April 2, 2026
When a community comes together, great things can happen—and the inaugural DeKalb County Volunteer Fair is a perfect example of that spirit in action. Led by members of the DeKalb Chamber’s Leadership Academy, including the Egyptian Theatre’s own Development Director Robin Borgione, this new initiative aims to connect local nonprofits with passionate volunteers and shine a spotlight on the organizations that make a difference every day. Egyptian Theatre Marketing Intern Myah Mackey sat down with Borgione to talk about the inspiration behind the event, the collaborative effort that brought it to life, and the impact it hopes to have across DeKalb County.
MYAH: What inspired you all to want to create a day for volunteering here in DeKalb County?
ROBIN: For context, each year the Leadership Academy class is tasked to pitch a community enhancement project. After class members provide a brief speech detailing their proposed idea, they all deliberate which of the 25 submissions could possibly be combined and ultimately rank the top 3 projects. Class members then select which project group they would like to take part in. The DeKalb County Volunteer Fair represents the combined ideas to create a virtual bulletin board that could centralize volunteer opportunities, as well as the creation of an event to host nonprofits in need of volunteers. The group members behind these initial ideas had each drawn from their experience working in the nonprofit sector that relies so heavily on volunteers to support their mission. Seeing there was not yet a central effort to tackle this potential need in the community, we were encouraged that we could be on to something.
M: I see this is the first ever held volunteer fair for DeKalb county. Is this an event that is planned to become something annual for volunteers to participate? Why or why not?
R: Ideally, the Leadership Academy community enhancement projects could be sustainable. In fact, many projects from over the years have become a continued effort throughout the area, possibly evolving to serve a different group or nonprofit. I would personally love to see the DeKalb County Volunteer Fair live on and become a fixture for the community. We have had such a positive response in anticipation of our first event. I feel like the momentum is there to keep it going – possibly even adding another date. From my vantage point, also working at the Egyptian Theatre, I am thrilled we get to host this event since supporting other local nonprofits is central to our mission.
M: What are your hopeful outcomes for this event?
R: I am hopeful that each registered organization will come away from this event with a new pool of volunteer candidates. Whether or not the volunteerism opportunity is a right fit for each side, I hope this event provides a spotlight on the good work each organization is contributing to the quality of life in our community. I am hopeful that each attendee who is looking for ways to give back, leaves with a few ideas they will be able to layer into their day-to-day life – perhaps bringing deeper fulfillment and meaning to their life in this area. I hope there is merit to continuing to hold the event, and interest to help keep it alive.
M: What was the most challenging part about planning this event ?
R: I hesitate to classify anything as challenging, as plans for this event seemed to come together rather organically. Anytime there is an idea people are passionate about, the ideas seem to flow and the “work” is more easily managed. We knew, starting something like this from scratch, it was going to be important to keep ourselves organized and to communicate regularly. There were elements of the project that everyone needed to contribute to, like generating the outreach list and reaching out to our respective circles. From there, we aimed to have group members take ownership of different roles based on their preferences or skillset. The 6 group members who planned the event (Casey Bachochin, Megann Horstead, Emily Kvasnicka, Nicole Ruffin, Charles Schmitt and myself) gave their time selflessly and can be proud of the positive impact this has already generated.
