Support > Volunteer

Volunteer

CDRI from a volunteer’s perspective is being a part of everything—sweeping the floor, bringing goodies to eat, laughing with really good friends, caring deeply about the place and the staff who bring so much energy to an important mission…sharing. Thoreau said ‘when we try to pick out anything by itself we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.’ He was talking about the land and ecology.  Well, I guess that’s how I feel about CDRI. It’s all about the parts—the staff, including volunteers, the members, and the land—and how they are woven together to make the whole that is CDRI. CDRI is special.”
—Martha Hansen, 2004

The CDRI has more than 125 volunteers that help us with a little bit of everything. There are many opportunities for a volunteer to stretch and grow, to get out in nature and learn something about the region we live in and our world. Don’t you want to volunteer at the Nature Center?

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, give us a call at 432.364.2499 or contact Volunteer Coordinator Susan Penney at spenney [at] cdri [dot] org.

Some of our immediate needs are:

  • Help us with the 350 students who will be attending Earth Rocks!!! on October 11, or help us with setting up before the event.
  • “Yank and Yak” meets every Thursday from 8:30 – 10:30am. This fun and social group of folks work together at tidying up the Botanical Garden and Cactus Greenhouse.
  • “Adopt a Plant”: Plants do better with individual loving care. We’re looking for folks who would like to contribute a few hours every month to individual plants or group plantings. And, if it’s okay with you, we’d like to include a sign showing you are the plant’s guardian.
  • Visitors Center Gift Shop: We need a few friendly folks to who would like to work a couple of hours on Saturdays greeting visitors and helping out in our Leapin’ Lizards Gift Shop.

Explore the links below to learn more about general volunteer opportunities at the nature center:

Visitor’s Center volunteers work in the gift shop, greet visitors, assist with bulk mailings, and do all kinds of indoor work.

Special Events volunteers help plan big events, set up and clean up after events, and work at various jobs—from education programs to serving food to photography—during events.

Garden volunteers pot, plant, dig holes, water, trim and basically get their hands dirty.

Education volunteers guide hikes and help with all our various educational events.

Research volunteers count birds, butterflies, and plants, take photographs, and log data.