My Newfound Love for Team 4 & Team-Wide Volunteering

[Jessica Boucher]

Although I would like to thank all of our UTC Volunteers, I would like to make a special post about a particular group of them.

Months ago, I recieved word from our Regional Chair that Wendy Wooten had contacted us and was offering to bring her team to volunteer at UTC.

You have no idea how glad I was that they came.

We made them highly identifiable "Regional Hosts" shirts, and they ended up doing everything from filling empty spots on Thu & Fri, to speaking with VIPs and media, giving tours, helping out with awards...anything you can imagine to make a regional run smoothly. They were courteous, resourceful, and always willing to help, which is everything you could want in a volunteer.

I encourage every regional to adopt a team as their hosts, and I encourage every team to offer themselves to a regional that they will not be competiting at. All the positive feedback about UTC could not have been possible without all of the volunteers, but as a new Coordinator in one of the country's most visible events, having a team there who already knew about FIRST and were willing to help everywhere was amazing.

I don't know if I would have stayed involved in FIRST if I hadn't been bit by the volunteering bug at a very early age through the media tent at Nationals. Giving team members that taste before they graduate shows them that there are many ways to be at an event, and I highly encourage bringing an entire team to volunteer.

Again, thank you!!!

[KathieK]

I would also like to add to Jessica's comments - Team 4 was AMAZING! Having just arrived in Hartford on Wed after taking the red eye, they wandered over to the convention center and said, "What can we do to help?" We were trying to put up the Vex fields and they immediately jumped in and started assembling them with us! It was like we had been sent a gift from Heaven! From holding open doors to directing traffic to being there when you needed an extra hand, Team 4 was always ready to help out. I'm sorry the amusement park wasn't open for you guys, and we didn't have any snow for you, either! But we REALLY REALLY appreciate all the help you gave us! Please come back and visit us in Hartford again soon!