“Volunteering at a local conservation organization” must rank high on the list of new year’s resolutions because we have been the delighted recipient of a slew of inquiries about ways to get involved at Midcoast Conservancy!
The “I’d like to volunteer” emails are the beginning of a conversation about how to engage. As someone who has often found myself enthralled by an organization, then wondered what I’d have to offer, or how to get involved, I know that figuring that out can seem daunting but a call or an email are all it takes to get the ball rolling with us.
Volunteers are the engine house of Midcoast Conservancy. Without the generous, talented dedication of our amazing volunteers there is absolutely no way we could accomplish the scope and scale of work that we do without them. So when we have new volunteers join our merry band, we are thrilled!
Then the matchmaking begins. Do you love having a regular gig, stewarding a favorite trail in your neighborhood or being a property monitor? Is your inner science geek longing to do water quality monitoring on either the Sheepscot or Medomak rivers? Party animal? Join us to plan and throw our big events like the Live Edge Music Festival, fundraising gala, or Race Through the Woods trail race! Dying to put your customer service skills to work? Our newly opened Roland S. Barth Welcome Center at Hidden Valley Nature Center needs you; we are training welcome center stewards to oversee the daily greeting of visitors, provide preserve information, help with gear rentals (skis, bikes, snowshoes and our brand-new kick sleds) and reap the rewards of spending a day in the woods while making a difference for Midcoast Conservancy.
On Saturday, Jan. 28 and Saturday, Feb. 11, we’ll be having Winter Warm-up open houses at the welcome center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Come by and chat with staff about how you can be part of the team, and while you’re there, take a fat bike or a kick sled out on the trail to learn more about what HVNC has to offer. Drinks and snacks will replenish your energy after adventuring!
Whether you can join us at a warm-up event or not, reach out if you have a yen to share your time and talent in service of protecting our precious Midcoast lands and water and inspiring our communities to get outside and engaged in our conservation mission.
(Midcoast Conservancy is an innovative conservation organization working to protect and restore vital lands and waters on a scale that matters. For more information, go to midcoastconservancy.org.)
