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Park Services Division Volunteer Information


VOLUNTEERS
SHARING HEALTH & FITNESS
USE YOUR TALENTS, ENERGY AND TIME TO CONNECT. WITH YOUR HELP WE CAN DO MORE!

Mission

The mission of the Park Services’ Volunteer Program is to expand and enhance golf course, RECenter and community park facilities and services through the recruitment and participation of the volunteers in the delivery of quality customer service.

Welcome to our Volunteer Program

The Park Services Division boasts nearly 1,000 core (long-term) volunteers and hundreds of short-term volunteers. Their contributions constitute a remarkable display of community commitment. Together with the Park Authority’s dedicated professional staff, and with the training and supervision provided by the Park Authority, our volunteers play a vital role. As they serve their community, they improve their own well-being through participation in our volunteer program.

Sousan Frankeberger, Volunteer Events Program Manager

2011 PARK SERVICES
OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR

Charlie Hummel   John Hopkins   Thomas Gugliuzza-Smith
John Flippin   Bill Masker   Brenda Reed
Doyle Jamison   Margaret Turek   Skip Dutrow

Christine Simpson

VOLUNTEER PROFILE

If it weren't for volunteering at Hidden Pond Nature Center during her middle and high school years, Christine Simpson says she wouldn't be where she is today.

"I skipped school and got into trouble on a regular basis because I was bored," Simpson said. "My mom made me volunteer, and it was of the best things that ever happened to me. Mike McCaffrey and the other staff at Hidden Pond made a huge difference in my life."

Simpson says the staff made her feel like a valued member of their team by entrusting her with important responsibilities like giving visitors tours of the center, taking care of the animals and learning about wildflowers and other plants. She also helped teach younger children about wildlife by performing in skits at the nature center. Her volunteer service helped the center fulfill unmet needs, and it changed the course of her life.

"I had no idea that science and nature could be so interesting," she said. "The staff there taught me so many valuable skills. After my first year at Hidden Pond, I changed all my class electives to science and math and later went to college for horticulture and landscape architecture."

Today, Simpson is a landscape architect who designs playgrounds for the Arlington County government. The designs she likes most are the ones that include natural themes like rain gardens and other planting designs to manage rainwater – opportunities that were inspired early on, no doubt, through her volunteer work at Hidden Pond.

Her advice to teenagers today: "Test out things to see what you're interested in. Until you experience a lot of different things, you won't really know what you're interested in, and volunteering is a great way to learn."

VOLUNTEERS RECEIVE THE BENEFITS OF...

Free RECenter facility use: Volunteers who maintain an average of four hours of service per week or three weekly classes per class session as an Adapted Aquatics assistant, can use their RECenter’s general facilities free of charge

Community Park Benefits: Currently active Community park volunteers who have consistently maintained an average of four hours of service per week can use EITHER the Free RECenter facility Use of the partnering RECenter, OR their site’s Community Park benefit.

Free RECenter classes: Volunteers who have served a minimum of 32 hours and maintain an average of eight hours of service per week, or volunteer as an Adapted Aquatics assistant for four weekly classes per class session are eligible to take one free FCPA class per session on a space available basis.

Family Discount Pass


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