CALL FOR ECO EXPERIENCE VOLUNTEERS

August 24 - September 4 at the Minnesota State Fair!

What’s it about?

We’re seeking volunteers to help State Fair visitors navigate MRES indoor and outdoor exhibits at the Eco Experience. If you’re interested in learning more about solar and sustainable technologies—and you love talking with people—we would love to have you join us. Our goal is to reverse/slow climate change. Expert or novice, we invite you to educate people about choices that can help. And have fun!

Free! For each day you volunteer, we’ll thank you with a free State Fair ticket. Tickets will be distributed at a mandatory Volunteer Training on Wed, August 16 at Mayflower Church, 106 E. Diamond Lake Road, Mpls, 5:30-8 p.m. Be there to learn talking tips from experts and your role as a volunteer for MRES.

What do we ask of MRES Eco Experience Volunteers?

1. Commit to one or more 4-hour shift(s) August 24 - September 4. Shift options: 9am-1pm, 1pm-5pm and/or 5pm-9pm. We need 3 volunteers for each indoor shift and 2 volunteers for each outdoor shift.

2. Attend the training session Wednesday, August 16, 5:30 - 8:00 PM at Mayflower Church, 106 E Diamond Lake Rd, Minneapolis, MN 55419.

   • 5:15-6 PM: Outdoors in the courtyard or parking lot, you’ll sign in, pick up your free T-shirt, State Fair tickets, prize drawing ticket and children’s solar book, then network and enjoy snacks. Masks optional.

   • 6-7:30 PM: Indoors, you’ll learn talking points and the latest news from MRES staff and pros in the field, engage in lively conversation, enter prize drawings and enjoy more snacks. You’ll leave feeling confident you can talk solar to visitors.

3. While at your shift at the fair:

   • Arrive 15 minutes before your shift to learn from the volunteer who’s spot you’re filling.

   • Wear an Eco-Experience or MRES T-shirt (provided at Volunteer Training or wear yours from previous years).

   • Learn what visitors are curious about. Be personable, kind and interested in learning what visitors know about solar energy, energy storage and energy efficiency.

   • Share ways that the new Inflation Reduction Act saves people money to reduce their carbon footprint.

   • Have fun!

If you cannot make your shift, please notify Volunteer Coordinator Renee Lea-Rueda inadvance and return your free ticket so an alternate can use it. Thank you.

MRES’ goal is to reverse/slow climate change by educating people.
We appreciate your commitment to help.

Read the graphic panels to jumpstart conversations on topics that interest visitors.
If you don’t know the answer to visitors’ questions, refer them to the Site Manager or a volunteer wearing a name tag with an “Expert” yellow sticky dot (Are you an Expert?). Or write their questions in the log book and record their name and email address, so we can get back to them with answers.

Our exhibit title is a call to action: Race to Renewables! Connect to the Sun!

Why? Solar power is a zero-carbon solution to global warming and storing solar lets you save it and use it when the sun doesn’t shine. The Race to Renewables exhibit will use art, science and technology to pique families’ curiosity and answer their questions about energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy storage options for homes, apartments, cabins, and mobile applications, including deployment of emergency response solar.

Questions?
Renee Lea-Rueda
Co-Volunteer Coordinator
renee.l@mnrenewables.org

Thank you. Have a sunny day!
The MRES Eco Experience Team