I love volunteering. There is something so heartwarming about helping people or working on a project. No ulterior motives but the need to truly help.
The chance to volunteer in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve was decided by fate. We had moved to the area a few years before and through other avenues I had made friends with one of the longtime rangers at the park. One day while volunteering for another agency I came to the visitor center and joked with her about how there were dandelions in the native flower bed, and a volunteer job was “born.”
From working at the Canyon Rim Visitor Center garden, I progressed to the Sandstone Visitor Center garden. Then I started working the desk during the winter and helping with ranger programs.
So many years ago I had majored in Biology and now joke that finally, I’m putting that education to use. Being in the national park allowed me to study biology again and to use the knowledge in informal conversations or programs with visitors.
I love working in the gardens. While there, I’m the first person visitors see when coming to the visitor center. I enjoy answering questions visitors have about plants that some have never seen. And I love just saying “hello.”
Working in the gardens is a good segue for visitors to learn about the importance of native flowers and the benefits of gardening. I enjoy hearing their stories and love the slower pace of working in the garden, discovering a world of nature so many people never see because we are too busy rushing from point A to point B.
Besides the garden I relish getting on the trails to help with whatever needs to be done. My favorite time of year is wildflower season, and either helping with ranger programs or leading one of the many spring programs we have in the park.
Jacki Wright is a National Park Service volunteer at the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in Southern W. Va.
Photo caption: Jacki Wright tending to a garden in the park.
Photo credit: Courtesy the National Park Service.
