It can take as many as 150 volunteers to help run the midsummer Westmoreland County Arts and Heritage Festival, and Executive Director Diane Shrader is looking to sign up some of those unpaid workers at a Friday event in Greensburg.
The festival is one of more than two dozen organizations that are aiming to recruit help at a second annual Discover Westmoreland Volunteer Fair organized by Westmoreland Heritage. The fair is set for 3 to 6 p.m. at the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center.
Arts and Heritage representatives were able to schedule attendees at last year’s inaugural volunteer fair, to cover some of the available shifts during the festival’s annual four-day run at Westmoreland County’s Twin Lakes Park. Shrader is hoping to get at least 15 volunteers to join the ranks on Friday.
With just one other regular staff member aside from herself, she said, “We have 262 three-hour time slots that we fill with volunteers — selling drink tickets, or at the information booth, the festival store, helping with raffle baskets or staffing the shuttle bus ticket booth.
“Without the volunteers, we would not be able to have the festival. We’re very appreciative that they’re sharing their times and talents.”
Shrader signed up a few volunteers at the recent March for Parks event at Twin Lakes, but the fair at the civic center is an additional opportunity to replenish the ranks of festival helpers.
“Our base of volunteers is aging out,” she said.
Last year’s volunteer fair resulted when partner members of Westmoreland Heritage — a network of organizations focused on boosting local historical tourism — repeatedly commented on the importance of volunteers to their efforts.
Attendees were able to explore volunteer opportunities with cultural groups affiliated with Westmoreland Heritage.
“We had about 75 people come through, and many of them signed up for different opportunities,” said Dawn Lamuth, who is involved in planning and promoting the volunteer fair. “It’s a way to find people who have skills and interests and match them with different groups that have different needs.”
This year, the event’s scope is widening to welcome additional community nonprofits.
”We have the space to hold up to 28 tables, so we thought, ‘Let’s fill the room,’ ” said Lamuth, who is the director of cultural and community connections with the regional Go Laurel Highlands visitors bureau.
One of the nonprofits joining this year’s volunteer fair is the Westmoreland Food Bank. It has signed up 15 of the roughly 50 volunteers age 14 or older it will need to help sort items donated through the April 12 Scouting For Food drive, held in partnership with local Boy Scout troops.
In addition to recruiting vital helpers, the volunteer fair can help raise awareness about food bank programs, said Gina Colosimo, the nonprofit’s volunteer and food drive manager.
“We think of our volunteers as family,” she said. “They’re our boots on the ground.”
Other organizations slated to take part in the fair include: Overly’s Country Christmas, Scottdale Public Library, Mountain Watershed Association, Westmoreland Performing Arts, Mantle House Mission, Stoneybrook Foundation, Heartland Hospice, Bella Terra Stables, Wesley Family Services, Westmoreland Cultural Trust, Norwin Area Meals on Wheels, Catholic Charities, Greensburg Civic Theatre, Lincoln Highway Experience, CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) of Westmoreland, Delmont Apples ‘n Arts Festival, Ligonier Valley Writers, Retired Senior Volunteer Program, Penn State Extension, Friends of SummerSounds, Westmoreland Historical Society and Wildlife Works.