The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is one of the nation's leading federal providers of outdoor recreation with more than 400 lake and river projects in 43 states, and volunteers play a crucial role in the success of the USACE recreation program. Volunteers contribute many hours helping enhance the quality of services provided to the public, ensuring public safety and creating a welcoming environment for all visitors.
“Our volunteers play such an valuable role to our mission, and we just could not do it without them,” said Adam Taylor, Louisville District Rough River Lake park ranger and volunteer program
coordinator. “There is not a way to track everything they do. They are the glue that hold us all together. They have servants’ hearts and love helping people.”
The volunteer program is an instrumental part of our operation, Taylor added.
“The way it works is we will have volunteers sign up to perform services for us. In exchange for them volunteering 24 hours of their service per week, we provide them a free full hook up campsite,” Taylor said. “A lot of the volunteers are retired couples that travel around the country and live permanently out of their camper. So, this gives them a way to travel, be outdoors, and see the country while still having the ability to make people’s lives better.”
Rough River Lake currently has eight volunteers on staff, although they would love to have more.
“In an ideal world we would like to have two volunteers per campground and another pair to help us with the beaches, so we would love to have 18, which would allow us to cover more toll house hours and other things,” Taylor said. “However, the eight that we have now are really knocking it out of the park this summer.”
Rebecca (Becky) Stickley is a volunteer at Laurel Branch Campground; Jimmy and Jody O’Brien are beach volunteers; Roger and Bambi Moore volunteer at North Fork Campground; Victoria (Vicki) Williams is a volunteer at Axtel Campground; and Shirley and Barry Snyder are volunteer attendants at Cave Creek Campground.
Stickley said she learned about the volunteer opportunity online.
“YouTube is my window to the world. I was looking at RV videos and one thing led to another thing which led to another thing, and I heard about people who did work camping,” Stickley explained. “After I retired, I was retired for five years, and it was not good for me. I took a job as a concierge at a senior living facility and at the time, there was a fine line between myself and the residents. Then I asked myself, do I want to spend the rest of my life in pajamas in a recliner in front of a TV or do I want to go and do and explore while I can? I took control of my health and lost some weight, and after two years I decided it was time. When I sent my resume to Ranger Taylor, he got right back to me and was very enthusiastic. He beat out the competition.”
The O’Briens have volunteered at Rough River Lake for five years now and say they look forward to it each summer.
“We open and close the day use-area here and the beach area for Laurel Branch,” said the O’Briens. “We love the rangers here and the visitors, and we love helping people – keeping the place clean. It’s just fun! This is why it’s our fifth year doing this.”
The Moores agree and have a lot of fun with the visitors, especially for the campground’s “Christmas in July” event where the couple dressed up as Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.
“For Christmas in July, we gave out chalk, we had a ton of boxes with little toys for the kids, treats for the dogs, and we gave out suckers to all the kids in the park,” said the Moores. “We had one couple with three kids over giving us the third degree saying, ‘you’re not Santa Claus!’ and I’d say ‘Sure, I am! We come here in the summer to keep an eye on you make sure you’re being good!’ So, needless to say, we have a lot of fun here.”
Being a volunteer at Rough River Lake, and other USACE lake projects, consists of checking campers in and out of the camp site, handing out hangtags and being the “eyes and ears” of the campground, explained Taylor. When issues arise, they notify USACE staff and park rangers show up to help. Those issues could be anything from power outages, someone set up on a site that is already reserved, unruly campers next door, a site pedestal not working, bathroom issues, or playground or beach concerns.
“This is hard for them because a lot of times they are the first to field complaints from the public,” Taylor said.
As the volunteer coordinator at Rough River Lake, Taylor ensures all clerical work is complete prior to the volunteer’s start date.
“We create volunteer agreements for each volunteer and set the expectation for what their job tasks will be,” Taylor said. “Each volunteer must go through a background check and be cleared by security before moving in.”
Once those processes are complete, Taylor provides the volunteers with name tags, shirts and hats to be sure they have the correct uniform and are identifiable to the public. The Rough River Lake team hosts an orientation day each year where the team sits down with all the volunteers to discuss the program duties and to answer any questions volunteers may have.
“I will also meet with them several times a month to make sure everything is going as it should and to ensure they don’t need any supplies, or to see if I can help them with anything. They each have my cell number, as well as other ranger’s numbers, in case something comes up they need direction with,” Taylor said. “We are always in constant communication with them.”
Taylor is also responsible for making sure volunteers turn in their hour logs each month to track their time.
“I tell my volunteers all the time, we could not do it without you. And as volunteers, we do not have any way to bind them here, as they could pick up and leave at any time,” Taylor said. “We are very lucky to have them as part of our team.”
To learn more or to search and apply for opportunities at USACE recreation areas and facilities, visit www.volunteer.gov.