So Many Ways to Help

The Virginia Museum of Transportation is critical to the Roanoke valley and southwest Virginia. Along with other railroad-themed attractions, the museum brings substantial tourism dollars to the valley. VMT also preserves and tells a gigantic part of this area’s history. It offers a unique setting and collection of exhibits that need to be preserved.

Financially, times are very challenging, due to the costs of maintaining our vintage facility and caring for the treasures in our collection, many of which are not only extremely large but also complicated and costly to maintain. The loss of a significant stream of state funding has turned a challenge into a crisis.

You can help. Many already are—larger corporations and small businesses, nonprofits and individuals—for which we are extremely grateful. Here are some other ways people can contribute.

1) Make a tax-deductible donation, either a one-time amount or a monthly gift. Anything from $10 to $10,000 will help. And if you insist on giving even more than $10,000, we will try not to fuss.

2) If you aren’t already a member of the Museum, use the form in this newsletter to purchase a membership today. You can just go to http://www.vmt.org/membership%20form.pdf or call VMT at 342-5670.

3) Become a part of upcoming fundraising events. VMT is the featured charity at Cocktails for a Cause at Trio Restaurant on Wednesday, July 30th and First Fridays at Five on August 15th. Join us at either or both events for drinks and dinner or entertainment.

4) Visit the Food Lion web site to register your MVP card (https://www.foodlion.com/IntheCommunity/ShopAndShare/default.asp). Every time you shop, a portion of your grocery purchase will be donated to us!

5) Sign up at http://www.maatiam.com/ and choose the Virginia Museum of Transportation as your charity. Shop your favorite stores online by visiting Maatiam first to sign in and select your store’s site. Hundreds of listed stores will donate a percentage of your purchase to VMT, and it will not cost you an extra penny (not even one that has been flattened on the railroad tracks).

6) If you are a member of the Rotary Club or other community organization that has a giving program, please ask your leadership to consider making a donation or a grant to the Museum.

7) Write individuals and corporations who have the capacity to make substantial capital donations to the museum. Tell them in your own words how valuable VMT is to this area and explain why it needs their help so much. Perhaps your letter will be the one that opens eyes and purse strings.

8) Consider donating to VMT through special financial arrangements such as trusts, wills, stock donations, capital projects, etc. Contact the museum, your financial advisor or your attorney to discuss options.

9) Volunteer. Your “sweat donations” can either accomplish tasks that the museum cannot currently afford or free up another set of hands to do something else. It’s more than just a dollar issue. Numerous volunteers cheerfully working around VMT is great chemistry, building morale and infecting visitors with enthusiasm. From greeting people to grease and grunt work, from computer savvy to carpentry skills, we have a job to fit just about everyone.

10) Shop in Destinations, the museum gift store. We have a collection of gift ideas for adults and children, from clothing and decorative pieces to books, videos and artwork. You can come by whenever VMT is open—you don’t have to purchase museum admission to shop there. We have great gift ideas for birthdays, graduation, retirement, Christmas and other special occasions.

11) Talk to friends you think might be willing to share their time, ability or finances. Explain to them what our mission and need are. Take them on a tour to acquaint them with VMT if they aren’t very familiar with us. Pay for their admission if need be.

12) Visit with us whenever you can. Your admission and your presence boost our efforts.

13) Talk us up wherever you go. Many area residents don’t realize what we have to offer. You can be an ambassador at-large for us.

Perhaps you have a great idea we haven’t thought of. If so, please tell us. As Red Green says, “We’re all in this together.”

From Caboose to Dr. Seuss

The Museum of Transportation has many needs. Foremost is our need for people.

We need effective employees. We are so fortunate to have a small group of staff members who are as dedicated and adaptable as they are skilled. We are seeking another one, by the way: a new weekend gift shop manager who is responsible and enthusiastic with retail experience, customer service and computer skills, and the willingness to work Saturday and Sunday. (Anyone interested may send resumé to sloveman@vmt.org).

We need people with large vision and resources who will give to VMT. This is a critical time for us financially.

And we need people who give of themselves in other ways. Over the 45 years of the museum’s existence, volunteers have been as vital to us as coal and water are to a steam locomotive. Without them we would get nowhere.

We can utilize volunteers in so many areas, including some that surely match your interest and ability. To help you understand the ways you can serve the cause, we offer in the spirit of Dr. Seuss this poetic volunteer job description. You remember Dr. Seuss? He wrote The Cat in the Engineer’s Hat. Or was it Dr. Seuss Hops a Caboose? Whatever.


This Cat Can Do That

Our fine museum could use loads of cash.
If, though, like lots of us, you lack a stash,
That is quite cool—you don’t need to despair.
There are so many ways you can still share.

Since we’re short-handed, short-handed by half,
Lacking a fully-stocked roster of staff,
You can donate a resource we hold dear:
Give us your time, lend a hand, volunteer.

How many ways could we put you to work?
How about being a gift shop sales clerk?
Sell nifty merchandise, take up the dough
While shoppers chat with you, tell what they know.

You could help maintain the building and grounds
Inside and outside while making your rounds,
Patching, attaching, and catching up stuff,
Fixing the broken and smoothing the rough.

Maybe your thing is conducting a tour,
Leading the tourists around, making sure
They see the biggest, the brightest and best—
Railyard and car gallery, all the rest.

You could help learners—you know—educate,
Touch them and teach them, inspire, innovate;
Guiding the grownups and little ones too,
Transporting them to a world we once knew.

You could be artsy and make spiffy signs,
Do fancy lettering, create designs,
Or you could write about trails, rails and flight;
Read and research, dig up facts left and right.

You could share elbow grease: scrape, clean and scrub;
Keep the exhibits in shape—polish, rub;
Clean ‘em up, preen ‘em up, shake off the dust;
Fend off the fingerprints, cobwebs and rust.

You could help tidy the many displays,
Giving attention in various ways
So all the guests who explore the museum
Will be impressed by the sights when they see ‘em.

You could restore items in our collection
If you possess the right skills and affection,
For these are treasures both old and quite rare
Needing devoted and delicate care.

You could greet people at special events
At booths or tables or even in tents;
Be the museum’s warm face for a while,
Share information, an ear and a smile.

You could help organize, plan and promote
Shindigs and happenings, moments of note:
Easter egg hunts, birthday parties and such
That need ideas and the creative touch.

And though your work brings no wages your way,
We offer perks that are sort of like pay:
Admission that won’t cost your family a cent;
Gift shop discounts at a healthy percent.

If you can talk or walk, listen or learn;
If you’re still breathing with free time to burn;
There is, we guarantee, something to do—
Something that just fits the person who’s you.

(To find out more about volunteering at VMT, call Susan Loveman at 342-5670 or e-mail sloveman@vmt.org)