I try and keep up with the news about amateur radio, and to that end, I subscribe to the Southgate ARC news feed and get an amateur radio Google Alert.
Every now and then, there’s a news story that catches my eye about a club providing some kind of public service outside the normal channels. In this instance, it’s a special event sponsored by the Hudson River Radio Relay to raise funds for the preservation of the historic Bannerman Castle, which sits on an island in the Hudson River. Hams who contact the club’s special event stations will be sent a certificate along with information on how to contribute to the fundraiser.
Here in Ann Arbor, I’m trying to raise funds for a permanently-endowed scholarship for a student attending Washtenaw Community College. My goal is to raise $10,000 that the community college’s foundation will then use to award a $500 scholarship every year to a student who either holds an amateur radio license or is pursuing a career in a technical field. Unfortunately, I’m a better amateur radio operator than I am a fundraiser, so it’s going slowly. I do intend to see this through, though.
Another opportunity that some might be interested in is volunteering with TryEngineering.org. This is an IEEE program, which encourages young people to “try engineering” and pursue a technical career. According to the website, there are opportunities for volunteers, and there might be some way that your club could contribute.
One possibility that intrigued me is the Parents Program, but when I clicked on the link, I got the following:
Parents play a large part in furthering their children’s STEM interests. These activities are designed specifically for parents to introduce them to STEM fields and to share resources to aid parents in guiding their children. The workshops can feature presentations from STEM professionals, hands-on activities or informal discussions. We currently have no programs in this category. If you have a program, that targets parents, we would like to include it in the library.
Now, that sounds like something I could do. I’m much better working with adults than I am working with kids. I plan to contact our local STEAM school and see if they already have some kind of parents program, and if not, think about what I might be able to do to start one.
I think that you get the picture here. It’s all about using our knowledge and skills in new ways to better serve our community. Providing emergency communications is all well and good, but there’s no reason that we can’t do more. Thinking outside the box of traditional amateur radio activities will enable us to help more people and is great PR for ham radio.
Let me know if your club is already doing something like this, or if you have other ideas for “out of the box” public service.
Steve Bossert says
Hi Dan!
Thanks for the positive feedback about HR3. It has been a lot of fun putting it together.
You are one of few blogs I actually follow in my RSS fee and its great to see you like what we are doing.
Hope to work you some way during our event on Saturday as N2B and happy to chat anytime offline plus support what you will be doing in the future!!
Steve K2GOG
Organizer, Hudson River Radio Relay
Co-Founder, HVDN.org