Carroll County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Julia Leahy said they tried to get something like the “Get Involved Expo” off the ground about seven or eight years ago. On Wednesday afternoon, the event became a reality.
“I talked about doing this for a number of years,” said Leahy. “We used to do a retreat where we’d bring the non-profits together and we would facilitate their struggles and would come up with some ideas. And this is one of them. Makes me feel good to see something come together that we’ve been talking ab0ut for seven or eight years.”
The “Get Involved Expo” got rolling on the track at the Washington & Erie Canal Center in Delphi. The mission of the Expo was to meet non-profit organizations serving Carroll County and have people talk about their volunteer opportunities, board giving and charitable options they have available.
“It’s a testament to Julia Leahy and Madison Kauffman with the Carroll County Chamber for setting this event up,” said Delphi Community Development Director JT Doane. “It’s great to see non-for-profits here locally that came out to the event. I believe that I had heard that were 23 (organizations) that were out here.”
The primary hope of the event was to be get those individuals such as high school or college age students and senior citizens or retirees who were looking for something to do. That was the goal according to Leahy.
“They might have retired early. Now, they’re bored and they wanting to do,” said Leahy. “Our goal for next year is try and figure out how to get more students here, especially sophomores, juniors, seniors who need hours to go towards their pathway to graduate and to talk about scholarships. Kids need to have those on their application if they volunteered for things.”
The Expo also helped businesses like the Delphi Opera House, whose house manager Hannah Newlin talked about what’s going on at the renovated theatre.
“We just finished a sold-out show with (Piano Man) Bruce Barker,” said Newlin. “This Saturday, we have Rock America. They do 80s Rock — Foreigner, Styx, Journey — and then on New Year’s (Eve Bash), we going to have City Lites and they do cover songs anywhere from REO Speedwagon to Jason Mraz. They are pretty comprehensive and we’re excited about those events.”
Newlin added they like to have at least two events per month, but added they like to stay flexible to give what the people want to see.
Doane also said it’s great to have an event like this to target particularly the younger individuals because they will more than likely be the face of these organizations in the future. They could also become city or local officials.
Leahy was asked her opinion of the event.
“It’s our first year doing this “Get Involved Expo” and what I really like is we have over 20 non-profit organizations that have gotten together in one room and have had a lot of interactions amongst all of them either about their struggles or maybe potential partnerships. That’s exciting,” said Leahy.