How many MOCers volunteer or workkamp?

[jrgwdenner]

Glen and I have toyed with volunteering to help pay for the high prices of gas. What have been your experiences? Are short-term positions available, say for a month? Which group is the best to work for, i.e., state parks, national parks, private campgrounds, etc.? We'd love to hear about your experience.

[Montana_4791]

Judy,
Phil and I Workamp and it works out for us great. We do commit to the entire season. One summer we did a volunteer stint for the COE and it was a nice experience. We only worked 1 1/2 days a week in the Visitor Center and received a free full hook up site. There are plenty of different jobs out there, whether paid or volunteer. Two sites to check out...workampernews.com and coolworks.com On the coolworks, go to the volunteer and older and bolder.
Hope this helps, Wendi

[jrgwdenner]

Wendi, that is great information. I didn't realize that you might only have to work 1 1/2 days a week to get a site for the month. Thanks for the links. Our only problem is that we'd like to move about every month or so.

[richfaa]

We are also considering some part time work to defray the hi cost of energy and all that goes with it. I hold a CDL with Air Brake, Passenger and School bus endorsements.We have already contacted School Districts and other places in the Areas where we plan to winter and have received positive feedback as to being able to drive school or charter or shuttle bus. Looks promising if we need to do that... We have some friends in our local camping group that went full time some years ago and workamped. Their only advise was to choose your jobs very carefully.

[bobgay]

Judy, we are about to start (April 1) our first workamping experience. We have volunteered to work at 2 Oregon State Parks for one month each. We will work 20 hours each per week and receive no compensation, but they do provide us with a full hookup site. We see this as giving us a good home base from which we can explore an area entirely new to us. Like you, we like to stay in one place about a month or so. It gives us time to get a feel for the area, then we want to try something new. Most employers seem to want a commitment to work for several months, but if you look around you'll find quite a few who will take you for one month. We joined Workampers and found their website very helpful, although we found these positions on the Oregon State Parks website.
You may want to try something close to home at first, but we felt we would enjoy the trip out here anyway. We decided to roll the dice, and we have had a great adventure getting out here. Give it a try. What do you have to lose? Good luck.
Bob

[jrgwdenner]

I really like the concept of working/volunteering part time and your opportunity in Oregon sounds ideal, Bob and Jan. I think state parks are most likely to take on a couple for a short time, like a month. Your post is encouraging.

[TheCoachPotatoes]

The COE offers volunteer positions. You get a free campsite and they hire volunteers for 1 month and you can move around to different places. If you wish to be paid however, you would need to stay for 4-6 months. Those jobs are contractual and you would have to bid on them. I have been researching this on their website. Check out this webite for Government volunteer positions.

http://www.volunteer.gov/gov/
click on the positions on the left side and you will see a listing of various jobs like Campground Host etc.

[CountryGuy]

Judy, again referring to the Michigan State Parks, as that is what is known to me, a number of the parks have volunteers that come back year after year after year, same month or 6 weeks at a time. This is so popular in some Michigan parks that it is hard to break into a park, cause the spots are all taken. One of the parks we favor, one of the couples wanted to take part of their 6 week stint and go west instead. They asked us to volunteer for their spot cause they don't want to lose it. We tried for them, they are very nice people, but, we never got a call from the campground, so we figure they had someone else to fill the time frame, someone who was already on the "payroll", as it be.

From where I sit it seems that if you find a nice park, with reasonable owners/management, that do not work their work campers too many hours, you will find the same work campers coming back year after year.

This of course, varies from year to year, campground to campground, what your experience is may not be mine. Just like life! With more and more full timers out there, there is a need for more workcampers and more work campers available.

[jrgwdenner]

Great information everybody. It would help pay for a little diesel expenses.

[fulltimedreamer]

Judy,

We have volunteered with Georgia State Parks for the last two summers. We received a free campsite and a free Park Pass for a year. In addition volunteers receive a coupon for 5 free nights in any Georgia State Park. We're going to use ours next week as Debbie is off for spring break. When we get to go fulltime we will definitely be volunteering to help defray some of our costs.

[jrgwdenner]

Lamar, what's the shortest term that you've spent in a Georgia state park?

[rvfirefighter]

I have volunteered for 5 years at St. Andrews S.P. in Panama City, Fl. Great park, great people, look forward to coming back every year.
I volunteered at Vogel S.P. in Blairsville, Ga. that was a mistake, they wanted an unpaid employee, we never did enough to get a good job, they wanted you to do everything. They wanted us to work 5 days a week. Be careful at this place.
I workcamped at Lanier Islands for 6 months a couple of years ago, great job, got paid for all hours, worked on the Houseboat Rental Dock, wife worked in Camper Registration, had alot of fun, but like to travel so we try to do different things.
I have friends that have work-camp and volunteered. Be careful when workcamping, make sure to ask all questions, what will be required and how many hours, and the tax ramifications. We enjoy volunteering, no pay but great sites in the best places.

[jrgwdenner]

David, I've read that the best part of being a volunteer is that you're not an employee! They can't demand that you do anything, no contract, etc. Thanks for the warning.

[bob n pam]

Judy, check with South Dakota parks as they have volunteer spots for a month at a time. Bob and I have volunteered for Monterey County in California, Highlands Hammock State Park in Florida, and US Fish & Wildlife two winters in Arizona. We have managed a campground in the Eastern Sierras for a concessionaire, which was a big job in a big campground. Beautiful place, but not much fun. We really enjoyed volunteering and found that it allowed us to really get to know the area better. It also helps a great deal with expenses.

Pam

[jrgwdenner]

Pam, you described the reasons that we were thinking about volunteering. It gives you something purposeful to do as well as helping to pay some expenses.

[bobgay]

Lamar, your experience with the Ga parks sounds interesting. We use the Ga State Parks often and really like them, particularly the ones with golf courses. Which parks have you volunteered in?

[fulltimedreamer]

quote:Originally posted by jrgwdenner

Lamar, what's the shortest term that you've spent in a Georgia state park?

Judy,

We were at Ft. Yargo State Park for six weeks in 2004 and at Ft. Mountain State Park for a month. They like to have volunteers for at least two months, but due to other commitments we were only available for shorter times. As it turned out they were short on volunteers so they were happy to have us for the shorter periods of time.

[fulltimedreamer]

quote:Originally posted by bobgay

Lamar, your experience with the Ga parks sounds interesting. We use the Ga State Parks often and really like them, particularly the ones with golf courses. Which parks have you volunteered in?

Bob,

We have volunteered at Ft. Yargo and Ft. Mountain. Both hve putt putt, but no real golf courses.

[ols1932]

My wife and I really volunteer. Wherever we go, we see where we can be of help, asking for nothing in return. We consider volunteering to be our way of paying back for what we've been privileged to experience throughout our lives.

Orv

[Native Tex]

We are thinking about doing some work camping when we start our travels in a couple of years. We will need all the advice we can get. Hope some of you have a good idea of how to start this process.