An army of 350 volunteers is working this week at the NJCAA Division II Men’s National Basketball Tournament at Danville Area Community College. But if you want to be a volunteer you must be quick when the call for volunteers goes out. Neuhoff Media’s Bill Pickett explains…
It’s because volunteer positions fill quickly.
Jeanie Cooke, (shown here) Executive Director of the Danville Area Visitors Bureau, says the volunteers play a crucial role in the games…
{AUDIO: “If it weren’t for the volunteers we wouldn’t have this tournament. They are truly our backbone. One thing about Danville and the people that volunteer here, you can always count on them. It’s just a wonderful experience for us to be able to utilize what we call family.”}
Neuhoff Media’s Bill Pickett talked with Gerald Dossey (shown in photo), a tournament volunteer who was selling tickets….
{AUDIO: “(Pickett:) You’ve been doing this for a while, huh? (Dossey🙂 “Eighteen years. This is my 18th year.” (Pickett:) “Why do you volunteer? (Dossey: “Well, I like basketball. I started coming out here to the games, and then the next thing I knew they had me hooked doing the volunteering (ends with Dossey laughing).}
Mike Puhr, another volunteer, explained what he was doing for the games…
{AUDIO: “I’m working front gate. I’ve worked about every position out here. Been doing it for 29 years. This is my 29th year. I got involved when I was in Leadership Danville in 1995. I started volunteering and enjoyed every minute of it.”}
Puhr was asked what he likes most about the National Tournament…
{AUDIO: “It’s just the community coming together. All the volunteers you see. It takes hundreds of people to put this on. And we have a very good reputation throughout the U.S. on this tournament. And that’s why we’ve been fortunate to have it come back year after year after year.”}
Cooke says the volunteers fill a variety of positions including serving as team hosts, working in the hospitality room, selling tickets, providing half-time entertainment for the games and other roles.
FOR TOURNAMENT UPDATES: https://www.njcaa.org/championships/sports/mbkb/div2/index
