Welcome Promise Ranch Therapeutic Riding!
Promise Ranch Therapeutic Riding is now a member of Volunteer Connect Douglas County and is actively posting volunteer opportunities!
Promise Ranch helps their clients to minimize disability and maximize ability through the provision of safe, high-quality, and effective equine assisted activities and therapies.
Their vision is to serve and empower our community including those with differing abilities, Veterans, and families through healing with horses and other animals. They offer Adaptive Riding lessons, as well as Hippotherapy including Speech, Occupational and Physical Therapies both on and off the horse.
They have many volunteer opportunities including horse care, lesson assistance and administrative tasks. Click here for volunteer opportunities.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service – Jan 20
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is held on the third Monday of January. It celebrates the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr., an influential American civil rights leader. Millions of Americans honor Dr. King by contributing their time, hard work, and enthusiasm to making their community a better place.
“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
HRCA Volunteer of the Month
Vicki Leigh is the December Volunteer of the Month at Highlands Ranch Community Association. Vicki is originally from Miami, Florida and earned her degree in Elementary Education from TCJC College in Arlington, Texas. She has been volunteering with Therapeutic Recreation for a year, and ably assists with the Thrilling Thursdays young adult program, and Special Olympics bowling. Her advice to new volunteers! “Be patient and flexible. Be willing to step out of your comfort zone.” Thank you and congratulations Vicki!
Volunteer at the Parade on Dec 14
Do you enjoy events, like to meet new people and want to give back to the community? If you love Parker and want to be a part of helping us keep our hometown feel, we’d love to have you join our volunteer group for the Christmas Carriage Parade on Saturday, December 14, 2019. Volunteers are an integral part of the Town’s signature events. Parker is able to put on these signature community events largely thanks to our amazing volunteers who lend their time and talents to us.
We are seeking Parade Route and Street Closure Marshals for this year’s parade. All positions are a one-day obligation and shifts vary depending on what you are interested in. There is also something for everyone. If you’d like to be in the heart of the activity, the Parade Route Marshal will be a great volunteer position for you! Parade Route Marshals will be responsible for assisting with crowd control along an assigned portion of the parade route and will be standing or walking the entire time. They will be tasked with reminding patrons to stay off the street during the parade and assisting with any event questions. For those who would rather be a little bit away from the main crowd, our Street Closure Marshal would be a great position for you. These volunteers will be positioned at street closure intersections. Volunteers at this position will be monitoring the closure area and assisting with giving out information for alternate ways to get around parade closures. This position will be able to bring their own lawn chair and may have some down time during certain parts of the day. For more information on volunteer opportunities, please visit the Christmas Carriage Parade Volunteers page on Volunteer Connect or contact Brooke Spain at bspain@parkeronline.org or 303.805.3253.
The Town of Parker also has a variety of other events throughout the year and we’re always looking for volunteers, so be sure to check out our opportunities here.
Welcome Salvation Army!
The Salvation Army is now a member of Volunteer Connect Douglas County and is actively posting volunteer opportunities!
The Salvation Army is serving the community of Douglas County providing seasonal support and year round programs to those in need. Through generosity and precious valuable time given by volunteers, the Salvation Army is able to meet the community needs. Volunteers are critical partners in helping The Salvation Army fulfill their promise to America of “Doing the Most Good.”
It doesn’t take much to Make Change Happen in our community. All it takes is a few hours of your time ringing at a Salvation Army Red Kettle. Ring the bell for a good cause! Help families in need during Christmas and throughout the year.
Red Kettle History: https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/red-kettle-history/
Click here for volunteer opportunities.
2019 CAL Outstanding Volunteer
Congratulations to Nichole Walters, named the 2019 Colorado Association of Libraries’ (CAL) Outstanding Volunteer.
Nichole began volunteering for Douglas County Libraries (DCL) in 2014 at the Highlands Ranch branch. Initially, she helped with the Summer Reading Program, Simple Science series, Movin’ and Groovin’ Storytimes, Technology Fair, and prepared crafts for events. Nichole’s huge heart and giving spirit soon led her to become a Lead Volunteer in our Homebound Delivery program, delivering library materials to those in our community who are unable to visit the library themselves due to illness or injury.
