FIELD NOTES BLOG

Making it Easier to Volunteer

Andrea Wallace Noble
April 9, 2026

Removing obstacles to connect you to causes you care about!

If you found this blog post, it’s very likely that you care about the natural and human community around you. I don’t have to convince you that volunteering is important because it provides an average value of $34 an hour of services to an organization,statistically leads to a longer life, and increases outcomes like a sense of purpose and connection. You likely appreciate these benefits and want to support causes you care about through volunteering, but have some obstacles that keep you from service. In this blog, I’m going to explore common obstacles potential volunteers face and ways Severson Dells can make volunteering easier for you! 

I don’t want to make a big commitment.

More than ever, people are leading busy lives. Keeping up with jobs, friends, family, and daily tasks is enough to fill anyone’s plate! We understand that it can be hard to commit to a recurring or standing volunteer opportunity. That’s why all of our volunteer opportunities have no minimum requirement and allow you to select shifts that work for your schedule, including weekends! Some opportunities are as short as an hour. 


If signing up for shifts still sounds daunting, we have an option for you that requires no registration! You might be interested in our drop-in Restoration Workdays, where folks can show up to Severson Dells at 9:00 am on the second Saturday of each month and help us restore our native habitat through invasive species removal or native seed collection. While prior registration helps us communicate with you to prepare for the workday (or let you know about weather-related cancellations), registration is not required. You can evaluate your capacity that day and join us if you are able!

It is hard to find childcare for my kids

As a parent or caregiver, it can be difficult to carve out time for yourself. When you do get some precious moments of alone time, you deserve to use it for rest and relaxation! Instead of waiting for rare moments when you can volunteer alone, we invite you to consider volunteering with your children! 


 Severson Dells offers multiple volunteer opportunities that work well with families. Volunteering together helps instill values of service and community care for your children, provided intergenerational learning opportunities, and is a fun & free way to spend meaningful time together! Here are the age ranges we recommend for volunteering together as a family

  • Community Science: any age.
  • Restoration Workdays: Elementary age and up, able to follow safety instructions and use hand tools with adult supervision.
  • Science Saturday: Elementary age and up, able to follow activity instructions and maintain interest in hosting activity station for a shift.
  • Front Desk: Upper Elementary and up, able to help guests and self-entertain between active service moments (usually volunteers will read, birdwatch, sketch, etc).


:We do welcome volunteers aged 16 and up to volunteer on their own for these service opportunities given their parent or legal guardian completes our volunteer waiver

I love Severson Dells, but it is so far away

We recognize that our community is big and spans the region. Many of you like the idea of volunteering with us but have a hard time making the drive. Fear not, we have many remote volunteer opportunities through our Community Science program! Through our partnership with Rockford Park District, we have plant and wildlife monitoring opportunities spread throughout Winnebago County. You can pick a site that is close to where you live or work to visit and collect valuable information on local species! Our trainings for these programs are virtual, and we are happy to come to you for a field session to show you the protocol at your chosen monitoring location.


I like nature, but I am not very mobile or active

We welcome people with various support needs to volunteer, and recognize how important transparency is in determining whether a volunteer opportunity is a good fit. That’s why we outline some of the essential skills required for our various volunteer opportunities on our volunteer page. You’ll notice that many of our volunteer opportunities- like Front Desk and Science Saturday- don’t require any walking! Our building is wheelchair accessible and our team is always open to conversations about accommodations and accessibility.


Ok, I think I want to start volunteering! What’s next?

I hope that this blog was able to acknowledge the real challenges potential volunteers face. We appreciate our volunteers deeply, and are always willing to work with volunteers to find opportunities that are a good fit for your interests, schedule, abilities, and preferences. If you are ready to jump in and try volunteering with us, I encourage you to explore our various volunteer opportunities over on our volunteering page: www.seversondells.org/volunteer . There, you can see our handy flow chart to help match you with a service opportunity and a button that will take you to our volunteer application. 


We’ll connect with anyone who fills out our volunteer application (or reaches out to me directly at andrea@seversondells.org) to share next steps and get you started.


Thanks for your interest, and we look forward to having you on our team of change-makers and earth-savers!

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