Outdoor Campus West in Rapid City not only educates the public about hunting, fishing or outdoor skills, they also need volunteers to make the place successful.
Katie Schlafke is the Volunteer Coordinator and Naturalist at Outdoor Campus West, and she says there are opportunities for gardening and landscaping in the warmer months, front desk greeters and many more.
“So a volunteer is anyone who’s interested in the outdoors and someone who wants to pass their knowledge or interests on to somebody else and help them enjoy the outdoors in whatever activity, you know, as much as they do,” said Katie.
Outdoor Campus West also has a wide range of classes revolving around hunting, fishing and outdoor skills.
“We have our Hunting 101 program where we rely on volunteer mentors to help us teach participants how to go out in the field and go on a hunt. We have, you know, community fishing programs where it’s just an intro, come learn how to fish, fly fish and then outdoor skills,” she said. “So anything revolving backpacking paddling, fire building, shelter building, anything like that.”
Cheyenne Parke, the School Programs Coordinator, says all of the programs like school and community programs are free. She also says they are looking for volunteers who are interested in helping out with their school programs.
“We would love to get some retired teachers or people who are interested in working with kids and helping them teach everything about the outdoors, environmental science and that kind of thing,” she said.
Kat Moore volunteers at Outdoor Campus West with her husband. She volunteers with the school-aged children and with cooking classes while her husband volunteers as a mentor and with the shooting sports classes.
“I enjoy volunteering,” Kat said. “I think it’s a great use of my time and it’s a great resource for our community. And if you have the time to do it, you absolutely should give back to the community that helps you.”
If anyone wants to volunteer, the volunteer application is available online here.
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