Archive: Around Town

"Is volunteerism dying in Lansing?  Is it something that has run its course?" asks Lansing Community Council President and Town Councilman Ed LaVigne. 

Clearly that is not the case.  But LaVigne says that if everyone volunteered for two hours a month or even two hours a year a lot more could be accomplished in a community that depends on volunteers for everything from crucial emergency services to municipal participation to sports, arts and recreational programs and events.

LaVigne notes that it seems the same people take the lead on volunteer projects time after time.  But he says there are opportunities for people to contribute time to just about anything they are interested in.  The Town government has countless boards and committees that depend on volunteers who bring their particular knowledge and talents to issues the town faces.  Some of these involve appointments that last for years, while others are limited in scope.

LaVigne says the way to get started is to attend meetings, ask questions, and observe.  Some committees meet several times a month, while others only a few times per year.  This week a call was put out for people to serve on the Assessment Appeals Committee, and the Town is looking for a Zoning Board of Appeals alternate, and members for a Codes Revision Committee (which will immediately begin working on a sign ordinance) and a Water Advisory Committee.

"Before I ran for the Town Board I went to the meetings for a year, just to watch," LaVigne says.  "Just to see what kind of interaction there was, to see what the process was.  To see whether it would interest me and whether it was something I could do.  You can get the minutes online, so there are different things you can do without having to have a long term commitment.  I think some people shy away because they have other time concerns."

Volunteers play a major role in just about every aspect of Lansing life.  Some obvious places to start are service organizations like the Lansing Lions Club or the Lansing-Ithaca Rotary Club.  The Lions have donated a number of pavilions in Myers Park including the central band stand, not to mention the Lansing Community Center.  The Rotary Club planted a Liberty Tree at Myers last summer, and both organizations are involved in countless charities.

The Lansing Community Council funnels United Way funds to local programs, but when it was reconstituted in 2006 the new members wanted to do more.  The next year saw the first Lansing Harbor Festival.  The festival takes over Myers Park on the second Saturday in August to celebrate the Lansing community.  A few years ago the council began sponsoring Independence Day fireworks, and it runs an annual end-of-year fundraiser for the Lansing Food Pantry among many other efforts.

"The Lansing Community Council is always looking for volunteers," LaVigne says.  "We also look for volunteers for the Lansing Harbor Festival, and for the fireworks we're going to have on July 3rd this year, and for other community projets."

Those familiar with the Lansing Parks and recreation Department may be surprised that the voluminous selection of programs are run despite having only a handful of employees, and only two or three of those full time.  Volunteer coaches make the sports programs possible, and other programs like the East Shore Festival of the Arts are run by volunteers.

"Our department survives with volunteers," Recreation Director Steve Colt says.  "That's how it's been for 25 years.  We have the best volunteers and that's how we do what we do."


The Lansing Volunteer Fire Department provides emergency services to the Town, including fire and EMS service.  At the moment the department is made entirely of volunteers who man the town's four fire stations, maintain equipment and spend countless hours training as well as responding to more than 800 emergency calls per year.

The Lansing Community Library is another example of a service that wouldn't have existed if volunteers hadn't taken the initiative to acquire a building and build a collection and programs.  Originally a school, the building had served as the Lansing Town Hall.  It was slated for demolition when community members saw potential for a library and got town officials to agree to let them renovate the facility.

"Some people have a concern that if they volunteer for something they'll be asked to chair it," says LaVigne.  "We have volunteers who just volunteer for two hours, or a day, or two weeks or a year.   If everyone gave two hours a month on some project... two hours every six months or per year, how much more greatly enhanced would that be?  It would fortify the organization, but more importantly it's a way for you to put your toe in the water on things that interest you."

Volunteers have supervised boy and girl scouts who have created boat racks for the town park, a garden at the Town Center Trail, and have done countless projects to enhance the community.  Volunteers raised the money for the playground and contributed tools and time to build it.  Volunteers raised the money for Lansing's historic log cabin to be restored and erected at the entrance of Myers Park.

Less visible are people who volunteer in classrooms, or for Lansing Youth Services, the Corporate Development Committee (that raises thousands of dollars for sLansing school technology) and countless other groups including private charities that benefit the local community and beyond.

"If there were no volunteers you would either have to pay for the service or do without it," LaVigne says.  "On July 4th would there be a Lansing Lions barbecue?  On July 3rd would there be a fireworks?  Would there be a Harbor Festival?  Would there be a library?  What would happen with the churches, which are really volunteer driven?"

LaVigne doesn't want that to happen.  He wants to grow an email database for the Lansing Community Council that he can send volunteer opportunity alerts to, so people can easily learn where they might be needed and match their interests to opportunities.  And where their two hours are needed.

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