The beauty of volunteers, or how Mint got a first class website for free

Creating a website is easier with talented volunteers. (Photo: MorgueFile )

It started with a call for a volunteer to work on a WordPress website in Detroit. The posting on VolunteerMatch drew lots of interested individuals – close to 20 of them from almost that many states.
We quickly narrowed the list to a half dozen and then through interviews, chose one amazing woman Michelle, who became our first web developer. She lived in St. Louis, and offered expertise in marketing, WordPress and storytelling.

For a small start-up, we quickly discovered how many pages we could add to tell about our work, our impact, our art. Michelle worked diligently, quickly, smartly, and Vickie, who was preparing for a busy summer, could not keep up.

Next came Jess M., a Detroit who runs a graphic and web design firm called Black Velvet Media. She is finishing the work and helping us fill in and refine the site.  We will continue this over the next few months, and are adding new pages in that time.

“Creating art is a form of self-expression and a great outlet when one is going through tough times,” Jess said. “When I learned that Mint Artist Guild offered programming to develop the creative skills of local Detroit youth, I knew right then that I wanted to support the organization. That’s why I decided to volunteer. The experience youth gain from coming together to make and sell their own art is invaluable.”

Jess also runs a blog called The Creative Armory that inspires creatives to pursue their work and experience music and creativity in and around Detroit.  Her dedication to creative types inspires us.

If you want to be part of Mint’s story, we welcome new volunteers to join us at either our Volunteer Orientation on May 16 or indicate your interest in a volunteer role on VolunteerMatch.   

Until then, we will celebrate our website volunteers Jess and Michelle with much gratitude.