Name: Donell Cohen
City and Volunteer Position: Los Angeles, Alumni Association Committee Member
How long have you been volunteering for GW? What made you want to volunteer?
Since some time in 2001, I think. Someone contacted me from Alumni Office. They were stopping in Los Angeles among other cities trying to get some local participation in reaching out to alumni in area. I don’t know how I was identified to be contacted but I accepted the invitation to meet and discuss what might be done. From that time forward, I have been on the committee.
What has been the most rewarding part of volunteering?
I enjoy the interaction with folks who attended GW after I did and can speak to how the university has evolved over the years. I am class of 1964. GW has changed a lot since then.
Do you have a favorite #OnlyatGW story involving the alumni network in Los Angeles?
The Los Angeles committee volunteers represent a broad range of experiences and contacts. Often they have proposed activities that are new for me. The most satisfying of these opportunities has been the chance to volunteer twice at the Los Angeles Food Bank as a member of the GW team, complete with our own identifying yellow tee shirts.
Why is it important for you to volunteer? Do you have any advice for new volunteers?
I value the education I received at GW and want to feel I am doing my bit for the university to continue to succeed. It takes everybody willing to do just a little bit to advance GW interests. My advice to new volunteers is to only commit to what you can and will do. The committee needs to function like a team and needs to be able to rely upon members to follow through on commitments made, whether it is to man a registration desk for an event or to make phone calls to a list or to arrange a venue for an alumni gathering.
