Rina Lieberman looked up from the work stretched out in front of her and shyly explained why she would spend her spare time in a grungy office.
“I’m very interested in politics,” said 16-year-old Lieberman, a student at the Hanna Sacks Bais Yaakov Girls High School in West Rogers Park. “I caught the bug in junior high school.”
She has been a political junkie since 14 when she volunteered in the gubernatorial campaign of Dawn Clark Netsch. But her parents and most friends are fairly indifferent to her involvement, “as a Democrat all the way,” said Lieberman.
She is one of about 4,000 volunteers who have already signed up to help with the Democratic National Convention, an event that will bring more than 35,000 visitors to the city this summer.
At the downtown office of Chicago ’96, the non-profit, bipartisan host committee for the convention, Lieberman is somewhat of a legend among volunteers because of her age and eagerness.
Besides slogging through lists of names, Lieberman and other volunteers will meet visitors at the airports, greet them at hotels, help them with directions and make sure they have a good time at parties.
They will also stuff and mail invitations and fliers, decorate the city, help with security, and–if very, very lucky–maybe get inside the convention, which will be held Aug. 26 to 29 at the United Center.
Although politics is the reason for the event, it is not what has driven most volunteers, said Julie Thompson, spokeswoman for Chicago ’96.
“About 90 percent want to showcase the city, and about half are Republicans,” she said.
On Saturday, as many volunteers as can make it by car, bus, subway, plane, donkey or elephant will attend the kickoff rally and training from 9 a.m. till noon at the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion, 1150 W. Harrison St.
Mayor Richard Daley will welcome the guests. Gov. Jim Edgar has been invited, but Thompson said she is not sure if he will attend.
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The volunteers, who are listed in a computer database created by students at DeVry Institute of Technology, range in age from 16 to 82. The median age is 35.
About 70 percent of them live in Chicago, 28 percent in the suburbs and 2 percent are from farther away, said volunteer chairman Adrian Garibay. Although 70 percent of the volunteers are men, about 90 percent of those who volunteer during the day are women, Garibay said.
To draw more volunteers, the host committee has launched an advertising campaign, “Chicago ’96: An American Celebration.”
But Debbie Durrer, 25, a recent political science graduate from Northern Illinois University, did not have to be lured into helping out.
She is volunteering full time, hoping to make contacts that will lead to a job requiring similar skills.
People wishing to volunteer can call 312-214-4834, send e-mail to [email protected], or visit the Chicago ’96 homepage on the World Wide Web at http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Chicago96/.