In early 2018, Nichole became instrumental in processing donated materials for online sales through Amazon. And later that year with the Highlands Ranch branch renovation and closure, she drove the 42-mile round trip weekly for nearly six months to continue the operation out of another branch.
Nichole’s volunteer efforts have helped support our DCL Foundation by providing scholarships for Camp DCL for children as well as literacy-based programs like Cuddle Up & Read which introduces new parents to the library’s early literacy services.
Nichole is always among the first to offer her help. She has super-human stamina and is dauntless in the face of obstacles no matter how insurmountable they may seem. She does it all with a quiet dedication that touches lives but seeks no credit or recognition. DCL is truly honored to have Nichole as a volunteer!
Make a Difference Day 2019
National Make a Difference Day is an annual community service event which is held on the fourth Saturday in October. Join many volunteers across the country on October 26, 2019 with a common mission to improve the lives of others through community service.
Click here and find an opportunity in your Douglas County, Colorado community.
It’s fun helping people connect with their books, media, and devices!
I’d spent the better part of my twenty years in Douglas County enjoying the rich offerings of its library system, from simply checking out books, to using its study rooms, to attending author readings, when I decided it might be fun to volunteer. A friend had told me about her experience shelving books and I thought I might try my hand at it. Little did I know how much fun it would be to help people of all ages “connect” with their books, their DVDs, their Go-Pro cameras, book kits, and all manner of other devices and media.
I have truly enjoyed this experience of volunteering the amazing MHT team. I have such respect for you all. (And I have never minded one minute of my time in the children’s section, shelving their books and being reminded all the while of our family’s own amazing years reading books by many of the same authors — Jan Brett, Eric Carle, to name a few— with our children.) It’s been fun to see what books our patrons are reading, and discover a few new authors. I’ve also loved helping people find their books in the Holds section. (Sometimes it’s a bit like being a detective, or coach, but always a delight when the patron and I find what they are looking for. Finally, the simple act of touching physical books and DVDs has brought me back to reading “real” books. A lost pleasure now back in my hands!
Most importantly, it’s been great to have an insider’s glimpse at the work of the library staff and all they do to promote learning in so many ways. What a resource to the community! I think all of you should be confident that you’re doing meaningful work.
Volunteer Connect and Jennifer Rawson, helped me find a shelving shift that would work, changed it when needed, and made sure that I was properly trained in the work. I’ve also loved all the ways the library staff work to make volunteers feel as if they are a true part of the team. A highlight was a volunteers appreciation lunch, along with a demonstration by staff of all the things — beyond just books and DVDs — that can be checked out … like a ukulele, or the Go-Pro camera, … the personal hotspot and, do I have this right? A sewing machine. All of this has helped me become a volunteer, and be proud of myself in that role. Thank you! – Brenda
Volunteering is so rewarding!
I want to share my special experiences as a volunteer with the Philip Miller library. I volunteer weekly to shelve the books on hold and sometimes shelve books in the children’s section. In my weekly volunteering, I interact both with the staff and library patrons. I am always treated with respect and appreciation for doing my (easy) job. The staff always greets me by name and thanks me for helping. I am surprised that the library patrons who arrive to get their books on hold thank me for being there to help. I have volunteered with other agencies and I have never experienced such gratitude and friendliness. I volunteer because I love books and love the libraries that offer those books to the public. I volunteer for the DC Philip Miller library because I appreciate the people who make all of this possible. Volunteering has never been so rewarding. Thank you for this experience. -Bonnie
National Day of Service – September 11th
September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance is the culmination of efforts, originally launched in 2002 that promotes community service on 9/11 as an annual and forward-looking tribute to the 9/11 victims, survivors, and those who rose up in service in response to the attacks.
Volunteer Connect Douglas County is a great resource to find the perfect volunteer opportunity in your community. Simply search the portal by geographic area, area of interest, date, and/or desired organization. You can choose from one-time, short and long-term opportunities. Register as an individual, family or group. Search Volunteer Opportunities
Thank you for making a difference in Douglas County, Colorado!
