There is only one paid staff person for Chasco Fiesta, so needless to say this event would not be possible without volunteers. Each year we rely heavily on the community to come out and volunteer, but this year we need you more than ever. Times are tough, and everyone's budget is shrinking - including the City of New Port Richey. Last year there was some discussion regarding the cost of Chasco Fiesta to the City, and the amount of City services the event utilizes. At one point there was concern that Chasco Fiesta might have to pay as much as $80,000 to keep the event in New Port Richey. An agreement was reached by lowering the City costs. One of the ways this was done was by Chasco Fiesta absorbing more of the duties that city workers had previously preformed.
We already mentioned that there is only one paid staff person, which means these duties will have to be absorbed by additional volunteers. These new duties include picking up all the trash in Sims Park and around Orange Lake, checking the ladies restroom hourly, putting up all the orange fencing, and locking crowd control barricades the day of the street parade. That's on top of the things we already needed volunteers for such as selling tickets and t-shirts, taking surveys, helping with hospitality, and various other things. We have had some new volunteer groups step up, the Gulf High School Baseball team is going to help us put up the canvas for the paid concerts, but we need more. There are lots of things that we need help with. This is a great way for high school students to get the community service hours they need for college.
Volunteering for Chasco Fiesta is not just work, we do have fun in the process. So get a couple of your friends to come out with you, or if you're ambitious a whole group. To all of the volunteers who helped in the past - thank you. To all the volunteers who are going to help this year - thank you and see you soon!
