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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Friends of Huntington Beach State Park
There are many opportunities for our members to volunteer their time throughout the park. Below is a list of these opportunities with a brief description, along with a contact person. Please notify the Friends Contact if you are interested in participating in any of these.
ALLIGATOR TOURS: Park visitors always want to know about the alligators in the park. A Friends volunteer offers multiple tours each week to visit the alligators and educate visitors about their habits, teeth, length, food, and danger. Tours are given April thru October.
Park Lead: Bryan Shealy, bshealy@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Sami Wray, halatax3@gmail.com
Record volunteer hours on the form at the Atalaya desk
ATALAYA CLEANING: Once a week, on Tuesdays at 9:00-10:00 AM, a small group of Friends removes cobwebs and sweeps off the fireplaces, windowsills and floors in a section of Atalaya. The section to be cleaned alternates each week between the South side (Rooms 1-10), the east side (rooms 11-19), the north side (rooms 20-32) and the west section (areas 33-44 & center hall).
Link to Sign Up: https://signup.com/go/Wsbbgek
Park Contact person: Alexis Chase, achase@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Pat Cote, plcote@snet.net
Record volunteer hours on the form at the Atalaya desk
ATALAYA MAINTENANCE: Maintenance is on-going at Atalaya. Help is needed for routine maintenance. Examples of this are rust removal and repainting of gratings and other metal surfaces, repair of windows and shutters, general painting and minor repairs.
Park Lead: Carley Karpinski, ckarpinski@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Pete Murray, murrayps206@gmail.com
Record volunteer hours by emailing Linda Garneau, lgw164@att.net
ATALAYA TOUR GUIDES: Tours of Atalaya are scheduled daily. As a tour guide you would relate the history of Anna and Archer Huntington and why the house was built. You would take the visitors through the individual rooms and talk about how they were used. Yearly training with the Park’s Interpretive Ranger is mandatory. A schedule is managed using sign-up.com.
Park Contact person: Bryan Shealy, bshealy@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Charlie West, westcw@sccoast.net
Record volunteer hours on the form at the Atalaya desk
ATALAYA SLEEP-OVER November 11-12, 2023: One night each November, Atalaya is made available for people to camp or sleep in the house. The rangers need assistance setting up, organizing a scavenger hunt, Atalaya bingo, ghost stories, walks, making S’mores and breaking down at completion of the event. This opportunity will be noted in the Friends monthly newsletter or in special emails.
Park Lead: Bryan Shealy, bshealy@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Jim Cote, plcote@snet.net
Record volunteer hours on a form at the event
CLEAN-UP: Picking up trash throughout the park including the beach, campgrounds, parking lots, roadsides and trails can be done at your convenience. No sign-up required.
Park Lead: Alexis Chase, achase@scprt.com
Email your hours worked to Linda Garneau, lgw164@att.net
COORDINATED CLEAN-UP: We also have specific clean-up projects throughout the year (Atalaya, campgrounds, etc.). These opportunities will be noted in the Friends monthly newsletter or in special emails.
Park Lead: Alexis Chase, achase@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Jim Cote, plcote@snet.net
Record volunteer hours on a form the day of volunteering
ENTRANCE SECONDARY LANE: From Memorial Day until Labor Day, the park opens the second entrance lane during the busiest hours. Volunteers verify passes are current and allow people to use this lane and prevent traffic from backing up onto Rt 17. A schedule is managed using sign-up.com
Link to Sign Up: https://signup.com/go/NjZvTuc
Park Contact Person: Alexis Chase, achase@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Jim Cote, plcote@snet.net
Record volunteer hours on a form in gate house
FRIENDS HANDI VOLS: The Park periodically needs help with maintenance. Projects include scraping and painting of the picnic shelters, widening of trails and painting of trash containers. These opportunities will be noted in the Friends monthly newsletter or in special emails.
Park Lead: Alexis Chase, achase@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Jim Cote, plcote@snet.net
Record volunteer hours on a form the day of volunteering
Ghost Tours: Every Friday Night from June through the end of August, Atalaya Ghost Tours are done by Interpretive Ranger Mike Walker. Volunteers are needed to be ticket-takers (actually just checking the receipts to make sure that the guests have paid and keeping a count of the attendees). Duties also include being the “sweep guide” at the end of the tour line of people to make sure no one wonders off. The shift is from 8:00 pm – 9:45 pm. This is one of the Park’s most popular summer programs.
Park Contact person: Mike Walker, mwalker@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Jim Cote, plcote@snet.net
Record volunteer hours on the form at the Atalaya desk
NATURE CENTER: As a Nature Center volunteer, you will have varied responsibilities. Duties may include working the desk, greeting guests as they arrive, answering questions regarding the exhibit animals and other park wildlife and helping guests with the hands-on exhibits. Nature Center volunteers may also have the opportunity to lead some of the center tours offered throughout the day. Training is provided for anyone who would like to participate.
Park Lead: Bryan Shealy
Friends Contact Person: Carol Dankosky, mom.dankosky@gmail.com
Record volunteer hours on a form at the Nature Center
ATALAYA WALKWAY PLANTERS: We need a small group to water and maintain the planters along the Atalaya walkway. A sign-up.com schedule will be started to manage this.
Park Lead: Alexis Chase, achase@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: ??
Record volunteer hours by emailing Linda Garneau, lgw164@att.net
SHOREBIRD STEWARDS: This is an Audubon South Carolina program. Weekends and holidays from April until August. A park staff member will transport you to the north end of the beach. You will watch for boats landing educate them on the importance of keeping the dogs off this section of the beach and how it affects the shorebird nesting. A three- and one-half hour shift is requested (9:00-12:30 and 12:30-4:00 daily). Training for this must be completed by the Audubon society. Training has been set up in the park on March 18, 2022. Sign-up is through Audubon South Carolina. sc.audubon_sc.org/coasts
EVENTS: The following events are held at Huntington Beach State Park each year. Opportunities include assisting with parking, working the event entrance and setting up to name a few. Additionally, volunteers are needed to make baked goods for sale and to work the Friends Booth at many of these events. All these opportunities will be noted in the Friends monthly newsletter or in special emails and will identify the contact person and contact information. Record volunteer hours on sign-up sheets the day of the events.
TURTLE NEST IDENTIFICATION AND MONITORING: Volunteers are needed May thru September. Walks on the beach will be assigned by day and section and must be done faithfully before 9 a.m. Training by park interpretive ranger is mandatory. Duties are as follows: Walk your assigned section of the beach looking for turtle tracks, identify nests and picking up trash. Record and identify new nest location so that rangers can install predator deterrents to protect nests. Observe nests until signs of hatchings. A schedule is managed using sign-up.com
Park Contact person: Bryan Shealy, bshealy@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Jason Karr, jwkarr969@yahoo.com
Volunteer hours recorded by emailing Bryan Shealy, bshealy@scprt.com
TURTLE NEST PUBLIC INVENTORIES: Three days after a turtle nest hatches, we hold a public inventory to educate and to count how many eggs were laid and how many hatched. Occasionally we find live hatchlings and release them. We provide training during these events. We also help by organizing the spectators and keeping them out of the dunes. Once on the list, you will be notified with the inventory date and time by email.
Park Lead: Bryan Shealy, bshealy@scprt.com
Friends Contact Person: Jim Cote, plcote@snet.net
Record volunteer hours on a form the day of volunteering
**PLEASE NOTE: Whenever you are volunteering at the park, you must wear your membership badge to identify yourself as part of the volunteer force. Friends of Huntington Beach decals are required for entry into the park.