Harbor Of Refuge Lighthouse Needs Money and Muscle
By Sue Clark on Jun 21, 2008 in Featured, Opinion, Volunteer 
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Group Short On Young Volunteers
Earlier this year, Lighthouse News featured a story about the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse in Delaware, which has huge holes underneath its foundation and the breakwall it sits upon from the scouring action of waves. The Army Corps of Engineers conducted a side scan survey of the breakwall and discovered ten to twelve ton rocks displaced. But that’s not what this current article is about. A recent article at Delmarva.Com highlighted the fund raising efforts of the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation to raise $12,000 by the end of the year for some of the repairs. But that’s not what this article is about either. What caught the eye of Lighthouse News in the Delmarva story was a quote by Foundation President Judith Roales.
Here is the part of the story that made me think:
The foundation has about 140 members, but fewer than a dozen are active volunteers, Roales said. That core group has two retired members — Roales is one — and the rest work and have families, making the foundation’s job of preserving the lighthouses even harder.
Roales wishes the foundation had a younger base of supporters because a lot of the manual labor is done by its older volunteers. In 2004, some of the members repainted the Harbor of Refuge lighthouse, and it already needs more work in addition to replacing the door.
“Almost everyone is 50 and older. We need some young, strong muscle to do some of the work,” she said. “What we need are some 20-somethings, instead of us 60-somethings.”
This is not an uncommon scenario with lighthouse preservation groups. Many have a core group of volunteers that do most of the work, and the majority of them are older, retired. Although people are living longer and are healthy for longer, there’s no denying the aches and pains of age. What would take an older person all day to do, someone in their twenties can do it in half the time. I personally suffer from degenerative disc disease, and know others my age and even younger suffer from various other forms of arthritis or other physical problems.
Volunteers paint Head Harbor Lighthouse (East Quoddy)
The face of volunteerism is changing. It’s no longer the stay at home mom who needs something to do when the kids go off to school. That stay at home mom is off to work. Weekends are used for catching up on all the chores. Other agencies and organizations are recruiting volunteers heavily as budgets are cut, leaving lighthouse preservation wanting.
How Do We Capture the Younger Generation?
Organizations that can use a lot of manual labor (painting, scraping, repairing structures, hauling building supplies up rocky slopes, etc.) might want to start thinking outside the box. Volunteer recruiters may want to look at alternative young people. Besides going into schools with presentations on lighthouses (don’t forget the connection to pirates…everyone is fascinated by them now) and lighting the fire of involvement, perhaps a high school or middle school would like to take on a project for one of their history classes. It wouldn’t be that hard to set up with a school. Teachers are always looking for creative ideas to capture their students’ imaginations and keep the desire for learning alive.
What about teens and young adults sentenced in court to do Community Service? I’m not referring to violent criminals here, but those whose sentences are to do a stint of community service rather than detention time. Often these are things we did as youngsters and which were considered pranks, but now are considered minor crimes. Here in Maine, we have Volunteers of America, which runs the community service program. Your local court can direct you to the appropriate agency.
Involving Families
Whether it’s parents with their children, or grandparents with their grandkids, volunteering can be a family affair. Does your group have a family volunteering program yet? In a 1998 study of volunteer motivations among Baby Boomers and Generation X employees, 52% of non-volunteers reported that volunteering “takes me away from family and friends.” Yet 65% of Baby Boomers and 68% of Generation Xers were interested in volunteering when “a family member or friend is involved.” And 53% of Baby Boomers and 39% of Generation Xers were interested in “activities I can do with my family.”
These are just a few thoughts brought on by the story. If you have any suggestions, share them in comments at the end of this story, or if you prefer, just contact me. I’d like to do a series on alternate ways of volunteer recruitment and retention, and involving the younger generation is of major importance. We won’t be around forever, but our lighthouses will live on thanks to the work we’re doing today. But who will care for them when we’re gone?
Photo credits:
- Harbor of Refuge by CellPhoneSusie. Some rights reserved.
- Up With the Birds by headharbourlight. Some rights reserved.
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June 23rd, 2008 at 4:23 pm
The problem of attracting younger members and volunteers is a serious one, and I hope your article draws some ideas. At Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation we have tried to entice mechanical/engineering classes at nearby community colleges and carpenter classes at local high schools. The idea of having students do actual work at a lighthouse was exciting to teachers … until it was shot down by the administrators on insurance and liability grounds. We’ve also considered Scout troops, but preliminary inquiries have met with the same issues. Of course, the fact that our lighthouses are offshore makes things even worse, so I look forward to any and all new ideas.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Somehow that doesn’t surprise me about the administrators shooting it down, Judith. But I find a sad commentary on our times the Boy Scouts did the same thin.
A question: Does your group carry liability insurance? It might be worthwhile to investigate it, or possibly an affiliation with one of the bigger lighthouse groups could get you coverage under their umbrella. I’m thinking American Lighthouse Foundation, or the US Lighthouse Society. That would be one way to allay the fears of administrators. We’ll have to think of a workaround for this. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to jump in.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Typical red tape by the sounds of it. Why don’t you try to inject some cool activities for those students to get them more interested.
For example a ghost night where everyone plays up could be something. Kids love dress ups. Or a mock up Halloween party in August. Think outside the box and try to source what kids love to attract them.