Community Volunteer Ambassadors: National Early Service Training held at River Raisin National Battlefield Park

Community Volunteer Ambassadors at River Raisin National Battlefield Park.

The training was hosted in the new facilities of River Raisin National Battlefield Park including a new Visitor Center, Education Center, and theater.

From November 7, 2022, to November 11, 2022, 39 Community Volunteer Ambassador paid interns from the 2022 September cohort participated in their National Early Service Training at River Raisin National Battlefield Park in Monroe, MI. Sponsored by the Volunteers-In-Parks program at the National Park Service, the Community Volunteer Ambassador program is a year-long professional internship that expands volunteer engagement and strategically applies inclusive community outreach efforts. For four days, members connected with their national cohort and received robust training to prepare them to assist park units in building lasting connections to local communities. Session topics included Volunteers-In-Parks Program Management, Volunteer Program Assessments, Cultural Humility Training, Conflict Management, Partnerships, and Leadership.

Members also presented to their peers their Community Asset Map projects, the first major deliverable of their internship, as they identify areas of partnership for volunteer program expansion based on the needs and strengths of their sites. These projects are an invaluable tool for nurturing and building robust volunteer programming.

On the last day of training, training participants and session facilitators completed a day of service in honor of Veteran’s Day – a meaningful conclusion to a great week. Several groups spread out across River Raisin National Battlefield, removing debris and trash, as well as husking and clearing a large mound of dried corn used for educational demonstrations to return the feed to local farmers.

Training participants completed a trash pickup at River Raisin National Battlefield Park as part of a Veterans Day service project.

Special thanks to River Raisin National Battlefield Park for hosting the four days of training in their exceptional facilities. River Raisin National Battlefield Park was added to the National Park Service in 2010 and officially opened in 2011. The park has done an exemplary job at demonstrating the power of partnerships, working with a variety of community and tribal organizations in order to help the National Park Service fulfill its mission. River Raisin National Battlefield Park also exhibits how NPS is working harder to tell all Americans’ stories through their partnerships with tribes and the park’s updated education materials that interpret the battles of the War of 1812.

Do you know someone interested in working with the National Park Service to advance equity and inclusion, conservation, and community organizing? Help us spread the word and encourage them to apply to the Community Volunteer Ambassador program, where they will support the Volunteers-In-Parks program and park units in building lasting connections to local communities.

About the Community Volunteer Ambassador Program:

As a fifty-week professional internship, the Community Volunteer Ambassador Program is managed in partnership between the National Park Service Volunteer-In-Parks Program and the Stewards Individual Placement Program of Conservation Legacy. Members are youth (ages 18-30 or 18-35 if veterans) from diverse backgrounds who aspire to future careers in service and conservation stewardship. In 2022, approximately 90 members will be placed in park sites throughout the country to provide capacity-building services focused on connecting communities to parks through engagement and volunteer activities.

Official logo for the Community Volunteer Ambassador Program.