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 Who is Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado?
Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado is a statewide nonprofit volunteer organization whose mission is to motivate and enable citizens to become active stewards of Colorado’s natural resources. Founded in 1984, VOC is known as a leader in outdoor stewardship volunteerism, having helped more than 60,000 youth and adults get involved in caring for Colorado’s outdoors.
Why VOC?
The natural resources we use and enjoy in Colorado face numerous pressures, including a growing population, increasing demand for outdoor recreation, stronger connections between health and recreation, and environmental change. These pressures, along with funding challenges for recreation management, make it increasingly important that citizens be able to take a leadership role in outdoor stewardship. We make it possible for them to do so by creating hands-on opportunities to volunteer outdoors. Our goal is to inspire a commitment to outdoor stewardship by providing volunteer experiences that are fun, educational, and that have significant impact.
What does VOC do?
Volunteer Programs – VOC helps people get involved in caring for Colorado’s outdoors by organizing and managing a diverse array of outdoor stewardship projects around Colorado. These projects are in partnership with land managers and local groups, and are selected based on need, educational value, and attractiveness to volunteers of varying ages, interests, and abilities. VOC projects span the state and range from building urban and wilderness trails, to planting trees in public places, to preserving historic structures on public lands, and much more.
Youth Programs – VOC strives to help youth get outside and learn about caring for Colorado’s outdoor resources. Many VOC projects are youth-friendly and we offer numerous programs specifically designed for youth, such as our high school Cairn Youth Program.
Training & Support Programs – VOC’s Outdoor Stewardship Institute (OSI) delivers quality training programs that prepare people to be outdoor stewardship leaders – both on VOC-led volunteer projects and for other organizations. OSI also offers various support tools and technical assistance to other stewardship agencies and land managers.
What is the impact of VOC’s work?
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More than 60,000 volunteers have completed hundreds of outdoor stewardship projects through VOC - a total donated labor value of over $16.4 million.
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More than 2,000 people have been trained to lead outdoor stewardship volunteer efforts.
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Hundreds of natural places throughout Colorado have benefitted from VOC volunteer work.
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Tens of thousands of citizens have learned the important role they play in caring for the outdoors.
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Many, many people have had fun, rewarding and educational outdoor volunteer experiences.
Learn more about the amazing impact VOC volunteers have had on Coloradoin our Photo Gallery.
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