Archives

Asbury Woods Nature Center, 4105 Asbury Road, has opportunities for high school students, ages 15  to 18, to complete service hours for school, scouting or church.

Student volunteers are needed  to work as camp counselor assistants during the summer for Nature, Art and Pre-School Camps.  Camp counselor assistants help the camp counselors with various daily activities at the week-long camps for children in preschool through eighth grade. Hours for the camps are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at various periods throughout the summer.  Camp activities include nature explorations, games, art projects, stories, and more. Volunteers will earn 30 hours of community service.

Students are also needed to help with invasive species removal on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon during the summer. Volunteers assist in removing invasive plant species and maintaining trails and other areas at the Nature Center.

For more information about these and other student volunteer opportunities, contact Deb Testi, volunteer coordinator, at 836-6177 or dtesti@mtsd.org, or visit http://www.asburywoods.org/supportget-involved/volunteer-opportunities/ to fill out a volunteer application.

The Audubon Center & Sanctuary, 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown, N.Y., relies on 300 active volunteers to do everything from leading educational programs to planning and planting gardens. If you are interested in helping the center in its mission to connect people to nature, the following volunteer opportunities are available:

Lawn Mower Operator: Keep Audubon’s grounds looking good throughout the growing season. Volunteers must be at least 16 years old and have experience operating a riding lawn mower. Safety training is provided. Work takes place April through October, 10 to 12 hours a week; Mondays, Tuesdays or Thursdays are preferred.

Front Desk Volunteer: Staff the front desk, greet visitors, answer the phones and check out customers in the nature store. Volunteers work Mondays, either 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 1 to 4:30 p.m., as well as occasional other afternoons to cover for staff meetings, or Saturdays during festivals. Required skills include excellent customer service and the ability to use a computer. Training is provided.

Geocache Monitor: Monitor Audubon’s five geocaches, as well as the eight Ranger Rick geocaches located on Audubon’s property; check to make sure geocaches are stocked and in place; replace items as needed from Audubon’s stock of items; and communicate with Audubon staff about any issues you encounter. The time commitment is three hours per month. Volunteers must have a desire to be outside and the ability to walk 2 to 3 miles. Knowledge of how to use a GPS is desirable but not required. Training is provided.

Anyone interested in helping with the above tasks should contact Katie Finch, kfinch@jamestownaudubon.org, or  (716) 569-2345 Ext. 39.

Heartland Hospice, 719 Indiana Drive, is looking for volunteers to spend time with terminally ill patients and their families.  Duties include offering a listening ear, reading to patients or providing relief for caregivers. Free training is provided, and hours are flexible to fit your schedule. Background and reference checks will be conducted on all volunteers.

Call the Hospice’s volunteer coordinator at 878-5990 for more information or to sign up.

The Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park has a busy summer planned and is looking for volunteers to help out.

Opportunities include:

Writing grants for LEAF. LEAF could use the help of an experienced grant writer.

Helping to clean up the park. LEAF is always in need of volunteers and groups to help keep the park clean and well maintained during the busy summer months.

Working on administrative tasks, including filing, organizing office supplies and data entry.

Participating in a prep day every Monday through Aug. 13 inside the LEAF Education Center from 10 a.m. to noon to help set up for the Tuesday Summer Drop-in Programs. Volunteers would prepare sample crafts for the next day’s session, set up tables and chairs, and organize materials for the craft and activity stations. If you would like to help prepare materials for the Tuesday Drop-in programs from home, LEAF is willing to make arrangements for you to do that.

Staffing a craft or activity station at the all-ages drop-in sessions on Tuesdays through Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to noon. Volunteers should be prepared to arrive shortly beforehand for instructions and stay shortly afterward to help clean up following the event.

For more information, or to volunteer, contact Pat Lampel, LEAF director, at 453-5323 or at leaferie@gmail.com, or visit www.leaferie.org.

American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer committee needs volunteers to assist with the 2013 event. The 5K walk will be held on Oct. 5 at Perry Square in downtown Erie. Committee members are needed to help with various roles in planning the event, and day of event volunteers are needed to help with registration, logistics, water stations and setup.

For more information, contact Molly Reichard at 866-5174 or molly.reichard@cancer.org. You can also visit www.makingstrideswalk.org/erie for more information.

The Audubon Center and Sanctuary, 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown, N.Y., with help from the National Audubon Society and the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency, has started to pull water chestnut plants out of the sanctuary’s Big Pond and is looking for volunteers to help with the effort.

Water chestnut is a non-native plant, and left alone, it will spread, crowding out the native vegetation and covering the pond with a mat of vegetation.

The Center is planning a major undertaking this year to help eradict the plants and is seeking volunteers to help. Several training sessions and water chestnut pulling sessions are already scheduled, but the eradication project will be an ongoing effort.

Team leader training sessions will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m. and Monday at 6:30 p.m. Team leaders will be assigned to oversee 1-acre sections of the pond and will be responsible for coordinating groups to pull plants in those sections. Volunteers are needed to serve as team leaders.

The first group Water Chestnut Pull will take place on June 15 from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Lunch will be provided. If you are interested in helping, either as a team leader or as a crew member, on a one-time or ongoing basis, call Ruth Lundin or Amy Noga at (716) 569-2345 for more information or to sign up.

Orphan Angels Cat Sanctuary, 5439 West Lake Road, needs volunteers to help prepare for a rummage sale this weekend. The sale will take place Saturday and Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the parking lot in front of the shelter. Volunteers are especially needed in the morning on Saturday to help set up; after 4 p.m. on Saturday to help get things organized for the next day; and at the end of the day on Sunday to help with the tear-down.

Also,  if anyone is willing to donate 20 tables for the two days, that would save the shelter the expense of renting tables.

If you can’t help with the setup, tear-down, or tables, you can donate items for the sale or simply show up and shop. There will be lots of clothing, household goods — big and small — books, toys, DVDs and VHS tapes, cat and dog items and much more.

YMCA Camp Sherwin, 8600 West Lake Road, is seeking volunteers to help at its annual Car Cruise-In event.

The event is scheduled for Sunday, June 23, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Help is needed to sell tickets for the gift auction and to monitor the Bounce House.

If you’d like to sign up to volunteer, contact Tammy Crawford at 882-5033.

On Saturday, volunteers and “littles” from Big Brothers Big Sisters will wash vehicles to raise money for the local Big Brothers Big Sisters program. The event takes place in the parking lot at Family Services of NW PA, 5100 Peach St., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Donations of all amounts will be accepted in exchange for a car wash. All funds raised stay in Erie and directly support Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Family Services of NW PA provides adult role models for children ages 6 to 13  from single-parent families. Volunteers spend at least four to six hours a month in one-on-one activities with a child for a minimum of one year. The goal is to provide positive social, recreational, cultural and interpersonal activities for the volunteer’s little brother or sister.

More than 150 children in Erie County are currently waiting to be matched with a big brother or sister. For more information on volunteering as a mentor to a local child, call 866-4566 or visit www.fsnwpa.org/bbbs.php.

Do you like reading to children? Would you like to share your love of reading with Erie boys and girls at the Neighborhood Art House, 201 E. 10th St.?

Erie’s Hooked on Books summer 2013 program needs more than 300 volunteers to read to children between June 24 and July 25.  Classes take place from 12:05 to 12:35 p.m. Mondays through Fridays (except for July 4 and 5).

If you are interested in helping, visit www.hoberie.org and click on the tab “Become a Reader” to fill out an application. For more information, call  Kathy DeSante at 871-7618.