Volunteer Positions & Upcoming Opportunities

Get Outside (or inside) and Give Back this Winter with these great Opportunities!

Join us for our annual holiday events - The Aullwood Winter Luminary Walk and Christmas on the Farm at Carriage Hill MetroPark! Get in the holiday spirit while giving back with Five Rivers MetroParks this season. Plus, we have a variety of indoor opportunities available to help you keep warm while you give back this winter.

See something that interests you, but have questions? Contact a volunteer coordinator at volunteer.services@metroparks.org or by phone at #937-275-7275.

View our high need, high priority volunteer opportunities whenever you see this symbol below: 

Don't forget to FAN the volunteer positions with the opportunities you are most interested in supporting!

Administration

Administrative volunteers work behind the scenes on a variety of clerical projects to ensure that our frontline staff and volunteers have all they need to provide high-quality parks, programs, and services.

Exciting discoveries like this one from the Journal Herald, Friday, April 2, 1965 await you as a MetroParks Historical Research Volunteer!

Administrative Volunteer:

Are you looking for a way to volunteer this winter, but want to stay indoors out of the cold? Are you detail-oriented and have basic computer skills? Do you want to make connections with staff or explore a different side of MetroParks?

If you answered "Yes!", then an administrative project might be right for you! Besides serving indoors, these projects are often flexible and short-term commitments. If interested in joining our pool of administrative volunteers for short-term or ongoing, long-term administrative projects, please complete an Administrative and Computer Skills Assessment. A Volunteer Coordinator will get in contact with you after reviewing your assessment to place you with a project that best matches your skill sets, availability, and commitment. Current projects include:

• The Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience Data Entry:

Each year Five Rivers MetroParks hosts The Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience at Eastwood MetroPark in celebration of and showcasing all the many recreation activities and community resources that the Miami Valley holds. Post-event, staff need volunteer support entering data from participant waivers into our comprehensive database. This is a short-term administrative project open to Long-Term and Short-Term volunteers ages 18 and up. To get started, please complete our Administrative and Computer Skills Assessment. 

• MetroParks Historical Research:

Are you interested in local history? Help document the historical significance of Five Rivers MetroParks to our region by conducting independent research and collecting historical information about our parks. We are creating detailed timelines of our park histories to learn what stories to tell and how best to preserve our historical places. This volunteer opportunity can be completed independently, with regular check-ins with FRMP staff.  Please complete the History Research Interest Form to get started with this opportunity. This is a long-term volunteer opportunity open to volunteers ages 18 and up.

Park Maintenance 

Five Rivers MetroParks provides clean, safe parks and conservation areas for the public to enjoy year-round. Our Park Maintenance volunteers help to manage and sustain 18 beautiful parks, 11 conservation areas, and 160 miles of hike, bike, mountain bike, and horseback-riding trails for park visitors to safely enjoy. 

Volunteer Matt McCurry helps us keep the 2nd Street Market clean and welcoming.

Market Custodial Support: 

Love the 2nd Street Market? Here's your chance to give back to this vibrant community hub!

As winter settles in, we're looking for volunteers to help keep the Market cozy and welcoming on weekend afternoons. Tasks include light sweeping, tidying tables, and handling trash removal after closing. It's all indoors, so you'll stay warm while making a difference. Join us in keeping the Market a clean, inviting space for our community to gather in this winter. 

Learn more and sign up to support this opportunity by clicking the blue VOLUNTEER button below.

Programming 

Five Rivers MetroParks provides a wide variety of high-quality programs to help the public get outside and get connected to nature. Programming volunteers work alongside staff to provide support at programs year-round that help participants master new skills, learn about the natural world, and appreciate the value of open spaces. 

Volunteer Cheryl Williams provides homework assistance as an Adventure Central Program Assistant volunteer after school. 

Adventure Central Program Assistant:

Get to know one of the best kept secrets in Dayton - Adventure Central at Wesleyan MetroPark! Adventure Central is a positive youth development program partnership between The Ohio State University Extension, 4H, and Five Rivers MetroParks within Wesleyan MetroPark. This program provides free after school programming and a free summer day camp for youth from first grade through high school.
Volunteers are needed to support the daily after school programming activities in the homework room, the kitchen, outside during free time, and assisting the staff during structured programming. Long-term and short-term volunteers ages 14 and up are eligible to support this opportunity.

