An event as massive as San Diego Pride weekend requires many people to make it work. While several key personnel behind the scenes are Pride employees, the vast majority of the Pride workforce is comprised of unpaid volunteers. Up to 800 people from our community sign up each year to donate their time and energy. These volunteers are the backbone of the Pride celebration and the event simply wouldn’t happen without them.

We have just begun the process of recruiting volunteers for this year’s event and I would like to encourage everyone who cares about Pride or the LGBT community to consider donating their time to the cause. But I also think it’s important to give all potential volunteers some sense of what they can expect from their efforts. So I asked a couple of Pride’s longtime volunteers to explain their volunteer experiences from past years.

Patty Zwolinski has been volunteering with us since 1992. Over the years, she has filled many posts at Pride, from walking the parade route to selling tickets in the beer garden. This year, she is serving as the coordinator of Crew Central. Like many of our volunteers, she has long been active in the LGBT community and decided to sign up for Pride while working as a volunteer at The Center. “I wanted to help celebrate our diversity,” Patty explained. “Pride seemed like a good fit.”

But Patty got much more than she bargained for while working for Pride. “When you volunteer for Pride, you become a part of a family that will reward you in ways you have never experienced before,” she said. “I feel a support and understanding in who I am by living with Pride in my life everyday.”

Jeff Redondo, a seven-year Pride volunteer and our current parade coordinator, summed up his involvement with Pride by saying, “I like helping people and working for a cause that I believe in.”

He added: “Helping to build up our community resources is another reason to volunteer. Due to our volunteer base, Pride is able to give more money to nonprofit organizations without sacrificing the quality of the event. By providing volunteer hours, Pride continues its tradition of serving the community and helping out those who are less fortunate.

“You also receive some excellent benefits,” he noted. “You get into the festival for free and the volunteer goodie bags are awesome!”

While it is true that volunteers receive two-day passes into the festival, souvenir T-shirts, meal tickets for all shifts they work, discounts on Pride merchandise, admittance to an appreciation picnic and other perks, these incentives are clearly not what motivates our volunteers. Giving back and helping out are the real driving forces behind Pride’s legion of volunteers.

“By volunteering my time, I feel I am in some way giving a little of myself to the nonprofits that Pride gives money to,” Jeff said.

Many volunteers also sign up simply to be a part of something larger than themselves – the long and rich history of the Pride movement leaves them with a sense of empowerment.

“When I was young and just learning about myself, I did not have available what we have today,” Patty said. “Thanks to the education and awareness that Pride brings to the world, I feel a support and understanding in who I am.

“One of my favorite special memories was meeting a youth at Pride for the first time and being able to share with her what Pride is all about,” Patty continued. “I saw in her eyes the magical time that being a part of this event is to a person, and how we are truly blessed to have had this experience.”

I would personally like to thank Patty and Jeff and the hundreds of other volunteers who have made Pride so successful for so many years. They may not receive a lot of public recognition, but their efforts are truly appreciated and their contributions are invaluable.

You too can contribute to the Pride festivities. If you can donate a few hours of your time during Pride weekend, then we want to hear from you.

Signing up for Pride is quick and easy. You can either register online by logging on to www.sandiegopride.org and clicking on the “volunteer” link or you can attend a sign-up session at The Center, located at 3909 Centre St. Sessions will be held at 7:00 p.m. on July 7, 14, 17 and 21. Morning sessions will also take place at 11:00 a.m. on July 8 and 22. Volunteer sign-ups are all coordinated prior to Pride weekend, so don’t wait too long because there are no walk-up opportunities.

Help Pride and help your community by signing up to volunteer. The benefits you receive will far exceed the time and effort you put in.