Message from Meadow Brook Hall Executive Director Geoff Upward:
National Volunteer Week is a special time for the Meadow Brook Hall community. Quite simply, volunteers are the backbone of Meadow Brook Hall. The incredible time and effort that our volunteers devote to The Hall each year have a profound impact on the interpretation and preservation of this National Historic Landmark.
Matilda and Alfred Wilson, who left a legacy of giving back to the community, would be honored by your service.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon established National Volunteer Week with an executive order, urging Americans to give their time to community outreach programs. Each April, charities and communities recognize and thank volunteers who lend their time, talent and voices that foster a culture of service. Meadow Brook Hall is proud to be a part of this initiative.
Our history of volunteerism started a few years earlier, when in 1971, Meadow Brook Hall opened its doors for public touring. Those first few volunteer docents began a tradition of interpreting The Hall and the history of the Dodge and Wilson families that has continued for nearly five decades.
Today, Meadow Brook Hall relies on more than 330 active volunteers to bring the story of the Great Estate alive for our visitors and guests. Whether you work in the gardens, in The Hall itself, or in collection care, you are integral to the vitality and ongoing preservation of this National Historic Landmark.
This National Volunteer Week takes place in an unprecedented time, when our dedicated volunteers are unable to perform their work. As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to create new challenges and routines for all of us, we are no less grateful to our incredible and resilient volunteer community.
On behalf of myself, the Meadow Brook Hall staff and the Dodge-Wilson family, I would like to thank each of you for your dedication, your passion and your hard work…and for generously sharing your time and knowledge.
Geoff Upward
Meadow Brook Hall Executive Director