Learn more and sign up to support this opportunity by clicking the blue VOLUNTEER button below.

Program Support volunteers like Art Powell with CJ students Quentin, Iliana, and Kelly, support a variety of high-quality MetroParks programming year-round connecting our public to nature through lasting hands-on learning experiences.

Program Support Volunteers:

Do you enjoy helping others learn? Program Support is the perfect opportunity to learn while helping others enjoy the many programs MetroParks offers year-round! No experience is necessary! All you need is a love of our parks and a willingness to help others.

Learn more and sign up to support this opportunity by clicking the blue VOLUNTEER button below.

Backcountry Program Support Kick Off!

Interested in hiking, camping, and backpacking? Join us for this kick off for our Backcountry Programs! You'll learn about programs scheduled for 2025 and how you can help as a Program Support volunteer. Five Rivers MetroParks offers a variety of programs year-round to help our community get outside and enjoy our parks. Program Support volunteers help make these experiences safe and enjoyable for all of our program participants. 

Learn more and RSVP for this season kick off by clicking the green RSVP button below. 

Skilled Trades

Five Rivers MetroParks takes pride in the variety of hands-on, skilled trades opportunities we offer, both in historical and modern-day settings. Our Skilled Trades volunteers help drive our mission forward by assisting with maintenance projects in fabrication, repair, and interpretation. 

Historic Blacksmith volunteers Charles Sigler and Fiene demonstrate 19th century blacksmith skills on our historic farm at Carriage Hill MetroPark while making items the farm needs.
Historic Blacksmiths:
Join Charles and Jim out on the farm as a Historic Blacksmith! We're looking for folks with a love for history, a willingness to learn and share, and a commitment to ongoing volunteer service to join us on the farm as Historic Blacksmiths! Could this be you? This opportunity is open to long-term volunteers ages 18 and up who can commit to 25 hours or more of volunteer service per year on the farm as a Historic Blacksmith. 

Learn more and sign up to support this opportunity by clicking the blue VOLUNTEER button below, or begin training today by visiting our Historic Blacksmith training page in the Volunteer Training Library!

Textile and Fiber Arts Workdays: 
Are you looking for an indoor volunteer opportunity for the colder months of the year?  Share your skills, learn new skills and give back to this historic farm at Carriage Hill MetroPark this winter! This volunteer opportunity is open to Long-Term and Short-Term volunteers ages 16 and up and is a fun way to give back indoors and behind the scenes. 
Learn more and sign up to support this opportunity by clicking the blue VOLUNTEER button below.

Special Events

Volunteers Treva Pickenpaugh and Steven Solomon are ready for Christmas on the Farm, are you?! Join us! Learn more below.
Christmas on the Farm:

Help us celebrate a Victorian Christmas on the historic farm at Carriage Hill MetroPark! Join us on Sunday, December 15 during this seasonal event and help bring the holiday to life at Carriage Hill. 

Visitors will stroll through the farm and experience what it was like during the holidays in the 1880s. Create lasting holiday memories for guests of all ages at this family-friendly event by supporting an activity, helping children write their letters to Santa, prepping and sharing evergreen bundles, interpreting the farm, and more!

Aullwood Winter Luminary Walk:

Get in the holiday spirit by volunteering with this year's Aullwood Winter Luminary Walk! The event is scheduled for Saturday, December 7th but plenty of help is needed before and after the event as well as during it.

Help us clean up around the Aull House by raking leaves and pruning vegetation, decorate the house and the gardens, prepare the luminaries, light the luminaries, support refreshments, welcome guests, and more! This is a great opportunity for youth volunteers ages 14 and up!

Learn more and sign up to support this opportunity by clicking the blue VOLUNTEER button below.

Volunteer Services

Volunteer Services is available if you have questions or need assistance in signing up. Contact us at volunteer.services@metroparks.org or #937-275-7275.

Your Volunteer Services Team

Allie Zimmerman - Parks & Conservation # (937) 274-3176

Amanda Wheatley - Ambassador & Special Events, Interim Administration# (937) 275-7275

Yvonne Dunphe - Programming # (937) 277-4147

Jenny Hymans - Human Resources Manager of Volunteer Services, Interim: Animal Care & Animal Programming and Court Appointed Volunteer Service # (937) 567-1413