Monday, July 9, 2018

who needs a red shirt to serve?

For those who don't know, we don't work with Stack-Up anymore. It wasn't a real surprise the organization made its decision that we should go our separate ways; the writing had been on the wall for a while, and it was really more a matter of when and how than whether. If I recall correctly the split came on June 26. But it had been coming. Since then, there have been developments that have surprised and pleased me.

During the last year or so we've made a lot of connections with the local veteran community, and the last several months of our events have reflected that. We did several service projects with The Mission Continues, and we've been at several of their social events as well. Our last activity for Stack-Up consisted of attending a Veterans stakeholders meeting in New Jersey. At that meeting, Ethan spoke about what Stack-Up can do. We've have spent time helping fix up VFW posts and an American Legion Hall. In fact, the American Legion Hall in Weehawken honored us at their reopening on May 26. At the time of our departure, we had plans to attend an event at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn -- an event at which there would be thousands of veterans and current members of the military. The fact is that we went to more events than we had really wanted to. But when local groups (and in one case a politician) asked us to be at events, it was hard to say no.

So, I was uncharacteristically at a loss for words when I was asked what we'll be doing next. That's a question we had thought about, but hadn't come up with any definitive answer. But Ethan and I went to the American Legion  Hall in Weehawken to celebrate July 4. One of the people we knew there -- one of the very people who had given us a plaque a month ago -- asked me the simple question of what we would be doing next. I had to admit that I wasn't sure.

But someone else asked about a possible event. If they could get the equipment could we run the event? It seemed strange for a second. But, thinking about it, it makes sense. There's no reason we need to be members of any specific organization in order to serve. So, while there are no guarantees that it will come to fruition, there's every likelihood that we will be putting together an event. And if we put one together, there's no reason we can't do another... And, while we're at it, The Mission Continues has made it clear that we're welcome to keep signing up for their service projects.

Now, Ethan is talking about his ideas for what kind of charity is really needed. So the future has yet to be written.

8 comments:

  1. anonymous stackleadJuly 25, 2018 at 9:50 PM

    What happened? You were killing it out there. More stack events than everyone else put together!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment. But Steve and Stephanie didn't see it that way.

      Delete
    2. anonymous stackleadJuly 26, 2018 at 11:21 PM

      But what happened? What bothered them? It seems stupid.

      Delete
    3. Marc WhinstonJuly 29, 2018 at 8:04 PM
      They recorded the meeting on Dischord if you want to listen to it. I think it was the last meeting in June.

      I'm not interested in rehashing it, or rebutting it point by point. But some of what Steve said was simply untrue. And other things he said were tendentious. Suffice to say I have a different take on things.

      While we're at it, note the tone. Steve seems to forget that we were volunteers -- spending our time, money and energy on helping his organization. He sounds as if he thinks he was doing us the favor by letting us help. Hell, IIRC, he even talked about "all that [they] had done for [us]." Badmouthing your volunteers? Not smart.

      Delete
    4. anonymous stackleadAugust 1, 2018 at 5:23 PM

      You said that some of what Steve said was simply untrue. Does that mean he lied to us?

      Delete
    5. I've been going back and forth with myself about whether to respond. It's been a while and we've moved on. But you asked...

      Yes, Steve lied.

      One of the clearest examples (though it seems to me this should be a minor point) was his complaint that we went and printed our own shirts. But the fact is that we didn't. IIRC, Steve said something about us being in pictures with these unauthorized shirts. I don't know what pictures he's talking about, but he's wrong. A bit of background is in order. We did ask about getting shirts printed with a special logo for our Stack. But we were told not to do it, so we didn't. If those two thought we were wearing unauthorized shirts, they should have asked us. It could have been cleared up then. But, of course, it's easier to jump to conclusions than to do your job.

      And, while you've got me going...

      Steve complained about having trouble getting us to sign an inventory form (or whatever you call it) for the PS4's that were sent to us for use at events. Of course, he didn't note that the form he sent made us responsible for normal wear and tear. Hey, I'm happy to sign for something, and promise to return it when asked. But if I'm going to be using something at events with lots of people, don't insist (as their form did) that the thing be returned in the same shape. The funny thing is, after I explained it several times, they modified their form. But even after the revision, it still made me responsible for normal wear and tear. Finally, when it became clear that they wouldn't modify revise the form in an acceptable manner, I revised it myself. It was a simple enough revision, and they accepted it. There's no reason they couldn't have done it themselves, except that, well, it's easier to make your volunteers do your job than to do it yourself.

      But the big issue was supplies. We needed giveaways -- info cards and wristbands mostly -- for events. And we couldn't get any from them. I don't care how many emails Stephanie can produce where she said she was sending these giveaways. We did not get any since last year. It finally came to a head because we had an event at an army base where thousands of soldiers and vets were expected. The base was limited in terms of space, but they were giving us a table for free. All they wanted was that we have little giveaways. After months of being ignored by Stephanie, we finally went to Steve to ask for supplies. We knew there was a good chance that they'd respond by shutting our Stack, but enough was enough.

      But the fact that our requests for supplies were being ignored was consistent with what was going on. The head of the Stacks program had clearly stopped caring about us and had no idea what we were doing -- despite the pre-event forms and after-event reports that we submitted, as well as the monthly reports. Hell, we were having event after event supporting military organizations -- cleaning up VFW halls and American Legion Posts, and working with other military charities at their events. The American Legion Hall in Weehawken had, at their grand reopening, honored us for helping them, and the day it all came to a head, we had been in New Jersey at a military stakeholders' meeting. But in her goodbye tantrum (sorry -- I mean email), the head of the stacks program characterized our events as family days in the park. Clearly, she hadn't kept up to date on what we were doing.

      But, hey, look on the bright side...Steve said that, without us getting in the way, they can now build up the Stacks program. So, uh, how's that going?

      Delete
    6. I'm confused. Did you or did you not print your own shirts?

      Delete