Brunswick Visitor Services Volunteer

Join the Brunswick Volunteer Staff and provide great visitor experiences! Volunteers at the C&O Canal Brunswick Visitor Center welcome thousands of park visitors every year and provide valuable information regarding the park’s historical, natural and recreational resources.

Responsibilities Include:

• Maintain visitor center operations
• Provide information to the public
• Provide informal interpretation services including: roving the towpath, staffing the Brunswick Visitor Center
• Assist with special events and programming

Skills/Training Recommended: Each volunteer will receive an orientation to the Brunswick Visitor Center and visitor services. CPR Certification preferred but not required. Throughout the year park staff, provide opportunities for volunteer trainings, i.e. Bike Safety, Interpretation Training, etc. Please notify the park supervisor if you are interested in participating.

The Brunswick Visitor Center is open Friday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sunday 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. February through December. Volunteer shifts are flexible to accommodate any schedule.  All shifts are currently available. Volunteer shirts provided.

Brunswick Address/Contact Information: The C&O Canal NHP Brunswick Visitor Center is located at 40 West Potomac Street, Brunswick, MD 21716. If you are interested in joining the Brunswick Volunteer Staff, please contact Park Ranger Lisa Dittman at (301)582-0813 or by email at lisa_dittman@nps.gov

Cumberland Visitor Services Volunteer

Join the Cumberland Volunteer Staff and be the catalyst for great visitor experiences! Volunteers at the C&O Canal Cumberland Visitor Center welcome thousands of park visitors every year and provide invaluable information regarding the park’s historical, natural and recreational resources.

Responsibilities Include:

• Maintain visitor center operations
• Direct visitor center calls and providing information to the public
• Operate the cash register and stock the small bookstore/sales area
• Provide informal interpretation services including: roving the towpath and basin area, staffing the Cumberland Visitor Center located in the Western Maryland Train Station
• Assist with special events and programming

 

Skills/Training Recommended: Each volunteer will receive an orientation to the Cumberland Visitor Center and visitor services. CPR Certification preferred but not required. Throughout the year park staff, provide opportunities for volunteer trainings, i.e. Bike Safety, Interpretation Training, etc. Please notify the park supervisor if you are interested in participating.

Positions are available year-round and are flexible to accommodate any schedule.  Volunteer shifts currently available include 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Volunteer shirts provided.

Cumberland Address/Contact Information: The C&O Canal NHP Cumberland Visitor Center is located at 13 Canal Street, Cumberland, MD 21502. If you are interested in joining the Cumberland Volunteer Staff, please contact Park Ranger Rita Knox at (301)722-8226 or by email at rita_knox@nps.gov

Hancock Visitor Services Volunteer

Join the Hancock Volunteer Staff and be the catalyst for great visitor experiences! Volunteers at the C&O Canal Hancock Visitor Center (aka Bowles House) welcome thousands of park visitors every year and provide invaluable information regarding the park’s historical, natural and recreational resources.

Responsibilities Include:

• Maintain visitor center operations
• Direct visitor center calls and providing information to the public
• Operate the cash register and stock the small bookstore/sales area
• Provide informal interpretation services including: roving the towpath, staffing the historic Bowles House Visitor Center
• Assist with special events and programming

Skills/Training Recommended: Each volunteer will receive an orientation to the Hancock Visitor Center and visitor services. CPR Certification preferred but not required. Throughout the year park staff, provide opportunities for volunteer trainings, i.e. Bike Safety, Interpretation Training, etc. Please notify the park supervisor if you are interested in participating.

The Hancock Visitor Center is open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday-Tuesday, Memorial Day weekend through October. Volunteer shifts are flexible to accommodate any schedule.  Shifts currently available include 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Volunteer shirts provided.

Hancock Address/Contact Information: The C&O Canal NHP Hancock Visitor Center is located in Hancock, Maryland. If you are interested in joining the Hancock Volunteer Staff, please contact Park Ranger Hollie Lynch at (301) 491-0149 or by email at hollie_lynch@nps.gov

Williamsport Visitor Services Volunteer

Join the Williamsport Volunteer Staff and be the catalyst for great visitor experiences! Volunteers at the C&O Canal Williamsport Visitor Center welcome thousands of park visitors every year and provide invaluable information regarding the park’s historical, natural and recreational resources.

