All we had to do was ask….. « Missouri Humanities Council

All we had to do was ask……

Contributed by Michele Handsford, MHC Vice Chair and Director of the Powers Museum, Carthage MO

Over the course of the last twenty-three years, the Powers Museum had never asked Carthage residents to volunteer to help in conjunction with an exhibit.

Now mind you, we had used volunteers before on special projects such as doing oral history interviews and making transcripts, cataloging and scanning photographs into our collection management software, and performing many other tasks around the museum. But we had never asked folks simply to come and greet visitors and help them interact with the special features incorporated into a display. Not only did we realize this fall’s traveling exhibit “Lee and Grant” had features (i.e. iPods sandwiched between graphic boards called Story tablets) that might be very foreign to some visitors, but having two personnel on site and one in the gallery at all times was a requirement for hosting the National Endowment for Humanities’ “On the Road” exhibit. It was going to be impossible to stretch one full-time employee and two quarter-time employees to meet such a standard. So our five board members, along with one former-board member and I, took on the task of recruiting our first real cadre of exhibit volunteers.

Recruiting volunteers has changed a great deal over the past generation since I entered this profession. Gone are most of the traditional target groups, and even one group that has remained a primary volunteer target–retired seniors–has been dramatically affected by the economy, family issues and other forces in recent years. Yet we went out and started asking. We asked friends, neighbors, and fellow workers, along with commandeering (at least temporarily) volunteers from the community’s largest and most prestigious volunteer force at the local hospital.

While we did not gather a mighty army, we did gather enough people to meet our obligations on most days of the exhibit’s run. Along the way, I think we made new friends that probably will be called upon again for service in the future. But perhaps more importantly, the people who volunteered to help us came away with a better understanding that the day-to-day operation of the museum is a little more involved than one would first imagine.

More than once, as I went from task to task, I heard a volunteer comment that there was “quite a bit of work to be done at the museum.” And when those new volunteers started asking about financial issues–especially those related to the exhibit’s programming, rental and shipping–it wasn’t long before I noticed our newly-recruited helpers were gently educating visitors at sign-in and were pointing to the donation box, an object that often is ignored by most visitors at our free admission museum. Before long, our box was filling up beyond our expectations, in part because our volunteers were, in their own low-key way, asking visitors to give.

That is what the Missouri Humanities Council is asking newsletter readers to do for the organization during this month devoted to our annual giving campaign. The board members and staff are asking you, our friends and partners–the people who enjoy and directly benefit from our grant programs, reading initiatives, museum consultations, and other public forums—not just to donate and support the mission of the Missouri Humanities Council, but also to help to educate others about what MHC does and is trying to do. Perhaps by following this newsletter month after month you too, have learned that there is more to the council and its various programs across the state than you had previously realized. Yes, we need you to give your support so that we can expand our impact and reach more Missourians with our programs. We hope, however, that just like our volunteers did at the Powers Museum this Fall, you will also will share your knowledge and appreciation of MHC and encourage others to join with you in supporting our work.

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