February 2008 Best Practices: Giving back to the Big Easy EyeBuild Habitat for Humanity raises $16,020 and 412 pairs of helping hands By Cathy Chatfield-Taylor
In St. Bernard’s Parish, the decay and destruction remaining two years after Hurricane Katrina shocked volunteers on the American Academy of Ophthalmology (www.aao.org) EyeBuild Habitat for Humanity project. Three days of hammering, painting and roofing in this hard-hit community did not immediately deliver families from their FEMA trailers, but it made a small contribution to the City of New Orleans, which has hosted the association’s annual meeting four times in 10 years.
“We just started EyeBuild this year,” says Debra Rosencrance, CMP, CAE, Vice President, Meetings and Exhibits, for the San Francisco-based association of more than 7,000 eye M.D.s. “We decided to start in New Orleans since there was so much need.” As a first-time community service project, 2007 EyeBuild yielded admirable results. “We had 629 sign up and 412 actually participate,” she says. “There was a large no-show rate, but I understand that’s normal for volunteer events.”
Participants paid $25 each to join Habitat Humanity work crews for three days preceding the annual meeting, which was held November 10-13, 2007 in New Orleans. Sponsors underwrote EyeBuild T-shirts, on-site lunches, and shuttle transportation to and from the work sites. Cash contributions totaled $16,020, which went toward Habitat for Humanity’s Hurricane Katrina Recovery Effort.
AAO chose Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org) as the recipient of its largesse because the organization is well established and reputable. Founded in 1976, the nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry has built more than 225,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1 million people with safe, decent and affordable shelter. The New Orleans affiliate is rebuilding hundreds of homes in communities devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The volunteer project was promoted through the same channels as the annual meeting, including e-mail, the Web site and print brochure. Participation was open to all meeting attendees and exhibitors. The invitation emphasized that no special skills were necessary to participate, and volunteers with physical limitations were welcome. On-site training was provided. Volunteers signed a Habitat for Humanity waiver and wore protective eyewear to prevent injury.
To coordinate logistics, AAO enlisted the help of a destination management company, which served as local liaison with the charity and ordered the T-shirts and lunches. The shuttle company retained for the annual meeting coordinated transportation. EyeBuild volunteers were dispatched to southeast New Orleans, where St. Bernard suffered significant structural damage to 100 percent of its residential and commercial units; and to The Musicians’ Village, which will consist of 72 single-family, Habitatconstructed homes for displaced New Orleans musicians and other qualifying Habitat partner families.
By taking its event to New Orleans, where 80 percent of the economy depends on toursism, AAO helped make a difference on a macro level while EyeBuild made a difference on the micro level. Still, the volunteers represented fewer than 2 percent of the 22,200 annual meeting attendees. Next year, Rosencrance would like to see a better turnout.
“There were a lot of no shows, which was disappointing,” she says. “We’ll try to have more information out to attendees sooner, and we’ll probably only do one or two days instead of three.”
Cathy Chatfield- Taylor is a San Francisco Bay-area freelance writer/editor. E-mail cathy@ cc-tunlimited.com. American Academy of Opthalmology's Strategy Goal: Give back to the City of New Orleans. Objective: Participate in Habitat for Humanity’s Hurricane Katrina Recovery Effort. Strategy: Promote 2007 EyeBuild Habitat for Humanity in conjunction with the annual meeting. Tactics: Schedule three-day work project in advance of the convention, coordinate logistics through local destination management company, solicit sponsors to underwrite costs. Results: EyeBuild raised $16,020 and recruited 412 volunteers.
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