Responsibilities Include:

• Maintain visitor center operations
• Direct visitor center calls and providing information to the public
• Operate the cash register and stock the small bookstore/sales area
• Provide informal interpretation services including: roving the towpath and basin area, staffing    the Visitor Center and Trolley Barn facilities
• Assist with special events and programming

Skills/Training Recommended: Each volunteer will receive an orientation to the Williamsport Visitor Center and visitor services. CPR Certification preferred but not required. Throughout the year park staff, provide opportunities for volunteer trainings, i.e. Bike Safety, Interpretation Training, etc. Please notify the park supervisor if you are interested in participating.

Positions are available year-round and are flexible to accommodate any schedule.  Volunteer shifts currently available include 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Volunteer shirts provided.

Williamsport Address/Contact Information: The C&O Canal NHP Williamsport Visitor Center is located at 205 W. Potomac Street, Williamsport, MD 21795. If you are interested in joining the Williamsport Volunteer Staff, please contact Park Ranger Lisa Dittman at (301) 582-0813 or by email at lisa_dittman@nps.gov

Corps of Volunteer Flaggers

The Division of Maintenance at the C&O Canal is in need of volunteers to serve as flaggers during maintenance projects on the towpath. This group of volunteers is essential to the safety of park visitors and staff.

Participants in the program will be required to attend training in flagging basics and visitor interactions. Flaggers will accompany park staff to project sites and assist with the mobilization and de-mobilization of work site signage, temporary controls, and barriers.

The Corps of Volunteer Flaggers will work in pairs. Most projects will be scheduled with at least a two-week, and up to a one month lead time. On occasion a request for Flaggers will be made on very short notice (24 hours or less).

In addition, Flaggers may be trained in tasks such as chain saw use and other fields of general assistance to park maintenance operations.

Flaggers are needed park-wide, and will be based out of the maintenance shops at Great Falls, Pleasantville, Williamsport, Hancock, and Oldtown.

Uniform will be provided. No housing available.

To apply visit volunteer.gov/gov or contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Danny Filer at danny_filer@nps.gov or 301-714-2218.



Ride-Along Volunteer

Get out and about in your National Park! The Division of Maintenance at the C&O Canal National Historical Park is in need of volunteers to ride-along with park personnel while performing various maintenance tasks.  Participants in the program would be required to accompany park staff on a regular basis. The volunteer will be trained in tasks such as chain saw use, water sample collection, building inspections and general assistance to park maintenance operations.

There are five positions available throughout the park: Potomac, Pleasantville, Williamsport, Hancock, and Oldtown. Volunteers will need to commit to a minimum of one day per week.  A volunteer uniform will be provided.

To apply visit volunteer.gov/gov or contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Danny Filer at danny_filer@nps.gov or 301-714-2218.



Bicycle Mechanic - Volunteer Bike Patrol

The C&O Canal Volunteer Bike Patrol Program is looking for a skilled bicycle mechanic to donate time at the Cushwa Basin Visitor Center, Williamsport, MD. Mechanic will perform maintenance on the bikes used by the Volunteer Bike Patrollers. Work will be performed at the Visitor Center. Bikes currently utilized include K-2 and Specialized mountain bikes with front suspension. Some have disk brakes. No housing available. This is ideal for a high school student looking to earn community service credit or a retired person looking to share their skills.

Museum Collection Assistant

Volunteer to assist in the mission to preserve and protect the cultural resources of this historical park. Volunteers will work directly with the park historian to maintain the park museum collection located at park headquarters. Volunteers will assist staff in processing, cataloging, photographing, digitizing, inventorying, and packaging historic park artifacts. The volunteers will work under the guidance of the NPS Museum Handbook. Artifacts will be cataloged into the NPS Automated National Catalog System (ANCS+). Duties also include document examination and records management assistance. Duties may include travel in a government vehicle to the Museum Resource Center of the National Capital Region.
Interested individuals must have a valid drivers license and knowledge of Microsoft Word and the use of digital cameras.

Volunteers will report to park headquarters located in Hagerstown, MD and must be available within the normal working hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday thru Friday. A flexible schedule is available within this timeframe.

This is a limited assignment requiring approximately 100 hours of work.

There is no housing available and this is a volunteer position.