and managing volunteers for this task, the number of community grants San Diego Pride can reinvest into our community grows and benefits many organizations! We also look forward to sharing Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol mission about community safety and give you more insight into what we do for the San Diego community.
The process to sign up is easy and will allow you to pick which date and shift you want to volunteer. In return, you will receive a free two-day festival pass, Pride volunteer t-shirt, and access to Pride Village where there will be free snacks, drinks, cleaner restrooms/shorter lines, and a fenced off area to relax in the shade before and after your shift.
Your free two-day festival pass is good before and after your shift and you enter and exit the festival through Pride Village and not the long lines at the main gate! So, you could go to the festival, volunteer, and return to the festival is just one option!
Volunteering at the emergency exits is very relaxing and almost completely labor less. You could bring a book, a craft project, or even a buddy/friend! No festival guests will come or go through the emergency exits unless an emergency exists, and you are instructed by the radio to open the emergency exits.
This could be a great group volunteer activity. Your group could all come and volunteer for the same shift and then afterward go into the festival and enjoy the festivities/concerts together!
The process is easy and fast. Just follow the following or contact us at info@stonewallcitizens.org and we will walk you through it or assist you in getting signed up.
Go to: sdpride.org/volunteer
Click ‘Become a Volunteer’
Click either “Fill in Application’ or ‘Login to your account’
Click ‘Opportunities’
Scroll down to ‘Festival Emergency Exit Team’
Click ‘2019 Emergency Exit Volunteers’
Pick your shift!
Finally, we ask for your promotion assistance. If you are not able to volunteer, please copy and paste this message and share with your social media friends, co-workers, other organizations, or any community outreach coordinators at work or school. You would be assisting bettering our community and increasing the number of community grants that San Diego Pride will give back!
Our contact information to assist anyone needing assistance to sign up is: info@stonewallcitizens.org
Available shifts:
Saturday, July 13, 10am-3pm
Saturday, July 13, 2-7pm
Saturday, July 13, 6-11pm
Sunday, July 14, 10am-3pm
Sunday, July 14, 2-7pm
Sunday, July 14, 5-10pm
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Finally, you do not need to reply publicly, but please reply privately if need be; all I ask is that you reply sooner than later! I thank you for all your hard work and dedication to making SCP a leader in our community and ensuring everyone remains safe.
Respectfully,
Sean

https://stonewallcitizens.org/volunteers/pride-weekend-volunteer-opportunities