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The Audubon Center & Sanctuary in Jamestown, N.Y., needs volunteers to be able to accommodate the more than 3,000 schoolchildren who visit every spring.

Audubon’s Education Staff is seeking volunteer trail guides to assist with Discovery Walks during this busy season. While you take a walk in the woods, notice the flowers, watch a frog by the pond, and listen to the birds, you will be offering a service to children and earning the staff’s great appreciation.

Those interested are invited to come to Audubon on Wednesday, April 10, from 10 a.m. to noon to meet with Audubon’s naturalists and learn how much fun it can be to help young students explore nature, overcoming their fears and misconceptions.

You will learn more about the trails, what it takes to lead a class of children along them, and the natural history found there. After a brief presentation indoors about the protocols and procedures for a Discovery Walk, the naturalists will walk you along the most popular routes of the walks. They will share activities, information, and hints to make the walk go smoothly.

While this training is designed for new trail guide volunteers, experienced guides are welcome as well.

Participants are reminded to dress for the weather as most of the program will be outdoors. You are invited to stay for a catered lunch and an optional hike afterward to learn more about what’s happening in nature in early spring.

To RSVP for lunch, by Monday, April 8, call (716) 569-2345, email info@jamestownaudubon.org, or use the on-line form by following the links from Audubon’s home page at http://jamestownaudubon.org.

To learn more about what being a trail guide entails, visit the Trail Guide Training website at http://trailguidetraining.wordpress.com/ or call Jennifer at (716) 569-2345.

The Audubon Center and Sanctuary is at 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown and Warren.

 Because You Care animal rescue organization is seeking volunteers to coordinate its annual Walk for Small Animals, which will be held on Sunday, Sept. 8, at Liberty Park on Erie’s bayfront.

This is BYC’s biggest fundraiser, and the proceeds from the walk are key to helping to save animals in the Erie area. This year will be the 18th annual walk, so there is a lot of past experience and information to guide volunteers. Any help or talent volunteers can offer to help put on the walk is welcome, as are new ideas.

The planning committee will meet monthly from April to October (maybe a little more as the Walk gets close). Most communication is by e-mail or phone. Volunteers are needed to serve on the Walk Event Committee and/or to help out on the day of the Walk.

Walk committees include:

1. Sponsors (contact major and lower-level sponsors from previous years);

2. Logistics (procure location, arrange for setup the day of the walk, arrange for vendor tables, etc.);

3. Publicity (get word out through radio, BYC newsletter, newspaper, etc.);

4. Registration (staff one table for preregistered walkers and another for those who have not preregistered);

5. Route/Safety (determine route and sign up volunteers to work along route);

6. Refreshments (contact donors);

7. Distribution (order, arrange to pick up and distribute posters and sponsor forms and shirts);

8. Premiums (solicit donations of door prizes and other prizes for most money, etc.);

9. Special Events (arrange for entertainment);

10. Basket Raffle (contact donors from past years and find new donors if needed).

If you are interested in helping, please post a message on BYC’s Facebook site or send an e-mail to BYCVOLCOORD@gmail.com, and a coordinator will be in touch. In your message, please indicate any committees on which you might like to serve.

The Promise Walk for Preeclampsia may be five months away, but you can sign up to get involved now.

The annual walk will take place in North East on May 12 at 9:30 a.m. Participants can walk or run the 3.1 course or take a shorter family-friendly one.

Preregistration for this walk is $20 per adult and $10 per child.

Proceeds from the walk will benefit the Preeclampsia Foundation, which works to “provide patient support and education, raise public awareness, catalyze research and improve health care practices.”

The Promise Walk is also looking for volunteers to check participants in at the registration table,  identify and out reaching to walk sponsors,  supply tables, chairs and other needed items and plan event activities.

If you’re interested in getting involved before the walk takes off, contact Kim Timer at Kimpfwalk@hotmail.com.

A group of veterans will walk from Erie to Pittsburgh over Columbus Day weekend to raise money for the American Diabetes Association.

The Veteran’s March for Diabetes will begin on Route 19 at the Presque Isle Snowmobile sign at 7:30 a.m. on Friday.

Participating veterans will walk to Meadville on Friday. On Saturday, they will reach just past Mercer.

They will finish their trek at the McKnight Post Office in Pittsburgh at 4 p.m. on Sunday, accompanied by the VFW Color Guard Post # 2754 West View.

