Volunteer at the wild america nature festival!

 
Volunteering is a rewarding experience and the Wild America Nature Festival needs your help to be a success! Volunteering is  great way to donate time to a worthy cause AND you get a sweet volunteer package!

Volunteer Packages: In return for at least five hours of your time volunteering to help make the Wild America Nature Festival a success, you will receive: one Weekend Pass to the 2017 Wild America Nature Festival; one Wild America Nature Festival t-shirt; and one pass to RTPI (total package worth $52). Volunteers who work for 10+ hours over the course of the festival will receive a bonus of one Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, a Panama Rocks Season Pass, and your RTPI pass will be upgraded to an RTPI Annual Pass (total package worth $110).

Jobs for Volunteers: We need volunteers for various activities (about 50/day during the festival, about 4-6 to help with setup, and another 3-4 to help with clean-up). Descriptions of each job are below. Volunteers can overlap in more than one category:

• Festival Ground Prep and Set Up (4-6 volunteers): Help out before the festival preparing the grounds, including refurbishing entry booths, outlining vendor booth areas, putting up signs, etc. 
• Admissions Booth (6 volunteer shifts/day): Ticket sales at the festival gate and provide information to new guests.
• Merchandise Sales (6 volunteer shifts/day): We will have some t-shirts, water bottles, and other items for sale. Help us sell them!
• Parking (6 volunteer shifts/day): Help guests navigate our parking field and park their cars.
• Participant Liaison (6 volunteer shifts/day): Help watch vendor/information booths for artists/farmers/participants who need a quick break, assist festival speakers setting up their presentations, and assist where needed.
• Recycling/Clean-Up (6 volunteer shifts/day): This is a nature festival. There will be some garbage but we will be encouraging guests to recycle, compost, and keep our grounds clean. Help us keep the Wild America Nature Festival and Panama Rocks green and pristine! This job entails removing/replacing trash/recycling cans as needed and helping clean the bathrooms before and after the festival.
• First Aid (4 volunteer shifts/day): We need a small number of people who can respond to emergencies. Medical/CPR/First Aid certification is required.
• Security (4 volunteer shifts/day): We need a small number of people who can help keep our grounds safe. Preference is given to those with security training. Volunteers working security will be asked to help in other capacities as needed.
• Guest Services (4 volunteer shifts/day): We need a small number of people who can answer the phone, conduct guest surveys, and answer questions.
• Post-Fest Clean Up (3-4 volunteers): We're going to need help cleaning up park grounds on the Monday after the festival.
• Night Crew (4-6 volunteers by invitation only): The job of the Night Crew is to keep an eye on things at night and be the first point of contact for emergencies or questions that arise after hours.  Preference is given to those with security training. The Night Crew keeps an eye on the grounds in shifts from 7:00pm until 9:00am on Friday and Saturday night. Night Crew volunteers must camp on site and may sleep during some of their shift, but will be required to conduct periodic walks of the grounds and be "on call" during their shift. This is a two-night commitment (Friday and Saturday).

Shifts: For most scheduled jobs during the festival there are two volunteer shifts per day: from 9:00am to 2:00pm both days, 2:00pm to 7:30pm on Saturday, and 2:00pm to 7:00pm on Sunday. Exceptions to this are Pre-Festival Ground Prep, Festival Set Up, Post Festival Clean Up, and Night Crew. The earlier you apply, the more flexibility we will have in assigning you preferred shifts and duties. Volunteers may be asked to perform other duties as needed in emergencies. 

Requirements: Volunteers must either be 18 years old or have parent/guardian approval to volunteer. You will be required to sign a volunteer waiver before your first shift begins.

Submitting this form is considered a commitment to volunteer. We will be planning shift schedules based on what volunteers commit to do and rely on volunteers to fulfill their commitment. No-call-no-shows will not be allowed to volunteer for future events.

​Volunteers who wish to attend the festival on Saturday and volunteer on Sunday must pay for their admission on Saturday and will then be reimbursed at the end of their volunteer shift.

How to Apply: In order to apply to volunteer, please fill out and submit the following form. After you submit this form you should receive an email "Accepted for the Wild America Crew" within seven days. A second email with your crew assignments will be sent later. If you haven't heard from us within 10 days please call or email to check your status - don't forget to check your junk mail for our emails!
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