Martin House Annual Report 2019

VOLUNTEERS Our volunteer program is 24 years young and 400+ volunteer colleagues strong. Every year we wel- come new volunteers to the Martin House from all walks of life and of all ages. Volunteers are vital to supporting our mission, and we are grateful for their time, commitment and energy. In 2019 our volun- teers provided more than 14,500 hours of service to all aspects of the organization. Our dedicated housekeeping/collections mainte- nance and garden teams help prepare and maintain the site for daily visitors. Our tour team consists of guest services, docents, chaperones, and museum store volunteers who welcome each visitor with gracious hospitality. In addition, we have office volunteers who assist with various projects; our collections committee whose efforts is to locate Martin House artifacts; our special events team who implement our fundraisers, set up and break down events and move things when needed. Our education teamworks with students who attend our summer camp, junior docent program and school groups. In July, we participated in GardenWalk Buffalo’s 25th Anniversary event. Volunteers were instru- mental withwelcoming visitors, providing direction, and showcasing our newly restored gardens. In two days, the site welcomed 3,000 visitors. Our volunteers created a new continuing education program for their fellow volunteers called Pier to Pier. The mission of this group is to learn best museum practices from other cultural institutions. In addition, this group works to maintain and en- hance the knowledge base of docents and volunteers so they can continue to provide excellent customer service and engaging experiences for our visitors. Our volunteers shine in so many ways, and this year they funded the acquisition of a fourth volunteer window. It is a proud moment to see the window installed in the conservatory for all to enjoy. Martin House volunteers have quite a generous spirit, and collectively they are as amazing as each individual art glass window, comprised of many individual pieces to create one beautiful whole. This year we invigorated our volunteer leadership team. This group has a representative from each volun- teer committee to allow for free flow of ideas between volunteers and staff. This allows us to maintain and enhance the visitor and volunteer experience, as well as move projects forward to sustain the organization. Finally, in 2019, through the generous support of the East Hill Foundation, we moved our volunteer man- agement to a new platform. This software assists with scheduling, communicating, and managing our corps while allowing us to work smarter. We are grateful for this support. INTERIOR BEAUTIFICATION VOLUNTEER BILL HARDEN LANDSCAPE VOLUNTEERS SUSAN PERLOW AND ROSANNE STOLZENBURG 4