Volunteering at AirVenture Oshkosh

During AirVenture 2014, EAA’s Volunteer Advisory Committee hosted a forum on volunteering at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.  Here’s a recap:

What impact does Volunteerism have on EAA? Volunteering is key to EAA’s past, present, and future. EAA started with volunteers – Our founder Paul Poberezny and his wife Audrey. The spirit of volunteerism that they created is still alive at EAA today.

 In EAA’s fiscal year 2014, there were more than  170,000 volunteer hours recorded to EAA HQ. This number included 140,000 volunteer hours during AirVenture  2013. This is significant number of EAA volunteer hours   has an economic impact of $3.7 million. Without this support from volunteers, your organization would not be where it is today.

Why do people Volunteer? In the 2013 Volunteer Engagement Survey,  some of the most common answers included words such as aviation, people, enjoy, love, etc. This  fits perfectly with the words of  Paul Poberezny – “Airplanes bring us together, but friendship keeps us together.” Many volunteers started because of their interest in aviation but they keep coming back to see their EAA family and fellow volunteers.

Why should you volunteer? EAA volunteers  ensure the future of their organization . Without that volunteer  support at  EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and year-round, EAA would not be able to accomplish what it does today. Volunteering at EAA is also a great opportunity to enhance skills or learn new ones  – whether it’s technical,  leadership or something else. Volunteers also have the opportunity to meet people from all around the country and world while fully participating within EAA and making a difference in the world of aviation.

 What are the opportunities? During the week of AirVenture alone, there are 130 different volunteer areas. These volunteer opportunities can be pre-event, during the fly-in , and post-convention.  The time commitment can be flexible, with opportunities being only a couple hours, a few days, a week, or even months. EAA also encourages family volunteering for families with youth under 14 years old, which means there are volunteer opportunities for every age and of all interests.

 Interested in volunteering? Check out EAA’s website at eaa.org/volunteer. AirVenture Oshkosh opportunities will be posted at the end of March. But why stop volunteering after AirVenture Oshkosh – year round opportunities can also be found on the web!