Make a Difference Day is back!
Join us Saturday, Oct. 23, from 9 AM to noon for Make a Difference Day. Community members of all ages will work at various sites throughout Five Rivers MetroParks to help clean up our parks and prepare for the winter season. Make a Difference Day is a great way to get outside and give back this October. Register your family, friends, or your workgroup to make a real impact this fall in your Five Rivers MetroParks. Learn more and sign up here!
Make a Difference Day is sponsored by Montgomery County Environmental Services, Keep Montgomery County Beautiful, Lexis Nexis and QEI Engineers Inc.
Volunteers pictured: Sarah Locker and Elaine Sorah
No horsing around - Carriage Hill Riding Center offering fall training for new volunteers
The Carriage Hill Riding Center will be accepting new volunteers this fall. All volunteers start out as barn aides, providing fresh food and water for the horses. Additionally, barn aides clean stalls, guide horses out to pasture, provide light grooming and more. After completing barn aide training, volunteers may choose to complete additional training to assist with pony rides, lessons and campers, or serve as trail guides.
Training will be conducted both virtually and on site. Those interested in volunteering at the Carriage Hill Riding Center can
Find the right opportunity for you by visiting our Parks and Conservation opportunities sign up here or our Programming opportunities sign up here. For assistance signing up for an opportunity, email volunteer.services@metroparks.org or call 937-275-PARK. We're here to support you!
Volunteer Pictured: Kery Gray
Help support our partners - opportunities available!
Wegerzyn Gardens Foundation
Gift and Garden Shop at the 2nd Street Market
Foundation volunteers are needed to support the Wegerzyn Gardens Foundation's Gift and Garden Shop, located at the 2nd Street Market, on Saturdays and Sundays. Proceeds from the gift shop support special projects and programs at Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark. For more information or to get started as a Wegerzyn Gardens Foundation volunteer, please contact the foundation at contact@wegerzyngardensfoundation.org.
Notre Dame Mission AmeriCorps
Opportunities to serve Five Rivers MetroParks
Five Rivers MetroParks, in partnership with Notre Dame AmeriCorps, has AmeriCorps positions available. AmeriCorps members give a year of service and receive a $16,000 living allowance and a $6,345 education award. More information and the application are available at ndmva.org or by emailing dayton@ndmva.org.
New Get Connected site is open for training
MetroParks' new volunteer management site is now open for training and practice through Dec. 1. All volunteer opportunities listed in the site during this time will be for practice only. All of our available volunteer opportunities will continue to be posted on Signup.com during this time. The Get Connected volunteer management site will go live with volunteer opportunities beginning Jan. 1, 2022.
Self-guided site training materials are available for you to get connected to the new system. Log in, build your profile and practice searching for volunteer opportunities. You also can practice signing up, checking in and cancelling your volunteer opportunity. View available training resources in the training library and read through the latest volunteer news in our blog.
Volunteer Services will be scheduling site trainings in coordination with regularly scheduled volunteer opportunities throughout October and November, as well as providing additional training opportunities for volunteers to ask questions and grow more comfortable with the site.
As a thank you for taking the time to learn about the new site and complete your Get Connected profile - including qualifications - Volunteer Services will be offering a new volunteer T-shirt to each long-term volunteer who completes the training and their Get Connected profile before Dec. 1.
Volunteer Spotlight: Susan Witherspoon
Susan Witherspoon began her volunteer journey with Five Rivers MetroParks in 2009 by serving in a variety of opportunities connected with her passion for gardening. This included a variety of opportunities at Cox Arboretum MetroPark, such as gardening in the Edible Landscape Garden and leading tram garden tours and Learning from the Landscape walks.
"Susan has always been willing to share her ideas and offer constructive solutions to horticulture issues we have in the Edible Landscape Garden and throughout the grounds at Cox Arboretum," said MetroParks horticulturalist Kelly Wood. "I appreciate Susan's smile, encouragement and many years of experience that I can learn from. Susan made an amazing PowerPoint to help other staff and volunteers accurately identify the native species we collect seeds for. Her efforts continue to help educate others and result in the seed collection of native plants that we propagate at Cox Arboretum MetroPark. Thank you so much for your efforts, Susan. They have truly helped to make a better world!"
Susan also has been a reliable asset in volunteer roles behind the scenes at MetroParks, supporting a variety of administrative projects at our main office in downtown Dayton. On Fridays, she routinely supports our finance department.
"She is the highlight of Friday mornings," said account specialist Sheila Edwards. "Susan is very detail-oriented, can handle any task she is asked to do, and sometimes comes up with a better way to do it. Her easy and pleasant way make her such a joy to have as part of the team!"
Volunteers truly are the difference at Five Rivers MetroParks. From all of us, thank you, Susan, for all you do!
Report your hours to help us measure impact and apply for grants
Recording and reporting your volunteer service hours with Five Rivers MetroParks is an extension of your volunteer service with the agency. Recording your hours helps our staff determine budget needs, apply for grants, request sponsorships and much more.
This year, most of our volunteer opportunities were tracked in Signup.com. Volunteer Services will be working throughout December to pull reports from Signup.com to record annual service hours for each long-term volunteer.
If you serve in a volunteer capacity that was not tracked in Signup.com or if you have a timesheet to submit, please send it to volunteer.services@metroparks.org or mail it to our main office:
Five Rivers MetroParks
c/o Volunteer Services
409 E. Monument Ave., Third Floor
Dayton, OH 45402
Timesheets are due before Dec. 31. Starting in 2022, all volunteer service hours will be tracked online in the new Get Connected volunteer management system.
Volunteers pictured: Bob Bell and Leslie Couch
Thank you, Twin Valley Trail Challenge Volunteers
The Twin Valley Trail Challenge, which took place on Saturday, Sept. 25, was a huge success with more than 100 hikers - some of whom completed the entire 28.7-mile trail in one day. Volunteers supported registration for the event, aid stations along the trail and more. Without the support of dedicated volunteers, this event would not be possible and participants were very grateful for volunteers' support.
"This was an absolutely awesome event," said participant Kathie Bowers. "Great job to FRMP and the volunteers that made it happen."
Keep up the great work, volunteers.
Volunteer Resources
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.
Contact Information
Allie Zimmerman - Parks & Conservation (937) 274-3176
Candy Holloway - Horticulture & Sustainability (937) 275-5006
Janelle Leonard - Business Operations & Visitor Services (937) 277-5445
Yvonne Dunphe - Outdoor Connections Programming (937) 277-4147
Jenny Hymans - Human Resources Manager of Volunteer Services (937) 567-1413
