6182: Will Volunteer For Food.

From the Chicago Sun-Times, another sign that the Apocalypse is upon the economy. Organizations are no longer capable of even maintaining volunteer efforts.

Culture shock: Center’s volunteers canned

For the past two months, since moving to Chicago, I have been volunteering regularly at the Chicago Cultural Center alongside other dedicated volunteers, many of whom have been involved there for years. I look forward to going downtown, walking into that gorgeous, old building and interacting with a vast array of Chicagoans and visitors from all over the world.

The Volunteer Department has been around for 12 years, organizing a force of more than 150 people willing to give their time and energy to make public programs happen, such as weekly concerts, weddings, annual holiday events, not to mention all the office tasks and mailings that have been expedited by these helping hands. You can imagine my surprise when I went into the volunteer office recently and found out that, come the end of November, it will be no longer. The director and the department—gone.

I was stunned. Of all things to cut—the hub, the person who has not only built this program from the ground up, but also motivates, manages and maintains hundreds of people willing to give their time and knowledge and energy free of charge.

This cut seems like it will lead to an inevitable dissolution of many of the cultural programs that characterize this wonderful city. How disheartening.

I wanted to run over to Mayor Daley’s office, knock on his door and say, “Wait, please don’t do this!” but I couldn’t. He was in Istanbul meeting with the European Olympic Committee.

Melissa Marquardt
Logan Square