A Volunteer Experience Gone Sour.

A group of five students from the University of South Florida volunteered at a Pumpkin Festival on the 30th of October 2011. Even though we were volunteering because we had to for our Pur3000 class, we were pretty excited about the volunteering opportunity.

We got to venue and had a hard time finding Gate 5: our entry point. We finally found the unmarked gate after a couple of wrong turns. We contacted our liaison who told us to wait, where we were packed, for a golf cart to transport us to the festival ground. A while later, no golf cart showed up and we walked into the ground unhindered. It was surprising how easy we had walked in, even though there were visible ticket booths at Gate 1 and 2.
I wouldn't say the organizers pulled off a first class event. A lot of folks were disappointed with the festival, as it wasn't what they had expected. People kept walking up to us to inquire about different stations and booths advertised on the fliers which they couldn't find, and why they had to pay $5 everywhere. We didn't have a suitable answer for them because we hadn't been fully briefed by the organizers.

However, the organizer did reach their goal and raised money for their cause. The festival was designed to bring the community together with all of its resources in a positive and successful marketing campaign to bring businesses to local merchants and raise thousands of dollars to benefit All Children's Hospital. And even though majority of attendees were not too happy with the way things turned out, they brought out their wallets and paid the $5 fee when they didn't have tickets. They also bought foods and beverages, and had their kids participate in rides and activities that cost $5 for each run.