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Chattanooga: Volunteers, step forward

By: Chloé Morrison
(Contact)

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Kay Parish

Volunteers gave about 9,000 hours of time last year to the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, and officials hope to double that number — to nearly the equivalent of nine full-time personnel.

“Volunteerism, of course, is an American tradition,” Shawn Benge, park superintendent, said Wednesday. “Volunteers remain essential and vital to the National Park Service.”

Until now, budget and staff limitations have prevented the nation’s largest and oldest historical park from building a solid infrastructure to attract and manage much-needed volunteers, said Kay Parish, director of Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.

A partnership of private donors has made it possible for the park to hire its first volunteer coordinator. Chattanooga businessman Greg A. Vital and regional donors the Daniel Ashley and Irene Houston Jewell Memorial Foundation and the Frank P. Pierce Foundation will fund the position for two years.

Mr. Vital said he has visited 380 of the 391 national parks and monuments across the nation. He is a member of the Friends of Moccasin Bend, a unit of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, and said he wanted to help support one of the area’s most valuable assets.

“This park gives us so much diversity,” he said. “You can enjoy the historical elements, the natural resources and the recreational opportunities.”

Patrice Hobbs Glass began her new position at the park last week.

On Wednesday park officials, donors and members of the Friends conducted a ceremony to honor her and the collaboration that made hiring her possible.

Mr. Vital said he donated about $28,000, which was matched by the foundation donors, to pay Ms. Glass’ salary for the first two years.

Without the contributions, it would have been years before a coordinator could be hired, Ms. Parish said.

Meet Ms. Glass

Ms. Glass, a LaFayette native, graduated from Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga and from Birmingham-Southern College. She earned a graduate degree from Middle Tennessee State University. She spent time working in Chattanooga before briefly moving back to Birmingham to work for her alma mater, she said.

Ms. Glass said she and her husband have such a great love for Chattanooga, they wanted to come back to the area.

“I missed Chattanooga history so much that we decided we wanted to start looking to come back, and even better, this position came open,” she said.

Ms. Glass has been a seasonal employee with the National Park Service before, has experience managing volunteers and really believes in the Park Service’s mission, she said.

“The park has such a great history,” she said. “I’m excited to promote the park.”

volunteers are ambassadors

Anthony Hodges has spent countless hours volunteering at the park, he said. As a youth, his Boy Scout unit helped build some of the trails.

His motivation to volunteer comes from a love of history and the desire to preserve it, he said.

“If you forget where you’ve been historically, you lose your compass of who you are,” Mr. Hodges said.

From trail and monument restoration to educational programs, volunteers are needed to perform a broad spectrum of duties, Park Superintendent Benge said.

Park projects are currently backlogged, with about $18 million-$30 million worth of maintenance and construction needed, he said. Volunteers will help put a dent in that work.

“We expect to realize $10 of benefit for the park from every $1 expended on the volunteer program,” Mr. Benge said in a prepared statement.

High gas prices and a budget crisis in Georgia mean schools are cutting back on field trips. Ms. Glass said if the park gains volunteers, they could visit schools, bringing the history to children even in hard economic times.

Volunteers also help carry the work load full-time employees do not have time for, Mr. Hodges said.

Currently there are more volunteers who come and work on a specific project, but don’t necessarily come back again or make a lifelong commitment to working with the park, Ms. Glass said. Organized recruiting should help attract repeat volunteers.

She said she plans to recruit through advertisement, volunteer fairs and talks with civic groups.

Volunteers said the experiences of meeting new people, working outside and preserving history are rewarding.

Mr. Hodges said he’s passionate about preservation of the park — a fantastic cultural, recreational and historic resource.

That passion is part of what volunteering is about, officials said.

“Volunteers who come and work in a place, have ownership of that place and are excited in other ways to support the park,” Ms. Glass said. “Volunteers become ambassadors.”

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