Another important component of the Chi Chi Rodriguez Academy’s success is the opportunity for members of the community to share their expertise or gain experience as one of our family of volunteers. The student programs and the seven different departments which operate the business of a golf course, sports complex, public private partnership school, and non–profit foundation provide a variety of opportunities for our volunteers.
For example . . .
Don Russell, a retired administrative assistant for IBM Corporation, began volunteering in 2000. He works in the Golf Pro shop two or three days a week from November to May and serves with two other IBM volunteers securing IBM grants which have supplied over $40,000 in information technology equipment for the Academy.
Mitch Glentzer, an intern from the University of Indiana, spent his entire summer in 2009 volunteering as a coach for participants at The First Tee of Clearwater Summer Camp.
Alan Johnson started volunteering as a media writer for the Academy in 2009. His responsibilities include writing articles and press releases, and producing multimedia packages for promotional purposes.
Currently, over 70 working volunteers serve the program needs by donating over 12,000 hours annually. In addition, volunteers at special events over the past 31 years have put in many thousands of hours not figured in the annual count. Over the history of the Foundation, volunteers have contributed over a million hours.
According to estimates from the St. Petersburg Times for the 2010, the value to a non-profit organization of a volunteer is about $20 per hour; meaning the Foundation’s volunteers’ time over the history of the Foundation would be worth over $20 million.
If you would like to volunteer please call (727) 726-8829 to find out more information about how you can start making a difference in the lives of our students.