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'Too Busy' Mom Praises 'Taste' Volunteers
I didn’t have time to volunteer this year. I didn’t have time last year. I also know that with or without my pathetic presence, the event (which I equate to the marshmallow monster in the movie “Ghostbusters”) takes on a life of its own and gets bigger every year. But oh, the guilt! Rather than wallow in my own shame, I decided this year to seek out the real culprits to the success of the giant baby that takes over Duane Street, those who make the grade, sacrifice their time and don’t pocket a penny: the ultimate volunteers. They donate their time and talent to the Taste of Tribeca, an annual food festival and fundraiser for P.S. 234 and P.S. 150 that draws thousands of people and generates close to a quarter of a million dollars in revenue for the schools in four hours flat. Last month more than 250 parents and 30 Stuyvesant High School students worked in shifts to help set up the event, mark off the restaurant booths, manage traffic flow, clean up, sell merchandise and then break the whole thing down. Some hearty souls put in a 12 hour day. But even a long day pales in comparison to the hundreds of hours contributed by the event’s planning committee, planning done months in advance by the “Core 30,” (think Mercury Seven times four and better dressed) headed this year by co-chairs Trish Peifer, Dale Katzenberg and Wendy Chapman. They are what make up the brains, talent and brawn tapped from many other fields and professions who put in hours by the hundreds. Among them are lawyers, graphic designers, writers, film producers, artists, photographers, stylists, real estate execs, finance consultants, and architects, to name a few. “I never thought that two post-graduate degrees from MIT would make me qualified to be the Taste of Tribeca's ‘Linen Lady,’” Alyce Russo, parent of a P.S. 234 1st grader, told me. “But it has!” She is an urban planner and co-owner of a firm with her husband, Steve Schall, and has “managed many urban events and complicated design projects” but nothing can compare to the inner workings of The Taste of Tribeca. “The level of cooperation, organization, patience and leadership is just amazing. I have yet to see it elsewhere in my 20 years of working in the city.” Ann Hillen believes her 11 years of top-notch focused expertise at the MOMA as assistant registrar followed by seven years at home as CEO of the household has prepared her best to head Sanitation. “I can’t count the number of hours spent trying to find the correct outfit for my job,” she jokes, “But I can tell you a flattering orange jumpsuit is just not to be found in this town.” Then there’s Jill Strickman, a casting director and CEO of her own market research firm who found a way to double corporate donations this year with a program revamp that brought in $120,000. Certainly fundraising is not the only motivator. Lisa Gilray, a vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman and mom to a P.S. 150 1st grader, said the best part of the job is “matching names and faces of the other parents, working together toward a common goal, having a good laugh and, of course, a cold beer at the end of the day.” Next year, I’ll try to do my duty. I don’t know, I might be underqualified but I’ve kind of already started—I’m looking for the perfect orange jumpsuit. So don’t give me an F and declare me a drop out…yet. Amy Sewell is the author of the recently published “Mad Hot Adventures of an Unlikely Documentary Filmmaker.”
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