A CENTER FOR 21ST CENTURY LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT:
Where the wisdom of the past, present, and future of leadership comes together for the dignity and benefit of all.
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Volunteer With Us
Do We Accept Volunteers?
Yes! We love and are grateful for our teen and adult volunteers! The minimum age for volunteers is 14. Volunteers must have a parent or ward sign for them if they are under 18, and accompany them for their first visit to the ranch. We just want to be sure the parent is comfortable with the facility, with the staff, and with the activities we have their child engaged in. As a registered nonprofit we provide hours toward Bright Futures, Future Farmers of America, and the Veterinary Assisting Program requirements through Harmony High School. We are also qualified to offer community service hours.
What Activities Do Volunteers Participate In?
Horse-related activities include helping to feed, groom, and move the horses to and from their paddocks and arenas, sweeping stalls and shed areas, mucking in the shelters and the paddocks, cleaning the corral panel stalls, dusting and oiling horse tack and keeping the equipment and supplies in our shed clean. Additional facility-related activities include weeding and watering in our flower and herb gardens, assisting with cleaning in the barn, and helping to fill worn areas in the paddocks. We could also use help with volunteer recruitment and supervision; public relations and press releases; identifying and applying for grants; assisting us when we running retreats, events, and programs; and fundraising.
What Screening Do We Do?
After filling in and returning the volunteer application, we do a background check on all potential adult volunteers. Working with horses and possibly being around at-risk populations of the community during programs determines the need for maintaining a safe and secure environment. This process helps ensure the well-being of both our participants and our animals, and upholds the integrity of our programs.
Please fill out the application by clicking the button above, and then return via email or in person. If returning in person, please be sure to make an appointment to meet with Kerul (kerul@firstnaturefoundation.org) at the ranch as there is not always staff available to meet you on a walk-in basis. Then please read through the Volunteer Handbook!
What Rules Do We Have for Volunteering?
Volunteers pick the regular shifts they want to work each week. Shifts are 8:00-11:00am and 3:00-4:30pm daily if you are helping out at the ranch. We use the HomeBase app for scheduling our staff and volunteers, and the app sends the weekly schedule and then shift reminders. Volunteers must use the app to clock in and out if they would like to record their hours towards community service, scholarship hours, or other requirements.
We depend on our volunteers to show up for their shifts to help us with our work at the ranch, and have had to institute a policy that if a volunteer doesn’t show up for a shift without 24 hours notice more than twice in a 4 month period, they lose their volunteer privileges and must reapply for the role after 3 months.
Additional volunteer rules are in this downloadable document.
Volunteer Benefits
Volunteers receive special benefits of membership once they reach a certain number of hours for the year. To learn more about our membership, visit the membership page here.
Friend level: 50 hours per year
Supporter level: 100 hours per year
Sustainer level: 200 hours per year
*First Nature Foundation is a Equine and Nature Facilitated Personal and Professional Development center. We do not provide any form of equine therapy.*