what do you need to volunteer?

My experience is at National Parks. Hosting duties there are pretty straightforward and don't include cleaning bathrooms! Paid employees do that. Duties have been pretty diverse and have included such interesting tasks as assisting in star gazing parties (New Mexico) and chasing black bears (Sierras).

2gypsies wrote:
Our volunteering experiences showed that we were treated better as volunteer than paid employees. It's a VERY pleasant experience and you're helping the parks out. They are all short-staffed.

We agree 1000%. When you are no longer treated at least as well as the paid staff it is time to move on.

It has happened only once to us. The staff and coordinator forgot what the word VOLUNTEER meant. No real hard feelings, but after five consecutive seasons, we will not return.

Our volunteering experiences showed that we were treated better as volunteer than paid employees. It's a VERY pleasant experience and you're helping the parks out. They are all short-staffed.

Don't over think this, it is not rocket science. Before you apply you should contact the person "hiring" the volunteers. Ask questions about what experience is required, what you will need to do your tasks. Do you like to dine out? Are there restaurants nearby? Hospitals? Shopping? What about cell service and data or Wifi? I think you will find these people ready and willing to answer all your questions as they want a volunteer to have a good experience at their facility. If they are reluctant to answer your calls/emails/questions move on. Just be honest.

We have been volunteering for the past five summers and have two volunteer positions for 2016. If you do your homework you can and will have a good experience.

We volunteer in VA and MD parks and we are supplied a gator in VA and we have access to a golf cart in the MD park. It is shared by the other hosts in the campgrounds in the park. There are 6 campgrounds and each campground might have at least one host. We have only had one other host that did not seem to know how to share the cart. They both supply some type of clothing to identify us as hosts, VA offers Tshirts and hats and MD offers a vest. We do have our own pickers and buckets, but both states supply latex gloves if we want.

In most cases everything is supplied, but watch the job description BEFORE signing up. I have seen a just a few positions that asked for you to use your own truck to pick up garbage, etc. I did NOT buy a $60,000 truck in order to through someone else's garbage in the back, but the decision is yours. Again this is rare among volunteering jobs. Read the fine print before signing on.

In 9 years, everything was always supplied. That said, we grew tired of having the "bottom of the barrel" when it came to golf carts, gators, etc., so we purchased our own Electric Service vehicle. Certainly an option, but an attractive one for us.

It is nice as it "ours," we know the exact condition of the cart, what it can do and what it cannot. We have only met one other couple in our years that had their own cart, so it is pretty rare.

We have some small items, that can be supplied, but we prefer our own, like a picker, gloves, buckets, etc.

We have always had transportation provided. Most of the time it has been a small Gator or John Deere.

With our extensive volunteering experience, they'll provide anything you need - be it a golf cart or truck plus many other things you hadn't thought about - like a hat, shirt and sometimes even a free meal. :)

We are on our fourth year with OPRD. They supply everything we need except our physical labor. Because we want to we buy our own gloves. Usually one or two pair a year is pretty cheap. Depending on the park we have access to a Gator or golf cart, tools, both hand and power. If for some reason we are asked to go to another park to deliver or pick up some things, we get a state truck. Do I walk a lot? You bet. In June I lost about 6 pounds and the dog lost around 5 because we were way more acrive than at home. If you like to bike, a decent bike can be fun. Most state parks also provide a hat, a vest, or some sort of uniform so campers know who you are. Camp hosting is or can be quite varied. Some systems will want you to clean bathrooms. Others those things are paid ranger duties. I know with OPRD they ask for 20 hours per week per person for a full hookup site. Duties vary from picking up trash, cleaning fire pits, opening and closing gates to digging ditches, mowing grass, fixing sprinkler systems, basically anything a small city might need doing. Above all, they never ask me to do more than I am capable of. Since I am pretty healthy I volunteer to a lot more than the basics.

We host in PA and NC state parks. They should provide everything you need to complete your duties. We do take our two 5 gal buckets and our paper pickers with us. Makes cleaning up much easier.