WESTFIELD — With WMCD Inc. set to host its fourth annual 25-hour all-nighter charity fundraiser event on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1, the organization is looking for volunteers to help run different aspects of the event.
The WMCD Inc. all-nighter is a 25-hour marathon for middle school and high school students. There will be activities such as karaoke, limbo, bingo, minute to win it games, ping pong and bumper balls.
There will also be four meals served and an unlimited candy bar.
“It’s ultimately like what we call a marathon of fun and the whole purpose of this event is to have middle and high school students come together and basically through this experience, learn about different causes in our community and have the community garner support for local charities. Throughout that event we are raising money for charity,” said Dominic Monti, who is in charge of marketing for WMCD.
WMCD originally began in 2021 with a vision to host a 25-hour “DanceAthon,” where high school students would ask for sponsorship to participate in the event.
As it moved forward, Monti said WMCD is sharing a renewed vision of their “all-nighters,” where teens have the opportunity to have fun while making a difference in the community.
Monti further explained that WMCD is a youth-driven nonprofit based in Westfield, which focuses on developing leadership skills for students in grades 6 through 12.
On Feb. 28 and March 1, WMCD will be hosting its fourth annual all-nighter event.
Monti said WMCD is looking for volunteers in four roles: medical, security, running activities and working in the kitchen.
In terms of medical, Monti said volunteers would help the first aid team and the shifts are about three hours long. Monti said they are looking for anyone medically trained like a CNA, RN, PA, MD, MT and so on.
For security, Monti called it one of the more “relaxing jobs but still get to witness all of the fun.”
Security volunteers would focus on laundering entrances, assisting participants in accessing their belongings, being general security and help wherever needed.
Cooking volunteers can sign up to help prepare a meal or two. Monti said the meals are “fairly simple” to make with the goal of keeping the participants energized for the 25-hour event.
There are four meals in total and each shift would be about three hours.
Activity volunteers’ goal is to help with setting up the activities that are planned to keep the students engaged. Monti said this is a more hands on role and volunteers will help set up the activities like bingo and limbo and pass out prizes. Volunteers can sign up for however much time they are available, for up to 25 hours.
Those looking to volunteer can do so at wmcd.org and click on the “Volunteer” button. Readers can also contact WMCD Director Harry Monti at hmonti@wmcd.org.
Dominic Monti said, “Every hour counts so even if they can only help an hour or two, we would absolutely love their help.”
This year’s recipients will be Griffin’s Friends, Rick’s Place and Rachel’s Table of Western Massachusetts.
Griffin’s Friends is a Springfield-based organization that helps children with cancer. Rick’s Place, of Wilbraham, provides grief support to school-aged children and their families through grief groups, professional development for schools and resources.
Springfield-based Rachel’s Table is working to fight food insecurity in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.
A youth team is composed of a dozen middle and high school students to make decisions about which charity to support.
Monti shared more about the youth team. “We engage youth in the process of having fun while giving back to the community just to show them that giving back can be fun and rewarding at the same time. What we do with that money is we use it to both put on the all-nighter for our middle and high school students, but also to benefit charity recipients that are chosen by our youth team. We have a team of middle and high school students who hand selected three local nonprofit organizations. Every dollar we raise will benefit charities battling food insecurity, supporting children with cancer and providing critical grief support in Western Massachusetts,” he said.
