GOODTURNS
Volunteers show it’s fun to give back
By Allison Williams Top | Hope Land, right, of Southern
Pines is assisted by Fayetteville Dogwood Festival volunteer Joi-Ana Tart.
Above | Director Carrie King, right, says the festival would be impossible without volunteers such as Ocie Stroud.
Above and right | He is one of the event’s youngest and most dedicated volunteers.
46 | April/May • 2010 I
f food, music and fun are the heart of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival, then an army of volunteers is the muscle. They arrive early and stay late. They direct traffic and take out the trash. And by definition they do it for free.
“We truly are a community-produced event,”
said Executive Director Carrie King. “Without the support, spirit and dedication of our
volunteers, we simply could not produce this event.” Last year, more than 200 volunteers contributed 167 hours of their time.
One of the most dedicated is also one of the youngest. Ocie Stroud is a freshman
at Cross Creek Early College. When he’s not in school, he can be found volunteering: helping out at the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, answering calls at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and pitching in wherever needed at nearly every downtown festival. He even parlayed a volunteer gig into a paying job, keeping score
