Volunteers looking to help with the DNC still waiting for information
Longtime Milwaukee resident Ruthann Driscoll says she was thrilled when the city was picked in March to host next year’s Democratic National Convention.
Driscoll was so excited to showcase her hometown that she promptly signed up to volunteer. Then she waited to hear back about opportunities for helping out.
“That’s when I started to get fundraising requests. Regularly,” she said. “But none of them were updates about volunteers. None of them.”
Others hoping to volunteer have raised similar concerns to the Journal Sentinel.
But the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee says more resources for volunteers will be available soon.
“In early 2020, the Host Committee will launch a volunteer portal so that those who have signed up can tell us more about themselves and their interests,” spokeswoman Hannah Mills said in an email. “They will be able to select the volunteer roles that match their interests, background, and experience.”
The volunteer sign-up for the DNC was created by the convention bid committee soon after Milwaukee was chosen as the host city and ownership of the list was transferred to the Host Committee once the team was in place, Mills said.
The switch occurred in July, Mills said. Since the Host Committee took over the list, it has sent multiple informational emails to volunteers, she said.
Mills added that the committee started sending automatic response emails to confirm people are signed up early this fall, after it took over the list. If volunteers are questioning whether their names have been added to the list, they should contact the committee at volunteer@milwaukee2020.com or resubmit their information on the website, she said.
The portal will eventually be used by volunteers to sign up for specific shifts and communicate with the Host Committee, Mills said.
Driscoll urged them to hurry.
“As a lifetime Milwaukeean, I am very proud of the city that I live in. I think that this is a unique opportunity to showcase this city and to show the rest of the country what Milwaukee is,” she said. “That will only happen if there are good volunteers working with the DNC to give not only the convention but the city of Milwaukee a good face — to put on a good face.”
Driscoll added, “The truth of the matter is they’re going to need an awful lot of us.”