Mission: Helping People with Life Challenges Through Outreach and Interactions with Animals and Nature

VOLUNTEER

In addition to the volunteer opportunities listed below, we have special opportunities for volunteers 55 and over, and are actively seeking volunteers from this age group. Some of the volunteer activities can be done from your home. For more information, please contact info@colbysarmy.org.

Volunteers are the backbone, and the heart and soul of our organization. We have lots of volunteer opportunities, so there is sure to be something that piques your interest!

Every volunteer receives training for each volunteer job, starting with our New Volunteer Orientation, which is a required training for all new volunteers. Volunteers also get lots of support, along with friendship and fun.

Our volunteers range in age from five years old (accompanied by a parent) on up. Several of our volunteers are in their eighties. And, all volunteers have the opportunity to check out books from our library, walk our trails, and sit by our beautiful creek. (Some areas of the property may be closed at times due to weather, lessons, special events, or participant activities, so we ask that you call ahead).

A reminder that we are a smoke, drug, and alcohol-free facility, and that all volunteers must wear close toed shoes, unless they are only doing office work. Please also leave your four-legged friends at home. For everyone's safety, they are not allowed on our property, or to stay in your car.

Some of our many volunteer opportunities include:

Homeless Outreach: Learn how to interact with and  help our homeless friends.  Our outreach volunteers also help organize our food, clothing, street supplies, and and toiletries that we give to those in need.

Gardening: We have amazing organically-grown  vegetable, flower, and herb gardens . Some of our produce goes to our homeless friends, some is used during our special events, and the rest is sold to help support our programs.

Landscaping: We have a beautiful 54-acre property that we are continually improving . From small flower beds to planters, mulch on our trails and short brick walkways, you can help us beautify our surroundings.

Mowing and Bushhogging: We have grass. Lots of it. But we also have  two nice riding lawn mowers and two tractors. Keeping our grass mowed reduces bugs and weeds, so it is a very important job. Come take a ride on one of our mowers! (Must be 16 years of age or or older and have a current and valid drivers' license.)

Trail Blazing: We moved in to many overgrown trails, but have opened  our first leg of wooded trails. Come help us develop trails on our 30+ acres of woods.

Facility Maintenance: There is always something to do here, from a door that has started to sag to installing new fencing, hanging  shelves, and developing trail obstacles for our equine activities. We need handy people like you!

Creek Maintenance and Management: We maintain our stretch of Blue Spring Creek by cleaning out items that have floated downstream, picking up logs and branches, and pulling invasive weeds that grow on the creek bank. Come cool off in the creek and make a difference! (Please wear swim shoes or waterproof boots if you are going into the creek.)

Pasture and Trail Pickup: Sticks and rocks seem to sprout overnight in our pastures and on our trails. Stepping on either can cause a volunteer to twist an ankle or a horse to get a bruised foot. Please come on out, bring your kids, and pick up our sticks and rocks.

Therapy Animal Care: Our therapy horses and cats need to be fed and cared for twice a day. We'd love to add you to their care schedule. This is a great way for horse and animal lovers to get their fix! (Must attend our horse handling training as well as our feeder training.)

Horse Training / Conditioning: We keep our therapy horses mentally and physically strong and that takes continual training and conditioning. We currently seek volunteers who are interested in working with horses on the ground doing such things as desensitizing, ground driving, longeing and round penning, and advanced leading. We also need volunteer riders to condition horses, and also serve as pretend participants in mock (training) lessons. Each of our horses has a height/weight limit, and our horse training/conditioning volunteers must be able to follow a prescribed training program for their assigned horse. (Must previously have attended one of our horse handling trainings, a feeder training, and a leader and sidewalker training, as well round-penning and ground driving training, and  have participated in a riding assessment with one of our PATH instructors.)

Lesson Assistant/ Participant Support: These volunteers work directly with our lesson participants in mounted and unmounted activities. Some lessons are in our garden or other areas of our farm, and some involve horses. Working with our participants can be the most rewarding thing you will do here at our learning center! (Must have attended our horse handling training, and  leader and sidewalker training, or our non-equine general lesson assistant training.)

Librarian: Yes! We have a library. If you love organizing things or love books, our library is for you! Our volunteers and participants can check out any of our books, music, or movies, but we are in constant need of help in reshelving, and logging in and organizing new donations.

Office Help: From data base entry to filing, to sorting papers and even the odd arts and crafts project, we need your help in our office!

Fund Raising: We are funded almost exclusively through grants and private donations and throughout the year we jump from one fun fundraiser to the other. Please join us in helping to bring in funds so we can continue to make a difference in the lives of people with life challenges. We need your enthusiasm and creativity!

Special Events: From the Ashland City Christmas Parade to  our Halloween Party, and our annual Yard Sale Extravaganza, we need your help in planning and executing our special events. Come join the fun!

Interested in Joining Us?

We hope so! Please download our volunteer release and complete it before attending a New Volunteer Orientation. For more information, please email us at info@colbysarmy.org.