Volunteering At Your Club
The NSSA-NSCA Target Talk dated January 22, 2018, had my hint, ‘Getting Involved With Your Club’. While it’s common for me to get some comments regarding the various hints, this one drew several from multiple different clubs.
As soon as Target Talk hit the street, I started getting ’emails of appreciation’ from people who are trying to run their particular clubs with whatever help they can get. The common statement is, “it’s the same five or 10 people who volunteer for every task.”
Most clubs have upgrades planned or in the works that you might be able to help with. A couple of years ago the Tulsa Gun Club was hit by a tornado that shut down the whole facility. Branches and entire trees were destroyed and blown all over the property. The clubs’ relatively new club house and several other structures were unusable.; it was a mess.
The board of directors sent out a message asking for volunteers to help with the clean-up, and the usual volunteers were there, but so were several others. Because they had lots of volunteers, the clean-up was fast, and the board was able to see what the big wind had done to the infrastructure.
When an organization asks for help, they seem to get some, but there are also the day-to-day operations they need help with, and volunteers are always needed and appreciated by whoever is at the helm of the club that day. Many clubs can only operate IF they get volunteers to help their clubs with the day-to-day operations as well as with special events, clean-ups and new projects.
The Tulsa Gun Club had help from Sports World, a local sporting goods store, the Boy Scouts and several members who donated and continue to donate both money and time toward the effort to rebuild the club. The Tulsa Gun Club could not have gotten the club operating as soon as it did without this multitude of volunteers. The owners of Sports World also put together a Go Fund Me page that gave the club some of the funds to restart.
All clubs rely on their members to help with the tasks necessary to make and keep the club as nice as you want it to be. Go to your clubs and volunteer; you’ll be appreciated, and you’ll be able to have more pride in your club.
Stay safe.
Barry Hartmann is an NSSA Master Level and NRA Certified shotgun instructor who can help you improve your skills at American Skeet and wingshooting. To contact Barry, email him at threeat8@aol.com or give him a call at (918)803-2393.
