By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
It was a desire to get her daughter more involved in the community, and for the opportunity for herself to give back, that had Becky Richard signing up to volunteer at Festival of the Arts’ face painting booth.
That was 13 years ago and Richard has gone on to co-chair face painting, serve as the 2016 Festival co-chair with Tim Jacobson, and is now the chair of volunteer recruitment for the organization.
“I brought [my daughter] down and we talked to one of the the chairs of face painting and signed up to volunteer,” Richard said. “I’m so glad I did because its really like being a part of a big family.”
It takes a small village to put on the annual Festival of the Arts which marks its 49th year in 2018. The dates for the event which always happens the first weekend in June are June 1, 2, and 3 in downtown Grand Rapids.
“It takes over 500 slots just to fill our kids activities for the weekend,” Richard said, adding that kids activities includes face painting, kids paint-in, Mad Hatter, and Chalk the Walk. There also are many other volunteer opportunities beyond just kids activities such as stages, the Festival store, Festival Regional Arts, headquarters, production, and clean-up. Those operating the individual food booths are responsible for their own volunteers so the Festival organization does not handle volunteers for specific food booths, however; there is a food booth committee that does work with the various booths.
People are able to volunteer for what fits in their schedule, whether it be a couple of hours or all weekend. Volunteers have the opportunity just to help out or do what Richard did, and expand their role by co-chairing an activity. It really all depends on what the person wants to do, she said, adding it is just about getting involved and just having some fun.
Richard also noted that volunteering can look good on college applications and resumes since it teaches life skills such as cashiering, merchandising, organizing, and working with the public.
All ages are welcomed. Students under 18, should have parents’ permission. Groups are welcomed from service organizations to companies that encourage employees to do community outreach.
“The great thing about Festival is you don’t need any experience at all,” Richard said. “If you’ve never volunteered for a Festival before; if you’re not artsy; if you’ve never painted a face — it doesn’t matter. Just come down and have some fun. Really there is something for everyone.”
For more about Festival of the Arts or how to volunteer, visit festivalgr.org.
