HOW TO VOLUNTEER

Below are our volunteer opportunities. For general volunteer information, contact information and forms, visit the Volunteer Home page. For the latest word on our volunteers and upcoming work parties, visit our Volunteer News page.

From a comfortable chair in the Nature Center, keep Tryon Creek going.

• NATURE CENTER HOST: Greet visitors at the Front Desk, answer questions about the park, foreward phone calls, and sell Nature Store merchandise. While you're waiting, help staff complete small projects or enter data. Four-hour morning and afternoon shifts available. Commitment:  eight or more hours per month.
• THURSDAY WORK PARTIES: Join other volunteers for indoor work parties as needed. Help with bulk mailings, suffing envelopes, or preparing craft materials for education classes. Commitment:  ten or more hours per month.
• DATA ENTRY: If you're very comfortable with computers, careful and organized, we often need help with data entry.  Membership, summer camp, and other programs rely on volunteers to keep up.

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ASSISTANT COUNSELOR

If you're in high school or starting your first year of college, join us in the summer to help with Nature Day Camp.  Assistant counselors may also help with winter and spring camps. Work with staff to lead hikes, craft projects, songs and storytelling. We offer camps to children from preschool age through middle school, and camps vary in length from half-days to overnights.

• You must complete an Assistant Counselor Application, available in the spring.
• Commitment:  two one-week sessions in June, July or August
• For students entering their first or second year of college, we offer one internship each summer.

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EDUCATION

Teach adults and children about the outdoors!

• FIELD TRIP NATURE GUIDE:  Work with education staff to lead K-12 field trips in the park. Almost every weekday in fall and spring, we offer two-hour programs to schools across the Metro area. Nature Guides lead a group of ten or fewer children on a guided hike to teach basic concepts in sciene and ecology. We offer in-depth nature guide training twice a year to introduce our curriculum and offer guideance on teaching. Nature Guides benefit from ongoing learning opportunities, including exciting trips around Oregon. Commitment:  one training and at least 10 two-hour hikes during the school year.
• EDUCATION EVENTS: Help us with fun learning events! Events include Trillium Festival, Earth Day, the Tall Tale contest, Winter Solstice, Learn To Camp, Scout days, and the Spooky Night Hike. Tasks may include preparing craft materials, leading a booth, or guiding groups. Commitment: one or more events each season
• GUIDED WALKS: Lead guided walks for adults and families. Throughout the year and three times a week in the summer, State Parks and Friends staff offer guided walks on a variety of topics, and children's Story and a Stroll programs.  We are often looking for volunteer substitutes. This is a great opportunity if you're mostly available on weekends.
• LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS:  Most often geared for adults, our exciting lecture series and seasonal workshops keep us learning year-round. Help us organize and plan an exciting series, or offer a program yourself.

EVENTS

Every season of the year brings new and exciting events, and we need all of the help we can get! Events include: Trillium Festival (including the Plant Sale); Earth Day; Forest Music Series; Natural Cycles (Art in the Forest); Spooky Night Hike; Wreath Sale; Forest Market; Winter Solstice; and more.

• GENERAL HOSPITALITY:  Work behind the scenes to support staff and volunteers during events.  Organize food and refreshments, prepare materials, greet and direct visitors, and more.
• EVENT ORGANIZING: If you love planning parties and events, we can use your skills.  Schedule shifts and activities, plan and prepare weeks ahead to make events run smoothly.
• PARKING: Keep traffic flowing, and assure everyone a place to park! For our bigger events, we need people who can help fit as many cars as possible safely in the lot.

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Volunteers commit thousands of hours to removoing invasive weeds, graveling trails, and keeping Tryon Creek safe, healthy and beautiful.

• Each month, we hold between two and four drop-in opportunities, so take a look at the upcoming work parties.
• PLEASE NOTE: Be sure to check out information that may apply to you:  under 18, court-ordered community service, If more than six individuals are interested in volunteering, please read information about groups of more than 6.

The following is a list of all of the opportunities to get involved outdoors in the park!

• IVY REMOVAL:  Roll up your sleeves, and help us pull English ivy. Ivy is an invasive weed that overtakes and kills native plants. We have drop-in Ivy Removal work parties at least once a month, and sometimes more.  This is the best volunteer opportunity for groups, people fulfilling community service obligations, and youth under age 18.
• TRAIL MAINTENANCE: Join a drop-in work party, and keep trails in the park clear and dry year-round. Activities may include hauling and spreading gravel, pruning, and minor construction. Please, no volunteers under age 14.
• PLANTING: Plant trees and shrubs to re-establish riparian and upland areas in the Park.  Planting opportunities are seasonal and depend on the Park's needs; see the schedule of upcoming work parties.
• IN-STREAM RESTORATION:  Participate in stream restoration projects, such as checking fish traps, tagging and monitoring local fish populations, installing brush check dams, and adding salmon carcasses to the creek. Training provided. Commitment:  participate in training, and choose either weekly monitoring or two in-stream projects
• ADOPT-A-PLOT: Adopt your own area of the park to remove invasive species. You, your family or a group set your own schedule, and remove ivy, blackberry, and other weeds. Commitment:  adopt your area for one year, and complete a minimum of four to six work parties
• TRAIL HOST: Take care of the park as you hike, jog, or ride your horse. Provide information to park visitors, and remind them of rules and regulations. Commitment:  at least ten hours per month; schedule is flexible.

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COMMITTEES

Committees keep all of our programs going.  If you like to plan, direct, brainstorm and take on responsibility over the long-term, a committee may be just right for you! 

• ECO-TRAILS COMMITTEE: Make decisions and set goals for trail maintenance and restoration throughout the Park.  Committee meets every other month.
• MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE: Support membership drives, member events, and public outreach efforts.  Help us decide how to maintain and increase our membership.
• FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE: Direct and coordinate fundraising efforts and events. Fundraising allows us to meet our mission and build our capacity.
• EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  Brainstorm ideas for education events, programs and policies. Fun events are scheduled throughout the year. Ed Committee meets monthly.

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SPECIAL SKILLS & PROJECTS

We're always in need of someone with a special skill or interest to take on unique projects. Do you have a rare ability you'd like to offer? We need you!

• EXHIBITS: From woodworking and painting to research writing, graphic design and photography, we're always in need of a special skill for Nature Center exhibits.  If you're creative and motivated, we can use your help!
• COMPUTERS: Help! We often need geeky folk who can help with data entry, networking, fixing bugs, database, printers...you name it.
• LIBRARY:  Do you love books? Help label and organize things in the library! Work on library acquisition!
• NATURE STORE:  Organize and support our small, educational gift store. Buy, stock, and maintain books, toys and other items.  Participate in our annual inventory day.  
• CLEANING:  Love to fight the grit and grime? Twice a year, we have a Cleaning Day, and we are perpetually battling the dust.  Wield a sponge to tidy and clean the library and exhibit hall, wipe down the kitchen, and organize supplies in the back room.
• YOU TELL US: Do you have a skill that we desparately need, but just don't know it yet?  Let us know--maybe you're who we've always been looking for!

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