Sticking around in Gunnison over the summer? Here’s 11 Gunnison Valley organizations for students and the Western community to volunteer with

With the official start of summer less than two weeks away, Dean Gary Pierson sent out an email blast chock full of opportunities for students and the entire Western community to get involved with community organizations in the valley this summer

If you are in the Gunnison Valley this summer, please consider offering your time and service to our local community.  If you’re interested in volunteering and/or learning more about the above service opportunities, please contact Emerson Kaufmann at 25kaufmanne@gwsds.net. 

1. Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte
   • Bridges of the Butte: There are a number of shifts restricted to 18+, but any work done at base camp through the duration of the event can be volunteered by anyone 16+ for the actual event on Sunday, Sept. 10. We may also need help in the first week of August and from Aug 26-Sept 10 doing pretty basic — but meaningful — tasks such as rolling up T-shirts, making name tags and stuffing swag bags.
2. Crested Butte Center for the Arts
   • In the morning of Thursday, July 1 they will be installing a large floral piece beginning at 9am through lunch so that’s one time slot available for a couple people. We would need help setting up the event (no heavy lifting) from 2 to 3:30ish so only a couple people for that as well.
     • Then during the reception, we could use 2 to 4 individuals to pass around apps to our patrons from 4pm until the food runs out (usually 5:30 depending on the attendance).
3. Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley
   • Wednesday, July 12, community celebration and grant presentation at the IBar, they could use some help setting up and moving things around the IBar in advance – likely for a couple hours in the early afternoon.
4. Crested Butte Art Festival
   • Friday, Aug. 4-Sunday, Aug. 6, need help with venue sustainability.
5. Crested Butte Land Trust
   • The Starry Evening Gala, our annual fundraiser, is on Saturday, July 8 and raises about $350,000 for both land protection and general operations. It’s a 300-person event, and we’re holding it at the Center for the Arts this year. It takes a lot of teamwork to put together!
     • We need volunteers on Saturday, July 8 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. (we have two shifts, so volunteers don’t have to work all day) to help with set up and again on Sunday starting at 8 a.m. to help with clean up (Sunday usually doesn’t take as long as Saturday, but this is our first year at the Center so we’re not sure how long clean-up will take). We’d love to have y’all join us!  
   • Other volunteer events will be pulling and bagging weeds on CBLT’s Confluence parcel along the Slate River, just north of Town.  We have dates scheduled for Thursday, July 6 & Wednesday, July 12 so far. 
   • We’ll also have a fence removal effort in August to improve wildlife habitat in the Slate River Valley, no set date for this yet. 
6. Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association
   • The CBMBA community workdays are best, as we do incorporate just that – the community, and we’d love to have your efforts involved. https://crestedbuttemountainbike.com/events/.
7. Crested Butte Nordic
   • Grin and Bear It race on Saturday, July 15. Grand Traverse Bike and Run- September 1-3.
8. High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA)
   • More info coming in the next few weeks. Here is the signup: https://hccacb.kindful.com/register/volunteer-sign-up-2023:
9. Living Journeys
   • Summit Hike/Trail Runs
     • We would need help with set-up, break-down and everything in between and we could also use help packing swag bags on Thursday, July 20 for 2-3 hours.
10. Mountain Roots Food Project
    • Crested Butte Community School: Sunday, June 18^th (Father’s Day) 12:00-3:00pm
    • We will also have consistent garden hours throughout the summer where you can come and volunteer in our garden spaces, on the following days/times:
      • Mondays – Gunnison Community School Garden 4:00-6:00pm
      • Tuesdays – Bill’s Park Garden 10:00am-12:00pm
      • Wednesdays – Cultivemos Cottonwood Garden 5:00-7:00pm 
      • Thursdays – Sunshine Garden 10:00am-12:00pm  
      • Fridays – CBCS Garden 10:00am-12:00pm 
      • To sign up, Go HERE: https://signup.com/go/ZpKcqnK  
11. The Trailhead Children’s Museum 
    • Thursday, July 27 – all day: Trailhead Summer Block Party; this will be a family friendly concert up at the resort. This will be a big fundraiser, and we will need volunteer help before, during, and after to set up, clean up, and help with facilitating art and play projects for kids during the concerts.   
    • Monday and Wednesday evenings, 4:30-7:30pm: Alpenglow and Summer Series concerts; we offer kids activities at these events.   
    • Museum Reopening: We have opportunities starting immediately with help in rebuilding our museum space. This is good for people who have handy skills, such as interior painting, simple construction, cleaning, landscaping, etc.   
    • Camp support: Help with our summer camps, working directly with kids.