In this edition of the Volunteer Newsletter:

Important: Volunteer News & Updates

Volunteers, as we wind down 2024 and start preparing for 2025, it is time to update your volunteer information, review your volunteer hours, and renew your qualifications. For those of you who onboarded 3 or more years ago, this will include updating your volunteer handbook signature and your background check. But don't worry, you'll be prompted to do this when you respond to an upcoming opportunity, and if you need assistance, your volunteer services team is here to help you! Just reach out to us at volunteer.services@metroparks.org or by phone at #937-275-7275.

For many of you, it will also be a time to complete your annual check offs. Your team of staff leads and volunteer coordinators will be reaching out to you soon to provide opportunities to complete check offs and help you renew your volunteer qualifications.

Learn more about updating your volunteer information and renewing your qualifications in this month's Get Connected Tech Tip. 

You may also notice an update from Galaxy Digital, the platform that provides our Get Connected site, the next time you login. You may see a pop up asking you to accept or manage "cookies".  Cookies are small data files stored on your computer that help your computer remember you when you login to a site, and ensure the site is functioning smoothly. You can learn more about cookies here.  You will have the opportunity to set your cookie preferences on the Get Connected site. 

Last, we hope you are able to join us for a little volunteer appreciation at Sunset at the Market: Holiday Magic in December. Learn more about this fun holiday event under this month's Volunteer Appreciation section of the newsletter and blog.

Happy Holidays to you from your Five Rivers MetroParks staff!

FEATURE: FRMP Volunteers Receive the OPRA Citizen of the Year Award

It is often said that parents would "move heaven and earth for their children." When Mike and Kate Lehner lost their son, Leo, that is quite literally what they decided to do - move earth at a local MetroPark in his honor.

In 2021, high school freshman, Leo Lehner, passed away after an incident during rowing practice. Though the Lehner family was surrounded by their family, friends, networks and local parochial/Catholic diocese community, they decided to work through their insurmountable grief by being a living reflection of Leo's values: adventure, generosity, kindness and authenticity.

Since Kate fostered an appreciation of nature among Leo and his siblings, Daniel and Maria, the Lehner family understood that spending time outdoors while giving back to the community would be a healing endeavor.

In April 2022, Kate's extended family participated in MetroParks' largest annual day of service, volunteering at Possum Creek MetroPark's newly improved nature play area. Wanting to take the single day of service a step further, Mike reached out to MetroPark staff to inquire about more in-depth volunteer opportunities.

"I needed to move earth," Mike said. "I needed to pull weeds and throw rocks."

After hundreds of hours of demanding volunteer work, the Lehner family has helped maintain the nature play area and - through personal fundraising - has supported plans for significant additions to it that will make it more hands-on and accessible to children and parents.

The Lehner family became familiar with the nature play area shortly after it was completed in early 2022. Because the project - achieved entirely by MetroParks staff and volunteers - was a new build during the pandemic, it took considerable time, and volunteers would be essential to helping maintain the space.

Different from traditional playgrounds, nature play areas utilize many natural elements that encourage independent and creative play. Nature play areas offer opportunities for children to problem-solve and test their limits in a safe environment.

"For me, [nature play areas] remind me of my son, Leo," said Mike. "He's just going to go out and be creative and find the most interesting things to build or play with. In our fast-paced world where we rarely connect with people, it gives you a great chance to make connections. It's fun when I get to go out there and see kids explore and they are being creative."

Mike took the need for volunteers to heart. He worked with MetroParks' park managers and volunteer services staff to be trained to use the necessary tools to help maintain the area. His weekly visits on Wednesday mornings and evenings - sometimes with his family and friends - would become a therapeutic part of Mike's grief journey.

"It was the two hours a week that I didn't have someone talking to me and could just work while listening to a playlist that made me think of Leo," said Mike. "The work out at Possum Creek was the most important part of the grief process beyond counseling."

Indeed, the counseling in which Mike and Kate participated helped them to lean on each other. Then, as a team, they leaned on the community by asking for funds to help expand the nature play area, envisioning a space where kids of all ages, interests and abilities could creatively thrive in nature - just as Leo did.

"As I got to know the park staff, they started making a wish list of what they could do with the space and Shane [former Possum Creek MetroPark park manager] had a dream of what he wanted to see out there and I said, 'Let's make it happen.'"

After hosting fundraisers, applying for grants and making connections in the community, the Lehner family has raised $200,000 with an additional $50,000 pledged to fully fund additional elements to the nature play area, including: climbing features, a water pump, a zipline, sunshades, archways, a dig pile, adult seating and swings and enhanced signage.

Once the additions are made - which are tentatively slated to begin in 2026 - the Lehner family hopes to continue finding ways to connect children to nature through community advocacy and fundraising.

"Leo lived fully, and our community's children will be doing the same for generations to come thanks to the generosity and vision of the Lehner family," said MetroParks Chief of Philanthropy Alexis Larsen. "This expansion of the Possum Creek nature play area will bring it to a level that MetroParks could never have been able to do without their generous support, passion and hard work."

Leo's classmates, family and friends remember him as being emphatic about people being happy and having fun. Though he had significant special needs (ADHD and epilepsy) he was not brought down by his challenges; rather, he was a bright spot in many of his peers' lives who struggled to connect with others.

Mike and Kate are incredibly proud of how service-minded he was. He set a goal of breaking his school's all-time record for service hours, spending much of his free time working in a pantry at Catholic Social Services.

