Volunteers Needed

  My involvement with the Border Book Festival started just like everyone else’s: with a wonderful conversation with Denise Chavez over a cup of coffee.    

  “Oh! You’re a radio DJ!” Denise says.  “You know, we could really use an MC for this year’s Border Book Festival.”

  “I’d love to,” I say.

  That is how she hooks you.  It’s her technique, and it works.  She finds what you are good at—and what you love to do—and asks for your help.  How could anyone resist?

  This year marks the Eleventh Annual Border Book Festival; its theme is “Re-inventing the Americas.”  The Border Book Festival and its founding organization, the Border Book Foundation, are driven by volunteers.   Volunteers are their backbone, and Denise Chavez is their heart.

  On Sunday, I spent about two hours at the Cultural Center of Mesilla visiting with Denise and watching her as she recruited new volunteers that wandered in.  In a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon, she signed up four or five people to help.

   The Border Book Festival is, in my opinion, our most precious community project.  It draws together world-renowned authors, activists, playwrights, and thinkers to discuss cultural issues, border issues, our community and the arts.  It lights fires that burn in the hearts of all who attend, fires that create change and progress in our community year-round.

   Through its school outreach program, the Border Book Foundation takes visiting authors and storytellers to our schools, promoting literacy in our youth and generating interest and involvement in community issues.  Students and teachers alike benefit from these writing workshops and storytelling sessions.

  Among the featured writers in this year’s Border Book Festival are H.G. Carrillo, Benjamin Alire Saenz, Ana Castillo, and Joy Harjo—critically-acclaimed and award-winning authors from all walks of life.  These are just a few of the more-than-twenty authors that the Border Book Foundation is bringing to town this weekend.

  One of the wonderful things about the Festival is that it is very family-oriented.  There are hundreds of things for the kids to do, from making bookmarks with the Oñate Knight Writers to playing lotería in the Storytelling Tent.  If you plan on going, don’t leave the kids at home.  They’ll never forgive you.

  You don’t have to be an avid reader or book-collector to enjoy the Border Book Festival.  It’s really all about the stories you’ll hear.  The people you’ll meet.  And the fun you’ll have.

  It truly is a wonderful event that enriches our community, embraces our differences, educates us and pulls us together.  But again, none of it would be possible without the volunteers that give freely of their time and energy.  If you would like to get involved, call Denise at the Cultural Center of Mesilla at 523-3988. 

-From Pulse
  April 14, 2005