In the three years of being a SOAR LLI member, Marilyn McKinney became a member of the First Friday Movie Club, a member of the SOAR Literary Society, a volunteer of the Winter Curriculum Committee, and a volunteer of the Ambassadors Program.

“I didn’t become part of SOAR until the pandemic,” said McKinney. “I didn’t have any connection with Wayne State. In 2016, we [she and her husband] moved to Botsford Commons in Farmington Hills. Near us there was a professor of physics at Wayne State and his wife, I think she said, was an audiologist.

One way McKinney got involved is volunteering for the Ambassadors Program to check in people attending a SOAR class. McKinney said one of the reasons she is an ambassador is to simply just enjoy being social.

“I’m a very, very social person,” said McKinney,” from being in administration for 25 years. I love meeting new people. Sometimes when I check people in, I can eventually connect a name with a face.”

Another reason McKinney volunteers as an ambassador is that she is able to make connections with people. One of these connections she made was with Attorney General Dana Nessel who was a presenter at a SOAR class.

“I’m there early and so is the presenter,” said McKinney. “I don’t know who the presenters are at all. Last year Dana Nessel was there. Kelly, my daughter-in-law, worked for her and she was her communications person. So, I was able to make that connection. It’s fun to make a connection. There are connections that you have as you get older. And people remember you.”

McKinney’s daughter-in-law was Kelly Rossman-McKinney who died in November 2021, after battling cancer. Upon her death, Nessel released a statement which began with: “There will never be another Kelly Rossman-McKinney.”

Another reason for volunteering as an ambassador, said McKinney, is that she can have some fun doing it.

At the class, I’ll tell them: ‘Take a name tag and then I don’t have to call you hey you,’” said McKinney. “That kind of fun stuff. Welcoming people back again is kind of fun. One woman her name was Elizabeth; mine is Marilyn. So, you know, she is Elizabeth Taylor and I’m Marilyn Monroe. We both laughed about it. She used to get the same thing I did. So, we joked about that. It’s nice to have fun instead of a grumpy, old lady.”

Jon Buyle, Head of the Ambassadors Program, said that to be an ambassador you must be a SOAR member and attend a 30-minute, one-on-one orientation which is set up at your convenience. Buyle also explained the purpose of the Ambassadors Program.

“The whole point of it is to serve the members – not to market,” said Buyle. “So, they don’t get lost, they know where to go, where the bathrooms are. It is meant to make it pleasant for the members. And also, to engage the members, make it more social. It also helps SOAR out because right before the class is the busiest time for the SOAR staff.”

An ambassador can choose to be a greeter or a check-in person, and both must arrive a half-hour before class begins. A greeter is positioned on the first floor at the elevator. Greeters will welcome people, give directions, and engage with people.

The check-in person sits outside the SOAR classroom and, besides engaging with people, checks the person’s name off the registration list, and lets him or her know they can take a name tag and class survey. Once the class starts, the check-in person can go into the classroom.

Buyle said that a week before classes begin, he emails the ambassadors a link to an online platform called Signup Genius. It is here where ambassadors select to be a greeter or check-in person, select classes at which they will serve as ambassadors, and cancel if it turns out they can’t be there for a class.If interested in being an ambassador, email the SOAR office at info@soarexplore.com or call at 248-626-0296. You can also email Buyle at jmb@hotmail.com or call him at 313-881-6393.

Thank you to all of our SOAR volunteers!