Sex and Tampa Bay

Look, I’m a huge fan of volunteering events (as you see by the number of them I post here). But when I heard that Tampa is looking for 6,000 locals to volunteer for the Super Bowl in 2009, I was torn. On one hand, it’s great when people donate their time to help the community. On the other hand, there are so many more worthy causes than helping an event that is going to bring in millions of dollars.

 Here’s the facts: Sign-up starting tomorrow at www.tampasuperbowl.com. You must agree to a background check, be at least 18 years old, be willing to work two 4 hours shifts and attend training this fall. Also, you won’t actually see the big game. The volunteer opportunities mostly consist of helping out at the NFL experience or serving as the information booth for confused tourists.

Ok, now here the snark… should the hotels and businesses that are making money from this event be the ones who are providing information instead of volunteers. Also, I suspect that the sights that most visitors want to see (2001 and Mons Venus) are not the ones that Tampa is going to want to highlight.

Before you go sign up to be a Super Bowl volunteer, go over to www.volunteermatch.com and see the other great opportunities where you could serve instead (or in addition to). You might not get a collectible t-shirt, but you’ll probably be having a bigger impact on our community than you would passing out maps at TIA.