Volunteering

Parents volunteers are essential to make our Band Season successful. 

• Parents volunteers usually sign up during the Band Program Annual Signup on Google Form, but are welcome to join at a later time when an event comes up. Volunteering spots are limited for certain events in which cases first come first served. 

• We have openings of nearly 400 volunteer shifts throughout the season. 

• Every year, each family is expected to volunteer for at least 8 hours (or two shifts of 4 hours each). 

• If you are not able to volunteer, please consider sending an extra $250 donation following instructions on this page. 

• Truck/Trailer Drivers, we strongly suggest you to fulfill the FUSD volunteer online registration annually.  

• Thank you very much! 

Please find the sample Volunteer Duties below. 

*This list is by no means complete and it is for your references only.

1. Volunteer Coordination

   • When: Throughout the season

   • Engage & Recruit volunteers for the band camp and events

   • Update volunteer training documents

   • Update volunteer assignments slots & shopping lists

   • Train volunteers to get familiar with the tasks

   • Maintain volunteer assignments to make sure all tasks are covered

   • Coordinate volunteers on the event days

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2. Uniform Fitting

   • When: During the weeks of Band Camp in summer

   • Sort uniforms by sizes and attaching new labels after dry cleaning

   • For each student, measure the size of top and bottom, find matching uniforms

   • Confirm the sizes and finish with hemming (with tapes) as needed

   • Pack the complete set of uniforms into bags and sort by sections/names to the racks

   • Maintain a uniform fitting record with student name, bag name, uniform IDs.

   • Pass out duffle bags, shakos/berets, gloves to students

   • Teach students with long hair to make buns or braids as needed

   • **We are in urgent need of uniform leads for each shift to share the workload of our uniform coordinator. The "uniform leads" are expected to get trained in order to oversee the entire workflow and supervise other volunteers. 

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3. Band Camp Security

   • When: During the weeks of Band Camp in summer

   • Bring ice, refill water jugs on the cart and deliver to the field

   • Help watch students' personal belongings

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4. Band Review Trips

   • When: On the Fridays & Saturdays of band review trips

   • Fridays only: Sort supplies, prep food & water, wash water jugs & cups, etc.

   • Fridays only: Help load uniforms/instruments/food/supplies

   • Rent a pickup truck to tow the equipment trailer

   • Rent a large U-haul truck to carry large instruments & supplies

   • Load/unload of uniform racks and large/heavy instruments

   • Drive support vehicles to carry extra equipment

   • Serve as bus chaperones for trips

   • Pick up ice donations from Glacier Ice Company on Friday afternoons before the trips

   • Purchase bottled water, juice, snacks, breakfast, small cups, utensils etc.

   • Pickup pizzas when the parade is done 

   • Bring squirt bottles and small cups for serving water to students

   • Help polish marching shoes and check uniform accessories

   • Help students with long hair to make it neatly tucked

   • Setup c & take down canopies, tables, popup tents, as needed

   • Serve breakfast, lunch, water and snacks

   • Take photos and videos

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5. Maintain Band Rosters

   • When: Within the few weeks of school start

   • Gather three rosters: school roster, google form responses, uniform fitting records

   • Crosscheck between the three rosters for typos, mismatches, drops & additions

   • Finalize the marching band roster 

   • Finalize the color guard roster

   • Resolving any bounced email 

   • Updating the email lists on MailChimp

   • Sort out the list of students who missed uniform fitting

   • Sort out the list of families who missed volunteer signups & send reminders

   • Sort out the list of families who missed annual donations & send reminders

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6. MailChimp, Website and Social Groups

   • When: Before/After band events

   • Update the MailChimp audience annually based on the Google Form responses

   • Update the band website regularly with accurate information on all programs and events

   • Create Google Photos albums and post the links

   • Maintain competition results & photo galleries of all trips

   • Create email messages for event announcements & reminders via MailChimp

   • Create email for volunteer confirmation and detailed assignments

   • Post announcements, reminders, recap on Social Groups (BAND, WhatsApp, Wechat) 

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7. Music Festivals

   • For Chabot Music Festival, we need a couple of parents to be the bus chaperones.

   • For CMEA Music Festival at Irvington, we need volunteers to staff the headquarter, order, pick up & set up meals for judges, and sell snacks/drinks. 

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8. Fun activities

   • Movie Night (in January TBD)

   • Shop for supplies, pickup food, 

   • Decorate & setup, serve food, cleanup

   • Take photos

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• How do I find the volunteering shifts I originally signed up?

  • Please save the confirmation email sent automatically by Google Form after you signed up. It includes your responses to all the  questions and allows you to go back to edit.

• How can I become a bus chaperone?

  • Please sign up on the Annual Google Form to indicate you want to be a bus chaperone, which is the only data source we have access to. If you missed it, there might be another opportunity. During the week before each trip, we will confirm the availability of all volunteers, and release open spots in the WhatsApp/Wechat Groups if anything becomes available. First come first served.

• I checked "Yes, I will go to this trip with my child" on the Permission Slips, so do I get to ride with the bus?

  • Sorry we do not have access to the permission slips, and Google Form records are the only data source from which we gather the volunteer info. Please refer to the answers from the question above for more opportunities. 

• How can I cancel or make changes to my volunteering shifts?

  • We would appreciate it if you could send the notice in advance by emailing IHSVikingsMusicBoosters@gmail.com or contacting the volunteer coordinator in the WhatsApp/Wechat group. 

For volunteers who helped order food or supplies or rentals for band trips, please download the Check Request Form (PDF or DOC) to your computer, fill it out with your contact & reimbursement details, and send the form + all receipts (in PDF or JPG) to our Treasurer at bandboosters@ihsvikings.org. Please enter your Paypal to allow faster processing. **You don't need to fill out the "Request #: ". Thank you! 

Overview

• • Irvington Band Volunteer Training Slides (to be updated with situations of school construction)

Uniform Fitting

• Uniform Inspection Notes created by Wendy

• Uniform Notes created by Yuti

• Video recording links

• How to hang up the uniforms in the bag (Video) 

• How to put your hair in a bun (Video) for Shakos only

• How to get your hair ready for wearing a beret (Violins & Sousaphones only)

Trailer/Truck Drivers

Band Review Trips

• Band Review Volunteer Instructions (to be updated)