HVZ Staff Requests

In general, volunteers are:

• Ages 10-13 with a parent/guardian, or 14+ to volunteer on their own.
• Mostly retired, in-between jobs, part-time employed, college students and/or K-12 students with a parent/guardian.
• Many of them have a background or interest in some kind of conservation and/or animal care field, but we also attract many teachers and healthcare workers.
• English speaking with varying degrees of fluency in a foreign language (Spanish is the most common)
• Community members who grew up with HVZ. They volunteer to give back to the zoo that raised them, and to rekindle a sense of childhood fun.

Volunteers are an excellent option when you need help directing or informing guests in any way. Many of our volunteers act as greeters and interpreters. We have utilized volunteers to interpret outside exhibits during public-facing animal care. They have provided an extra set of eyes and interpretation during times when we have pregnant or infant animals.

Volunteers can provide extra manual labor. They can weed, mulch, plant and paint. If we have volunteers whose specific skills match up with our needs, we may also have them help with specific projects. A good example of this would be the engineering company who assembled our planter boxes in the pollinator garden.

Volunteers trained in ongoing roles can help within the areas in which they've been trained. For example, a volunteer trained as only an Animal Ambassador Docent can handle a python, but cannot run the train or carousel.

We can be pretty flexible and creative with volunteer roles, but there are some things that volunteers can’t do:

• Volunteers cannot do any role that is not fun and meaningful – for them or for us. We don’t ask volunteers to help with something that we ourselves wouldn’t want to do.
• Volunteers cannot substitute for a paid staff member. However, they may be able to assist a paid staff member in their duties. An example of this would be a volunteer answering in-person questions at guest services while the clerk take phone calls and emails.
• Volunteers cannot represent HVZ off site in an official capacity without express permission from the Volunteer Coordinator. We vet every off site ask to make sure that it aligns with HVZ’s mission and vision.
• Volunteers cannot handle money.
• Volunteers cannot operate dangerous machinery.

A volunteer request can include the following services:

• Initial request review
• Project/event planning help
• Volunteer recruitment
• Volunteer training - this includes the creation of any online training or supplemental materials
• Day-of in-person volunteer coordination
• Email, phone & text communication to volunteers before, during and after the requested date
• Volunteer feedback - this includes the creation of a volunteer survey, and compiling feedback into an Excel document
• Final summary highlighting successes, challenges and recommendations

In general, the earlier the better! Reasonable amounts of time to work on a request vary by size and complexity of the roles and are generally as follows:

• Small (1-4): 3wks
• Medium (5-10): 5wks
• Large (11-20): 2mos
• Extra Large (21+): 3mos