Wanted: Tour Guides and Trail Educators!
Do you love talking to strangers about trees?
Do you want great excuse to go for hikes or hang out on the trails?
We have the volunteer opportunty for you! Become a Tour Guide and/or Trail Educator! Tours happen on Saturday at 12pm as well as special tours that are scheduled separately. Trail Educators can go out at any time, but are especially wanted weekends, holidays, and beautiful summer days and evenings.
If this sounds like a good fit, join us on Thursday, May 23rd from 6:15-8pm for a training and orientation! RSVP to heather.wilkinson@portlandoregon.gov.
Training FAQ's...
Q: If I come to this, am I required to give a tour?
A: Nope. Come and check it out to see if it's a good fit. If it is, great! If it isn't, we still like you.
Q: Do I have to memorize a bunch of stuff?
A: To do full tours, yes. To be a part of our new trail education program, NO! You can get by with knowing just a few things and being your normal charming self!
Q: I can't make it that day. Can I try this out some other time?
A: We're going to try to make a training happen once a month throughout the summer, since we know that scheduling is really hard! I'd love to get you started sooner rather than later though, so we can also schedule a mini training if you're interested, but not available on the 23rd.
Q: Will there be food at this thing?
A: Of course :)
Q: My wife/husband/partner/best friend/neighbor/mail carrier would love this! Can they come?
A: Yes! Please get me their name and email, so that I can get them the confirmation materials. RSVP'ing is crucial, lest we not have enough food. Seriously. Priorities, people ;).
Volunteering at the Arboretum
Volunteers contribute substantially in the areas of gardening, special event staffing, Visitor Center staffing, publications, surveying, database maintenance and more.
Throughout the year volunteer opportunities will be available at the Arboretum working on events, greeting the public at the Visitor Center or joining a work party to make improvements on the trails and collections. We are also happy to work with special school projects or individual projects of interest, where we have the resources to do so!
As a City of Portland park, Hoyt Arboretum complies with the City of Portland standard for all volunteers. This means that folks will need to apply to be a volunteer within Portland Parks and Recreation and consent to a background check.
We rely on, and very much appreciate, the support we receive from our team of volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, just fill in the form below and we'll be in touch with you.
Thank you for your interest!
Be sure to check out all the great pictures of past volunteer events on Facebook!
Our Tuesday Crew was recently featured on an episode of Oregon Field Guide. See our volunteers in action during this great video segment!
Current Volunteer Position Openings
Visitor Center Greeter: Saturdays 11am-3pm - looking for people to share the weekend load. 1-2 Saturdays per month.
Visitor Center Greeter Subsititute: Be "on-call" for shifts that normally scheduled volunteers are unavailable. 1-3 shifts per month in general. More near holidays and during the summer.
Hoyt Ambassadors: We are looking for people interested in joining this team. Trainings will be scheduled as needed and time expectation after training will be 2-4 hours per month. More if you're interested in taking on more shifts.
Tour Guides: We love to offer tours, but to do it, we need guides! Training will occur throughout the summer and tours happen on Saturday at 12pm and as groups schedule with us.
Trail Educators: If you love talking about nature, but hate memorizing, this is the role for you! Talk to visitors on the trails about the collections and the role of the Arboretum. Training is done in conjunction with tour training.
Tuesday Crew: Assist Curator with upkeep of park grounds and tree and plant collections. Shifts are Tuesday morning from 8-12pm, but special times/dates can be set up for groups and are sometimes set up as special events.
If you are interested in these positions, contact Volunteer Coordinator Heather Wilkinson by email, phone: 503.823.4477 or submit your name here.
4000 SW Fairview Blvd., Portland, OR 97221
(503) 865-8733
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