News & Events
Clippings: January 2008
Reflections
“Reflections” brings you personal interviews with alums who share candid stories about their experiences and insights as volunteers. This month we profile an exceptional volunteer, Sun Cunningham ’94, Classes and Reunions Committee member and treasurer for the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Club of Colorado.
What originally drew you to volunteering for MHC? Why do you feel volunteering for the College/Alumnae Association is important and/or satisfying?
“I have always been a “volunteer’er” (like Girl Scouts when I was younger). The more I volunteer, the more I realize how critical we volunteers are. I also volunteer in my local community and the same is true here; without volunteers, these places would not be able to run. I enjoy helping others and doing my part for causes that I think are worthy—and I think Mount Holyoke and the Alumnae Association are very worthy of my time and attention. When I get together with Mount Holyoke alums, I always feel wildly impressed with the amazing things they’re doing. It’s never an envious feeling. It’s more like, ‘Ooohh, what an inspiration.’ I don’t think of alums as ‘measuring sticks.’ I think instead, ‘Wow, look at you, you have a career and a family; you’re a volunteer and you’re curing breast cancer too—I better step up a notch!’”
What were your volunteer responsibilities when you were serving on the Classes and Reunion Committee?
“I was liaison to the classes of 1966-75 and also had exposure to women in other classes—classes I normally would never have been able to interact with in any fashion. All these women from different generations, volunteering for decades, and still doing it! I loved exposure to the whole alumnae body. We often hear that we’re part of a huge alumnae community, but this was a way to really experience it, something much bigger than my class or club.
“Sometimes I felt I should have paid to be on the committee. It never felt like work. Not to sound like a Pollyanna, but I just loved it. And if it ever starts to feel like too much, you can say ‘I can’t do this right now,’ or ‘I don’t have time—maybe I can share it or give it to someone.’ It’s never a problem; we’re all happy to help. You don’t have to feel you’d die rather than not do the whole job. On the committee, we all worked together and it’s working really well now. There didn’t used to be much structure, but now we have a calendar. Committee members now know when to contact volunteers, what the timelines and tasks are, what the specific duties are and how to fulfill them. We played a much bigger role in Alumnae Council, really training the officer so they’re prepared and have everything they need. We had sub-committees that focused the work; we wrote the handbook and made sure it all got online—so many things. The body of the work increases the enthusiasm of the members. We saw areas to improve and just took it on. We made work for ourselves but we liked it!”
What were your volunteer responsibilities as a treasurer?
“I’ve been treasurer of the Colorado Club for about six years. I really like it. I’m not a CPA—but I do like to balance my checkbook! I record all of my taxables in a spreadsheet to my accountant. You have to be somewhat numbers-oriented, have some financial basics, but you don’t need to be a wizard. It’s perfect for me; I’m an anal-retentive record-keeper, so I love it—when I get dues in, I record it right away. I collect dues, and if we had merchandise, I would track output and input, funds coming in from sales. We also collect special funds for book awards, the alumnae scholar fund, and admission activities, and I deposit them. It depends on how active your club is—with an active president and club chair, you can end up doing more. “You also keep track of reimbursements—it’s just a part of my life, not a burden at all. I track those on a spreadsheet, and then I disperse money. For example, if the admission officer has a tea for incoming students, something like that might require reimbursements. At the end of the year, I fill out a one-page report, which takes maybe an extra half-hour. Mostly it just takes enthusiasm and the desire to do it right. But it’s not going to be crazy activity—you just need to be fiscally responsible. If we have excess beyond what we need, we send it to the alumnae scholar fund or Founder’s Fund. You don’t need to hang on to excess; it’s great to donate and to know it’s doing good work. And it all belongs to the College anyway.”
Did you have the resources and support you needed? How did you make volunteering fit into your life?
“At times, it seemed as though I was working on committee or club work all the time. But then, I took it upon myself to do extra stuff for the committee and add extra things to my club positions. I am both the treasurer and the membership coordinator. I keep an Excel sheet of our Colorado membership, produce address labels upon request, and send out updates to the board. Another extra thing I added was to send personal, hand-written welcome notes to everyone who moves to Colorado. When I get a response, it’s so much fun. I’m big on hand-written-notes and always try to send them. I think it’s a great idea for all the clubs—you’ve got the list, split it up with a few officers, but send a little card. I include an insert with the officers and contact information saying we’d love to hear from you, see you at the next event, enjoy the winter, that kind of thing. It makes people feel welcome. All the clubs should do it!”
What would you say was a highlight of your volunteer work?
“I honestly can’t point to one thing. The committee role was a wonderful opportunity. I met some amazing, fantastic, impressive women. I spent some memorable weekends on campus. I could go on and on. I enjoyed interacting with women in a wide range of class years and it really opened my eyes to volunteerism at all ages. My work as a class liaison was really fun and although it took a lot of time to contact a decade of classes, it was a pleasure. Another example of fun and rewarding: I recently sent a welcome note to an alumna, and just received back her note and dues check. She moved here to be near her daughter (also an MHC alumna) and grandkids. She sent dues for herself and added the dues for her daughter as well. How cute is that—Mom looking out for her daughter still!”
What advice would you give to an alumna who is thinking about volunteering?
“The only advice that I would have it to make sure you want to put 100 percent into the role, however big or small the job is. If you only have an hour, make that hour count. Mount Holyoke and the Alumnae Association deserve the best. Volunteering is a wonderful way to reconnect with the whole MHC experience. You’ll meet a truly impressive collection of alumnae; you’ll work with dedicated, professional, caring staff. And you’ll learn a lot!”