The group is headed by Vietnam veteran Bob Mandera, whose daughter was diagnosed with diabetes type I at five years old. Mandera has participated in the Veteran’s March for Diabetes for 25 years.

“My dream was to someday raise $1 million for diabetes research, and with the help of the VFW Posts across Pennsylvania, almost $2 million has been raised,” said Mandera, in a news release. “Twenty-five percent of our veteran population has diabetes, so our march for a cure goes on.”

To contribute to the walk, call Bob Mandera at (412) 837-1918 or contact Danielle Vetter, at the American Diabetes Association, at (412) 824-1181 ext. 4609 or via email at dvetter@diabetes.org.

The mornings in Erie are becoming increasingly chilly, but there’s still time to squeeze in a few more fundraiser walks/runs.

Why not try the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk to Cure Diabetes at Presque Isle State Park on Sunday?

Registration starts at 8 a.m. The walk begins at 9 a.m.

Participants will walk 3 miles, beginning at the Rainbow Gardens.

To register, visit this website.

To learn more, contact Diane Sickles at dsickles@jdrf.org or via telephone at 452-0635.

Join the battle against breast cancer by volunteering at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on Oct. 6.

The walk will begin in Perry Square at 10 a.m.

To participate in the walk, visit the American Cancer Society’s website.

The walk depends on the work of volunteers who register, greet and direct walkers.

Volunteers are needed between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. and should commit to at least 2 hours of service.

To sign up to volunteer, fill out this form or contact volunteer coordinator Abby Dinges via e-mail.

Interested volunteers should e-mail walkbyc@gmail.com.

Light the night for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society this September.

The 13th annual Light the Night Walk is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Sep. 18 at Jerry Uht Park.

Food, music and activities will kick off the walk at 5:30 p.m.

The 2011 Light the Night Walk in Erie raised $130,000 for blood cancer research.

To volunteer or learn more about participating in this walk, contact Sherry via telephone at (814) 964-0283 or e-mail sherry.zieseneheim@lls.org. More information can be found on Volunteer Match.

The Erie Kidney Walk is coming up on June 10. Raise money for the kidney health research, get some exercise and take in a ballgame at Jerry Uht Field.

Registration for the non-competitive walk, usually between one and two miles, is at 10 a.m. at the ball field. You can register the day of the event.

Participants can form teams or walk individually. There will be live music during the walk.

Walkers who contribute a donation will receive free admission to the Erie SeaWolves baseball game at 1 p.m.

Proceeds benefit National Kidney Foundation’s programs and services, including public and professional education, kidney health screenings and research grants. Donations of all amounts are encouraged.

One in eight Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease, reported the National Kidney Foundation.

“With more and more members of our community being diagnosed every day, it is important to create awareness of kidney disease and support organizations, such as the National Kidney Foundation, in order to change lives and educate those who may be at risk,” said Mike Gallagher, a local television personality, in a National Kidney Foundation news release.

To learn more, visit www.kidneyall.org or contact Melissa McManus at 800.261.4115 or by e-mail at melissa.mcmanus@kidney.org.

You learn something new everyday. Today I learned that the Erie County Department of Health has a list of all the walks and runs coming up this summer.

Here are a couple upcoming events:

5k Run-Walk for Life, Women’s Care Center of Erie County

The Women’s Care Center of Erie County is a faith-based pregnancy resource center. Their run-walk fundraiser will be taking off on Saturday at Presque Isle State Park.

Participants in the event should fill out these run and walk participation forms and record their fundraising efforts on this pledge form.

Registration for the run begins at 8:30 a.m. Walkers can start registering at 9:30 a.m.

The run-walk takes off from the Cookhouse Pavilion.

The top three individual and group fundraisers will receive prizes at the event.

For more information, call the Women’s Care Center of Erie County at 836-7505.

Erie Runners Club Mother’s Day Race

The Erie Runners Club is hosting 5k and half-mile races at Presque Isle State Park on Sunday.

The races start and end on Lake Road at Beach 1.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Dr. Gertrude A. Barber Foundation and the Erie Runners Club Scholarship Fund.

To register, visit Achilles Running Shop, 2309 W. 12 St. in Erie, on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or show up at 7 a.m. the day of the race.

Registration fees are $17 for people over the age of 13 and $10 for ages 12 and under. Fill out this registration form.

All participants will receive a T-shirt.

Stay with Volunteer Erie for more exercise-friendly fundraisers as the weather continues to improve.

Photo courtesy of Wikicommons