As Cornerstone Center for the Arts begins to prepare for its seventh annual Cornerstone Carnival, it noticed something major has yet to be checked off the to do list - find volunteers.
"I have been contacting every single person I know and hardly getting anywhere," said Janelle Rosenbury, an intern in charge of coordinating volunteers for the event.
As of now, Cornerstone has less than 10 people signed up. An event this big, which usually brings in about 1,000 guests, needs at least 50 volunteers, said Carly Acree, marketing and education coordinator at Cornerstone.
"The only time we ever have problems is during the summer," Acree said.
Cornerstone isn't the only organization short on manpower this summer. In early May, Ball State students packed up and left for home, taking many potential volunteers away from Muncie.
ALL IT TAKES
Wednesday afternoon was a rarity for Second Harvest Food Bank. Joe Fox had a group of 10 from a business come to volunteer. But after 3 p.m., things were back to normal with only one person sticking around to help.
"The summer is definitely down from the school year," the director of operations and volunteers said. "Summer is just typically a hard time for us for volunteers."
Second Harvest and other organizations rely heavily on students coming from Student Voluntary Services and Greek Life during the year. With those organizations inactive on campus during the summer, Fox has to get more creative.
He talks to businesses and churches about the organization, passing out business cards in hopes to get more people involved. He also relies on the Second Harvest website and its connection through the United Way website to find more volunteers.
"You have to go after it," he said. "You can't just sit idle and expect them to come."
Last year, Second Harvest distributed 9 million pounds of food. This year, it is on its way to distributing 11 million pounds of food, something that a staff of 11 can't do by themselves.
"People are hungry 365 days a year," Fox said. "It doesn't stop."
ONE PERSON
One student sticking around for the summer who has made an effort to volunteer is David Schellenberger. The senior sales major has volunteered Second Harvest several times during the summer, usually staying from 1 to 5 p.m.
"I don't have much else to do with my time," said Schellenberger, who stayed in Muncie to take two summer courses. "It fixes my boredom."
He has volunteered during the school year to get service hours for his fraternity, Sigma Chi, but never before at Second Harvest. He heard about it through word of mouth and said he will probably continue coming during the year.
"I like it here because you stay busy," he said. "You always have something to do."
Fox said this point is key in getting volunteers to return. Though individuals can simply show up during business hours to volunteer, he asked they call ahead to make sure he has something prepared for them to do. This is especially important with larger groups.
Ashley Thompson, a graduate assistant at the Office of Student Life, has discovered this as she tried to coordinate Ball State Gives Back, a one-day service project that allows incoming freshmen to meet upperclassmen as they volunteer.
With a group of 20 students, Thompson has had to make sure that organizations are available on Aug. 4 and able to provide enough work for the students to do all day.
TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
In the midst of searching for ways to keep the area cool after its air conditioning unit stopped working last week, Muncie's Animal Rescue Fund has also been searching for more volunteers.
Its main source of advertisement is through word of mouth.
"Sometimes people will just know about ARF, and they will just come and help," Courtney Sheets, volunteer coordinator at ARF, said.
Sheets recalled one woman who volunteers her time once a week to groom the dogs.
"Once you come here, we hope that you have a good enough experience that you want to get other people to come here, too," Sheets said.
ARF also promotes itself through Facebook and events such as Donation Days at Big Lots.
Sheets has been volunteering and working at ARF for five years. She has seen volunteers come and go and witnessed the dips in numbers during the summer.
"We have a lot of trouble with volunteer retention," Sheets said. "They'll come once, and then we may not see them again."
New volunteers at ARF begin by getting a tour of the organization's several buildings. Then their first tasks usually include playing with the animals and cleaning the cages.
"Just having that kind of human contact really helps the animals," Sheets said.
Sheets remembered when she first started going to ARF; she would sit for hours brushing the dogs. Ever since then, she's been hooked.
"I think it's a really rewarding experience," she said. "You get to know the people and you get to know the animals. You know that if you come and an animal isn't here anymore, it's because they went to a really good home."
WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
Places such as Cornerstone, Second Harvest and ARF lack the student volunteers during the summer, but, according to Tim Kean, Second Harvest president, this shouldn't affect volunteer numbers as much as it does.
"You would think there would be a good source of local people," he said.
Though businesses and high school students get involved, sometimes it's not enough.
"It's not just that the college students aren't here," he said. "Everybody needs to work together to lift it up and get it done."
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITES
CORNERSTONE CARNIVAL
Where: 520 E. Main St.
When: 9 a.m.-noon, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Aug. 5
Contact: Carly Acree at cacree@cornerstonearts.org or 765-281-9503 ext. 23
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK
Where: 6621 N. Old State Road 3
When: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, call ahead for Saturday morning (must have group of at least 15)
Contact: Joe Fox at 765-287-8698 ext. 106
ANIMAL RESCUE FUND
Where: 1209 W. Riggin Road
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-3 p.m. Saturday
Contact: 765-282-2733
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