Did you know The Children's Museum partners with more than 365 adult and family volunteers each year? These incredible people are essential to museum operations and help make magic possible every single day. They assist in countless ways,  like preparing supplies and materials, supporting exhibits, staffing tables during special events, and so much more. Last year alone, our volunteers contributed an outstanding 10,551.85 hours of their time. 

How many hours is that? Let's crunch the numbers: 

• If volunteering were a full-time job—that’s more than five years of full-time work!
• At 7.5 minutes per ride, that’s enough time for 84,415 trips around our Centennial Ferris Wheel—you’d be dizzy just thinking about it!
• A U.S. school year averages 1,080 instructional hours. That’s enough to provide a full K–12 education for one student—nearly 10 times over!
• It takes about 55 hours to fly around the world. Our volunteers gave the equivalent of circling the globe nearly 192 times.
• At an average of 18 minutes each, that’s enough time for 35,173 TED Talks worth of inspiration. 

To show our gratitude, Volunteer Services celebrated Volunteer Appreciation Week from April 21–25 with a nacho bar luncheon, games, trivia, and a special gift from the Museum Store. It was a small way to say a big thank-you. 

We are deeply grateful for our volunteers' time, energy, and passion. From prepping supplies with our ASAP team to showing up enthusiastically for public programs and outreach events, our volunteers are always ready to step in wherever needed. 

Please join us in thanking, celebrating, and appreciating our incredible TCM volunteers. We truly couldn’t do it without them!