Gillette
GILLETTE SHIFTS FOR 2023/24 ARE NOW OPEN FOR SIGNUP!
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR A SHIFT AND TO SEE WHO HAS CURRENTLY SIGNED UP!
2023/2024 Gillette events:
Friday May 19: TAYLOR SWIFT concert (call time 12pm, event start 6:30pm)
Saturday May 20: TAYLOR SWIFT concert (call time 12pm, event start 6:30pm)
Sunday May 21: TAYLOR SWIFT concert (call time 12pm, event start 6:30pm)
Saturday May 27: NE REVS vs Chicago Fire (call time 4pm, event start 7:30pm)
Saturday June 10: NE REVS vs Inter Miami (call time 4:30pm, event start 7:30pm)
Saturday June 17: NE REVS vs Orlando (call time 4:30pm, event start 7:30pm)
Saturday June 24: NE REVS vs Toronto (call time 4:30pm, event start 7:30pm)
Friday June 30: ED SHEERAN concert (call time 2pm, event start 6:00pm)
Saturday July 1: ED SHEERAN concert (call time 2pm, event start 6:00pm)
Saturday July 15: NE REVS vs DC United (call time 4:30pm, event start 7:30pm)
Friday July 21: LUKE COMBS Concert (call time 1pm, event start 5:45pm)
Tuesday August 1st: BEYONCE Concert (call time 1pm, event start 5:45pm)
Thursday August 10: PATRIOTS PRESEASON GAME (call time 2pm, event start 7pm)
Saturday August 26: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Concert (call time 3pm)
Sunday September 10: PATRIOTS Game vs Philadelphia Eagles (call time 11am, event start 4:25pm)
Saturday September 23: BILLY JOEL & STEVIE NICKS Concert (call time TBD)
Sunday October 8: PATRIOTS Game vs New Orleans Saints (call time 8am, event start 1pm)
Sunday October 22: PATRIOTS Game vs. Buffalo Bills (call time 8am, event start 1pm)
Sunday December 3: PATRIOTS Game vs LA Chargers (call time 8am, event start 1pm)
Saturday December 9: ARMY VS NAVY Game (call time 10am, event start 3pm)
We are always looking for people to help us work at our stand during events at Gillette Stadium, including Patriots and Revolution games, concerts, and more!
Every group and student in our music program benefits from the volunteer hours worked at Gillette Stadium. With an annual budget of approx. $125,000 across all of our programs, Gillette is THE SINGLE BIGGEST fundraiser available to our families and students, earning the DSMA $35,000 every year on average, and in 2022/2023 brought in over $50,000 for our programs!
Did you know…?
- Every Gillette volunteer earns over $200 per shift for the Dartmouth music programs
- Each volunteer earns $50, which can be used towards their student’s trip assessment, and every fifth shift you work you earn $75
- Volunteers can be family members or friends, we’ve even had DHS teachers volunteer to help out in the past!
- Gillette funds pay for our trucks that move equipment to shows, props, flags, costumes, music performance rights, and stipends for drill/music staff
- A fully staffed booth earns our students extra money in the form of bonuses from Gillette
- This fundraiser helps prevent families from having to pay monthly dues or $1000+ participation fees, as some other programs the size of ours require
This is a great way to earn some of your assessment money which will help reduce your costs for the trips many of our programs make throughout the year. You can invite other family members and friends to volunteer as well – the more volunteers you bring, the more you earn towards your assessment.
Make a fun day of it while earning money for your students and for the Dartmouth music program. Our kids put in countless hours practicing and learning their performances, and volunteering a few shifts every year is the least we can do to help support them.
What does the DSMA do at Gillette Stadium?
The DSMA schedule usually consists of approx. 22 events each year, where we send volunteers to Gillette Stadium to help staff a Stadium Pizza stand. Events include Patriots and New England Revolution games, concerts, NCAA lacrosse and football games, and other special events like monster truck rallies. The schedule is released in the spring time, and popular events will quickly fill up as parents, family members, and friends sign up for concerts and games.
We need to send at least 10-12 volunteers per shift to consider the stand fully staffed, however we can sometimes send up to 15-16 volunteers. The more people that offer to help work a shift, the more money we earn for our kids and the Dartmouth music programs!
What does a volunteer shift at Gillette look like?
A typical day starts with everyone leaving Dartmouth for Foxboro around 1 – 1.5 hours before our report time, which is usually 3 hours prior to the event start time (for example, for an event that starts at 8pm, our report time will most often be some time around 5pm).
Volunteers will often check the sign up page to see who else has volunteered for that event so they can arrange carpooling to and from the stadium. All of the cars driving to Gillette are provided with special parking passes for volunteer lots; if we need to park in a lot further away from the stadium Gillette supplies shuttle busses to drop everyone off right at the entrance to the stadium.
After checking in at the gate (and be sure anything you bring with you meets NFL/Gillette Stadium guidelines please!), you’ll head to our pizza stand where you’ll find the uniforms provided for all of our volunteers. Gillette provides shirts, visors, and aprons. Volunteers need to wear black pants or shorts and comfortable closed-toe footwear. If you have a Revolution or Patriots hat, you can opt to wear that at those teams’ games instead of the provided visors at many events!
As soon as DSMA volunteers begin arriving at the stand, it’s time to do inventory just to make sure everything in stock matches the Gillette paperwork. Everyone helps out, and the inventory is usually done quickly. Our assigned Gillette stand manager will let everyone know how much food is expected to be sold during our shift; our stand sells pizza, hot dogs, fried dough, nachos, popcorn, candy, and beverages including beer. Volunteers are usually assigned a role based on their experience in the stand, and first-time volunteers are given plenty of help and instructions on what needs to be done. Usually volunteers have one of three roles:
Cook – You’ll work in the back helping to prep pizza, hot dogs, fried dough and more while also helping to make sure the food up front is fully stocked. Each shift normally has 3-4 cooks.
Cashier – You’ll greet patrons and help take their orders. Gillette is FULLY CASHLESS, so you’ll use their point of sale system to ring up orders and customers will pay via credit card. Each shift normally has 4-5 cashiers.
Runner – This job is usually reserved for students aged 16-18 who have volunteered to help raise money. Runners work with cashiers to gather the food the customers at the window have ordered, and help ensure the front coolers and warmers are fully stocked. Each shift normally has 3-4 runners.
Experienced volunteers are given manager roles, such as kitchen manager or inventory manager to help keep everything running smoothly.
Once the gates open, time passes quickly! As soon as the shutters go up on our stand, we’re selling all that food to hungry patrons for the next few hours. Our stand can be very busy, between event attendees looking for food, Gillette staff coming in and out to change inventory, and our assigned manager checking in.
As the event wraps up and the patrons leave, it’s time to close up, clean the stand, and take our closing inventory. Once our assigned Gillette manager confirms our inventory count, it’s time to head to the shuttle busses to begin the ride home, knowing that we just helped raise $2000+ for our music programs in just that one shift.
To sign up for an event:
- Please click here to sign up for an event.
- If you cannot attend an event you have signed up for, you must find a replacement.
- We will notify you of the final details of the event once our parking passes arrive from our manager at Gillette, normally 1-2 days prior to the event.
- Leave Dartmouth 1 to 1.5 hours before check-in to get there on time.
Questions?
Contact Jennifer Jansen gillette@dsmahome.org