Goodwill City Ambassadors Recruiting Volunteers for the 2019 WVU Football Season

Do you like to meet new people and share your love for West Virginia University (WVU), the Greater Morgantown area, and “wild and wonderful” West Virginia? Consider joining OLLI members Stan Cohen, Barb Howe, Karen Long, and Dave Ornick as Goodwill City Ambassadors!

The Goodwill City Ambassadors are a group of volunteers from the local community and various organizations. In the fall of 2012, the Ambassadors began greeting and providing information to visiting fans at WVU Football games. The program has evolved over the years, as we now work closely with WVU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, WVU Alumni Association, WVU Police Department, Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB), and other organizations in the Greater Morgantown area to continue improving visiting teams’ fan experiences on game day. During the last seven WVU Football seasons, the WVU fan base has evolved into “tourism ambassadors” for the community as they too welcome guests to Mountaineer Country.

In addition to greeting fans outside of Milan Puskar Stadium and within tailgating lots before home games, WVU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics asked Ambassadors to assist with their golf cart shuttle service again this season, which was introduced prior to the 2018 WVU Football season. Ambassadors drive the accessible golf carts to and from pickup locations surrounding the stadium every home game. This service is provided so that guests with a disability and elderly or injured patrons, along with one companion, have a positive experience during a WVU Football home game. The golf cart shuttles run two hours prior to kick off until half-way through the first quarter. Then, Ambassadors will begin shuttling guests from the stadium to their original pickup location at the beginning of the fourth quarter until one hour after the game. This new service received positive feedback from many visitors last fall, and the Ambassador team is excited to assist with once again.

Individuals interested in driving the carts would do so either before or after the game. WVU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics provides golf cart driver safety training as well as ADA training prior to the first home game.

We are currently seeking additional volunteers for the 2019 WVU Football season who can assist with Ambassador responsibilities- greeting and assisting visiting fans and driving the golf cart shuttles. To find out more program information, plan to attend the meeting on Wednesday, July 17 at 6 p.m. at GMCVB’s main office, located at 341 Chaplin Road in Morgantown, which is off of I-79 exit 155. By becoming an Ambassador, you will have the opportunity to connect with the community and feel rewarded in giving back to locals and visitors alike. We hope you will join us!

Ambassadors do not get tickets to the game, but we do get bright orange attire, parking passes, and box lunches.

If you have any questions, please email Sara Bishop at goodwillcity@gmail.com.