Call To Volunteer

The Key Role of Volunteers in NJ-ACS

The North Jersey Section is the second largest section of the American Chemical Society in the country. The vibrant programming and the year-round activities within our section, e.g., about 60 meetings involving thousands of members last year, are possible due to the many members who volunteer their time and energy to the mission of our section, which remains as follows: “… this organization (North Jersey Section Inc., American Chemical Society) is committed to the advancement of chemistry and the promotion of chemical research… to the welfare of its members and to the advancement of chemical industry and chemical education within its jurisdiction, thereby fostering public welfare and education… adding to the material prosperity and happiness of our people.”

The focus of the section activities has been on its members all along, but our efforts are gravitating toward more involvement in community-oriented issues of wider interest. Any issue, which affects the current and future practitioners of chemical sciences, is an issue of our utmost concern. It is the voice and imagination of our hundred plus volunteers that makes each event a unique experience. In addition to the programming on topics of emerging interests, our members are very active in promoting science education at each level of our education system. There will be more events to delineate the diverse issues, such as, terrorism, homeland security, ethics, regulatory affairs, patent law, leadership, government relations, etc..

If you read the synopsis of our activities in this special issue, you will be surprised to know that all of that is accomplished with the help from our members and three staff members (the webmaster, the editor of this newsletter, and the receptionist at our Section office who answers the phone when some of you call to make reservations). Volunteerism is playing an increasing role in the creation of new Topical Groups or the organization of a new symposium or the expanding scope of our events; it is the interested members who want to do something to sustain the vitality and growth of our membership as an organization committed to promote chemical sciences and to serve its members. Our annual reports are nothing but collages of the works of our committed volunteers who are as compassionate about issues as is the American Chemical Society.

As a North Jersey section volunteer, one has opportunities to develop event programming, to serve on committees, to voice one’s views at the National ACS meetings as a Councilor, to organize a regional meeting (e.g., MARM), and moreover, to have a chance to share one’s enthusiasm about chemistry and chemical sciences! These volunteer activities are also very educational in a way that one develops general skills in areas, such as, listening, finance, strategic thinking, leading, communicating ideas, persuasion, web design, time management, etc.. However, volunteers must have full support of their nygoodhealth.com families and their employers before devoting time to our section activities. We welcome the diversity of volunteerism, where each of us is welcome to volunteer to the extent of our comfort level. Being the largest section, we have a wide range of experience and energy levels within our members. You all are welcome to volunteer and work with the current section leadership to lead this section with your skills tomorrow. There are many ongoing efforts, which can benefit from your participation. Our sincere thanks, if you are already a volunteer!

If you have ideas and/or time to volunteer, please send us an E-mail with areas of your interest and one of us will contact you.

On behalf of North Jersey ACS volunteers,
The Executive Committee of North Jersey Section, Inc.,
American Chemical Society

Volunteer Opportunities

Note: Many volunteer opportunities exist at ACS, as well. Click these links to learn more:

• Get Involved, Stay Involved
• Volunteer Resources for Local Sections

Publicity Committee Volunteers Needed

• Do you like to write?
• Are you a photographer?
• Do you like to play around with digital photos?
• Would you like to talk to reporters?
• Would you like to be on the radio, TV?

If so then we have a “job” for you.

The North Jersey Section is the largest local section in the nation and we are also the most active. We have meetings almost every day of the week from September to June.

We need volunteers who would have some time to spare to help with publicity. If you can’t do this, perhaps you have a spouse who has experience or teenager who is active on the school newspaper. For some of the open positions you don’t have to be a chemist, just a good writer or reporter.

Training for all of the positions below will be available. We will set up a training meeting for the team and the Assistant Publicity Chair should be available to go to Belmont in May to participate in the ACS Publicity Training.

Here are the positions:

• Assistant Publicity Chair: Helps to coordinate the work of all the volunteers.
• Photographer: Must be able to cover one or two meetings a month and photograph the program
• Photo editor: Must be able to identify people in the photo and edit photos for the Indicator and the Web and also for publication in newspapers.
• Radio and TV: Meeting announcement writer and contact person.
• Phone contact person: Must be available during the day to make follow up phone calls to newspapers.
• Writer: We need someone who can write stories about the human side of chemistry. These must be written so that they are ready to be published in weekly newspapers and magazines.

If you are interested please contact me:
Jeannette Brown
Publicity Chair
E-Mail 908-874-6177
908-239-1515

Please pass this message on to your topical groups and committees, and if you, or someone you know, would like to volunteer, please contact me, and I can provide further details.

Thanks
Monica Sekharan
2014 Chair, NJACS