If your Group would like to Volunteer at the Outdoor Lab, please review the following Frequently Asked Questions for basic information. If after review, your Group would be a good fit to volunteer at the Outdoor Lab, please go to Volunteer Page for next steps.
What Groups can volunteer?
The Arlington Outdoor Education Association (AOEA) welcomes volunteer groups who have a tie to Arlington and who support our mission. Previous supporters have included:
- APS Schools- PTAs, Classes and Clubs, Teacher Groups
- Youth Groups- Scout troops, Youth Teams
- Civic Associations, Garden Clubs, Church Groups, Business Volunteers
What days are available?
Please check the Outdoor Lab Activity Calendar for available dates. If there is already an activity on your desired weekend, you can still request that date, some activities can happen concurrently. The Group Volunteer form will ask for a couple possible dates. Also think of weather, can your volunteer activity occur in rain, snow, excessive heat? The Outdoor Lab reserves the right to cancel activities for safety reasons. (**for COVID, extra precautions and waivers will be required.)
What types of volunteer activities can we do?
Generally, we need volunteers to help us maintain the trails, buildings and structures at the Outdoor Lab. Work is done all over our 225 acres at varying levels of necessary skill and endurance. We also look for volunteers to enhance or preserve our natural environment, by removing invasive species, improving drainage and storm water flows and various other projects. If you have science or nature studies you can help us with, we like that too. A few of the recent volunteer projects can be found here.
What facilities/locations at the ODL can we use?
Volunteers generally work on projects Outdoors! The primary building with limited use will be the bathrooms. Specifics will be provided after your Volunteer form is submitted. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
What tools/supplies are provided?
Volunteer groups generally bring all their own tools, gloves, masks and any supplies they will need for a safe project (sanitizer, bug spray, drinking water, etc) Specifics will be provided after your Volunteer form is submitted.
Can we spend the night?
Maybe- Volunteer groups generally work on projects during the day and must be completed on the day/days scheduled. If your group has experience with camping overnight, a limited number of overnight slots are available. Insurance provided by group is required.
Can we bring Friends and Family?
The Outdoor Lab prefers to work with Volunteer groups affiliated with organizations based in Arlington. When you describe your project for consideration, please outline all persons who will attend.
Can we bring Pets?
No- in order to preserve our resident wildlife and for safety of volunteers, no pets are allowed.
What paperwork do we need to provide?
Once your volunteer project is approved, a signed release form is required of every volunteer at least 48 hours prior to project date.* Each volunteer must provide their full name, address, email and cell phone for contact tracing purposes. (*if volunteer is under 18, legal parent/guardian signature is required.)
Do we need to have insurance for our group?
Maybe- depending on the size and activities of your project, the Volunteer Group may need to provide General Liability insurance naming Arlington Outdoor Education Association (AOEA) as additionally insured. Specifics will be provided after your Volunteer form is submitted.
What does is cost to rent the Outdoor Lab?
The Outdoor Lab currently does not rent out our facility. We do provide facility access to Members, Partners and Volunteer Groups at our discretion. Contact our president for more information.