Raise Your Hand

It isn’t out of the ordinary that we at Camp Kudzu attend national conferences and trainings and are asked by other groups how many staff we hire for our programs every year. The answer is zero—our programs are staffed entirely by volunteers. It takes roughly 500 volunteers for Camp Kudzu to safely and successfully host more than 10 events and programs every year.    

People volunteer for an endless variety of reasons. Camp Kudzu volunteers acquire new skills, recharge their batteries, gain experience, and meet new people. They also expand their knowledge of working with youth, type 1 diabetes, and the medical field. They do it because it feels good—I have heard it described as a “private smile.”

During the small group breakout sessions of the January Camp Kudzu Board and Staff Planning Meeting, one of our newly minted board members asked “Why don’t we ask our community of families and supports to volunteer with us? My children’s school is always putting a call for volunteers to help out with a variety of things…” As she said that, I chuckled, reminding myself how I ended up as the Middle School Science Fair Chair two years in a row: I read about the opportunity in the school’s newsletter. (Spoiler alert: there has been a direct ask for me to threepeat.)

We have opportunities year-round for volunteer support. We have many opportunities that don’t involve tie dyeing or carrying a walkie talkie with a cabin group (although reach out about those positions, too!). If you are of voting age and have some extra time to volunteer, we would love to have your help getting things done in the office or getting us ready to get out of the office. 

Let us know if you have some free time and can share your skills by clicking the button below!