Upon his death, his school created a website for students to donate hours on Leo's behalf. In just six weeks, the established 885-hour record was exceeded with people donating more than 10,000 hours to the site. Leo's classmates are currently working on a goal to reach 15,000 by the end of the 2025 school year, what would have been Leo's graduation.

Many of the students' service hours have been spent in Five Rivers MetroParks - 223 hours in 2024 alone. Understanding how important nature was to Leo and for the general physical and mental wellbeing of all children, the Lehner's take solace in knowing kids are spending time connecting to the natural world.

"When [Leo] got out into nature everything changed," said Mike, "He had a real connection with nature and it had a calming influence on him."

Mike and Kate set up a "Live Fully," Facebook group, where they share their outdoor adventures and encourage others to do so with the same adventurous, kind, authentic and generous nature that Leo embodied.

"There is no question that getting out in nature is wonderful for people," said Mike. "You have to disconnect to reconnect. Find your own nature playgrounds. Go out and find a creek, find bugs, smell wildflowers."

Leo's final resting place is at Kateri Nature Preserve, a natural burial space at Calvary Cemetery. He is buried among the "Wildflowers," a Tom Petty song that Mike frequently listens to when he spends time volunteering at Possum Creek MetroPark.

For their stewardship, vision, service and dedication to connecting youth to nature, Mike and Kate Lehner, and Leo Lehner (posthumously) are being recognized by the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association as 2024 Citizens of the Year. They will officially be presented with the award the first week of February during the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association's annual banquet.

Thank you, Lehner family for your incredible gift of service to Five Rivers MetroParks!

Conservation Tip: Leave No Trace

Five Rivers MetroParks is a partner with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics which teaches people of all ages how to enjoy the outdoors responsible and is the most widely used outdoor ethics program on public lands throughout the country. Leave No Trace is grounded in science and research and has been since its origins in the field of recreation ecology. Learn more about the science behind Leave No Trace here. 

If everyone follows the 7 simple Leave No Trace principles, we can ensure that all of our parks, waters, and lands remain places of wonder, inspiration and exploration for years to come.

1. Plan ahead and prepare. Know before you go! Check the weather and trail conditions before heading out. After a day of hiking or paddling, don't forget to clean your boots and your boat! Invasives may be trying to hitchhike their way into new ecosystems.
2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces. Only use established trails. Walk through muddy trail sections, not around them. It's best to walk single file on the trail, even when it's wet or muddy, because the surrounding vegetation and habitat will suffer if trampled, causing "trail widening". Please preserve our trails by choosing the muddy path.
3. Dispose of waste properly. Pack out your trash. Take out everything you bring into the parks or dispose of it properly in the designated park trash and recycling bins. This includes dog droppings. Better yet, give back by picking up litter every time you go hiking.
4. Leave what you find. This includes flowers, rocks and leaves. Disturbing these puts the lives of animals and plants at risk and ruins their habitat. Bring along a sketchbook or camera so you can remember an item without taking it. Better yet - join us for one of our Paint-A-Park programs and paint what you love about our parks!
5. Minimize campfire impacts. Know your local campfire and stove regulations. Fully extinguish any fires. Keep fires small or consider forgoing a campfire to enjoy the dark skies.
6. Respect wildlife. Avoid wildlife during sensitive times. Use proper food storage techniques and keep pets under control.
7. Be considerate of other visitors. Be quiet and respect those who seek serenity helps everyone enjoy the park.

Want to learn more? The winter season is a great time to learn new things and build new skills. Check out these skill-building videos from Leave No Trace.  

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.

Get Connected Tech Tip: 

Time to Update your Volunteer Information

As we close out this year, we want to share a few important tips to help you stay engaged, prepare for next season, and grow more comfortable with Get Connected.

Qualification Expirations- If you've noticed you're no longer qualified to sign up for your favorite opportunities, it may be that one or more of your qualifications have expired.  It may be time to complete your annual check off for opportunities that require it. Or, if you've been with us for 3 years, it may be time to update your volunteer handbook signature and background check.

You can review your current Qualification by clicking "Qualifications" from the User Menu after you log in. You'll find your User Menu in the top right had corner next to your initials or your photo.

When you go to RESPOND to the volunteer opportunity, it should lead you through the steps required to update these qualifications. If you need help, just reach out to us in Volunteer Services - we're here to help you!

Update your Volunteer Profile - This is a really good time to review the information in your Get Connected account and update your personal information.

To review and update your volunteer information, simply click "Edit Profile" from your User Menu in the top right had corner by your initials or picture.
Here are some key updates you might want to make:
Address & Phone Number - Are these current?
Emergency Contact - Is this still accurate?
User Role - What service type are you interested in this year - long-term, short-term, single day, etc?
When are you available?
Are your interests and skills still the same?

Review your Volunteer Hours - We are preparing for our end of the year reporting. Accurate reporting of volunteer service is critical in helping us budget resources for the upcoming year and apply for a variety of grants to support our mission.  Please review your 2024 volunteer hours in your account and reach out to Volunteer Services to make any adjustments or corrections.

To review your hours simply click Volunteer Hours on your dashboard after you login and filter by Jan 1 2024 to December 31, 2024. You can also click the link to print your Volunteer Resume to review your hours in a paper form.

Volunteer Services is available to help you! If you need assistance with updating any of this information or renewing your qualifications, please contact us at volunteer.services@metroparks.org or by phone at #937-275-7275. 

 
View more great Get Connected Tech Tips on our Volunteer Blog here.

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