Volunteer eNews March 2017

Spring projects are underway!

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March 2017

Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites

Spring Cleaning and Spring Projects are Underway! Come on out, the weather is great!

Hart

Spring and Summer Host Positions Available!

Spring is here and we have Spring and Summer host positions available throughout the state! Hart Outdoor Recreation Area is looking for independent hosts for now through the summer and early fall. 

For this option and other host options, visit our Host Timeline and apply today. Just click on the green line to submit your requests for the vacant positions.

http://gastateparks.org/volunteer/hosts

Go

Volunteers in Our Parks

BRM AHS VV 2016

Black Rock Mountain

This week at Black Rock Mountain State Park we have 15 volunteers from all over the country helping to maintain the trails thanks to our partnership with the American Hiking Society and the Volunteer Vacations program!

SWC

Sweetwater Creek

Next week we have  volunteers from around the US helping with trails at Sweetwater Creek State Park in conjunction with the American Hiking Society Volunteer Vacations. They will get to experience our unique yurts while they are in the area!

tracy

Volunteer Spotlight

Tracy Ryan has been volunteering with us since 2014. She has helped out in Parks a bit but most of the time I steal her. She is a tremendous asset in helping with Vol Ops! Thanks Tracy!

Upcoming Volunteer Events

Sweep The Hooch

sth

April 8 2017

Sweep The Hooch

Once again we are participating in the annual Sweep The Hooch event. Register through the organizer's website to help clean up the waterfronts at Chattahoochee Bend State Park, Don Carter State Park, Hardman Farm Historic Site, and Sweetwater Creek State Park that are all connected to the Chattahoochee River.

https://chattahoochee.org/sweep-the-hooch/


Tallulah Gorge Mural Painting

paint

Saturday, March 11 2017  9am-3pm

Tallulah Gorge State Park

Join our artist and leave your own mark as we repaint our mural on the South Rim Trail. Volunteers should pack a lunch and water and wear old clothes that they don't mind getting dirty. In the event of rain, the event will be postponed until March 18.

RSVP at 706-754-7981


Equestrian Volunteer Day

vols welcome

Saturday, March 11

Annual Equestrian Volunteer Day at Equestrian-friendly parks:

  • AH Stephens State Park
  • Don Carter State Park
  • General Coffee State Park
  • Hard Labor Creek State Park
  • Watson Mill Bridge State Park

More info and times on Events Calendar


PSA - New Volunteer Uniforms Coming Soon!

uniform

Coming Soon!

New Volunteer Uniforms and New Incentive Items!

Thank you for your patience while we were contracting new volunteer supplies. The new shirt style and color was determined from your choices on the survey sent out in November. We will be stocking forest green polos and t-shirts for both men and women. One universal color! We will be sending out the remaining stocked items before shipping new colors but they are coming soon!

Also, from the survey and your suggestions we will start offering incentive items for you to choose from instead of current incentive items. These will include a fleece vest, a fleece jacket, and a beanie. We will be introducing these a little later this year once. Thanks for your feedback! It makes an impact! Be sure to log your volunteer hours to be eligible for these incentives!


PSA - 5-night Camping Passes

This is just a reminder, only one 5-night camping pass can be used per visit. The 5-night camping pass is a very valuable reward that we are happy to provide to those that earn it. If it is abused we may lose the option to offer it in the future. Please be sure you read the fine print on the pass. There are limits and expiration dates. Thank you!


Correction on the January eNews posting

The January eNewsletter had our 2016 Year In Review and posted our successes and total of hours. The dollar value of the volunteer hour was incorrectly tallied. It was still tremendous totaling: $3,081,972.68 in volunteer in-kind service. Wow! Thanks for all YOU do! Please continue to log those hours so we can show our impact!

Volunteer Resources

Log Hours, Earn Incentives

Start earning your incentives! Use is the website for more information on Volunteer Hours and how incentives are earned.

You can see how many hours you have recorded or were transferred over from 2014 by logging into your time sheet.http://www.trackitforward.com/site/georgia-state-park-and-historic-sites-volunteers-and-hosts/timesheet  

Using this neat Stats feature, you can see where you are in the overall documentation of hours for volunteers all over the state: https://www.trackitforward.com/site/georgia-state-park-and-historic-sites-volunteers-and-hosts/stats

Thank you for your patience as we transitioned to this tracking software in 2014. Your information is now accessible by you, park managers as well as myself. However, it is completely private and not accessible by anyone outside of Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites.

Volunteers Defined: We love and need them all!

Community Volunteers-Help on a day-to-day basis at a Park as they are available. Our community volunteers help with leading hikes, helping with maintenance, assisting with the visitor or retail center, guide new visitors to park activities and locations. Those volunteering more than once per month or planning to volunteer more than 20 hours per year need to update registration.

Hosts (Campground, Yurt, Maintenance, Golf, Train)-Stay in their personal RV at designated free Host Site for 2-6 months in exchange for a minimum of 24 hours of volunteer work.  Host duties include: visitor assistance and maintenance.  All hosts are required to update registration to still be considered for hosting.

Group Volunteers-This is for Churches, Corporations, Scouts and Universities who want a tailor-made project that will strengthen the group as individuals as well as a team morale while assisting Georgia State Parks. Only the group leader will need to be registered in our system.

How are we doing? 

In order for Georgia State Parks to continue to thrive and grow, even in these lean budget times, we need to get feedback from those that utilize our services and Parks. As Volunteers and Hosts, you have the same rights and anonymity in park observations and feedback as our Park Staff.  Please use this quick survey form to share your experiences with us. Thanks for reading!  Please feel free to share with others.  If you need to contact us: Volunteer Program Manager: nyleta.wallace@dnr.ga.gov  or Carly Nielsen the Assistant Volunteer Coordinator at carly.nielsen@dnr.ga.gov

  As always, thank you for being a steward for Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites!

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