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‘The Volunteer Has to Believe in
the Mission’
One of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s top volunteer
awards is named for John D’Ambrose, who makes sure members
get their renewal notices and membership cards every week. We had
a chance to chat with him during a break in the action.
BT: You’ve been volunteering at the CBF office how
long, John?
JD: Going on 11 years in June.
BT: Do you volunteer anywhere else?
JD: I do, but this is my primary volunteer job. I’m on the
Arlington Heights Bicycling Commission. I do volunteer work for
other organizations but none on as steady a basis as here. I’m
generally here at least one day a week, all year, except when I’m
on vacation or when something else comes up–like a paid job.
BT: Is that because this is your favorite gig?
JD: Absolutely. I truly believe in bicycling as an alternative means
of transportation; as a way to stay fit; as a way to reduce our
nation’s dependency on foreign oil; and as a way to downplay–for
want of a better word– our dependence on automobiles and all
of the evils that brings.
BT: What did you do before retiring?
JD: I worked for a company called More Business Forms. I was in
sales, I was a troubleshooter, I was a product manager. I ran the
plant for a while–a number of things. And I was with them
for 35 years.
BT: What are the qualities of a good volunteer?
JD: Number one, the volunteer has to believe in the mission of the
organization. Number two, you have to set aside a certain amount
of time that you want to devote regularly … You need to work
with a group or a particular department and they can then tie in
their workload to when your going to be there to handle your part
of it. So I think it’s important to have that commitment and
that recognition that it may not be a paying job, but you have a
lot of the same obligations ... And you have to accept people as
they are, particularly here. I found that the folks here are intelligent,
bright, they’re wonderful people; but they’re not like
the people I dealt with for 35, 40 years in the corporate world.
You have to accept that. You get along, and you learn so much from
them.
BT: What do you look forward to when you come to the office?
JD: I look forward to what the next assignment is going to be. I
know there are certain things that have we to get out each week–renewal
notices and membership packets–and I look forward to the other
challenges. (Membership Director) Dan (Korman) will say, “We’ve
got a problem here. What can we do about it?”
BT: Why do you always bring us doughnuts?
JD: Because I’ve got to keep you people going!
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