VOC Red Rocks Park Trail Restoration- Saturday, September 25th 9:00am-4:00pm

Red Rocks Amphitheatre is one of Colorado's most recognizable landmarks. Every year hundreds of thousands of people visit the park for world class music and beautiful hikes. The high volume of foot traffic has resulted in the creation of unsafe trails and eroding landscapes. Please help the Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) give Red Rocks some much needed TLC on National Public Lands Day. Volunteers will repair eroding trails and close dangerous foot paths around the park. In addition to trail improvements, volunteers will also be removing non-native weeds which are harmful to the parks native habitat. Please note this project may require greater physical activity, such as lifting and digging. Access to work-site may be a long distance and may require hiking. There is also a minimum age of 10 to volunteer.  

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is a statewide nonprofit volunteer organization whose mission is to motivate and enable citizens to become active stewards for Colorado's natural resources. 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. VOC provides hands-on volunteer opportunities to all ages and skill levels to help protect, enhance, restore, and preserve our state's natural resources.

If you are interested in volunteering for the above project please contact Casey Burnette, Third Goal Coordinator, at caseandcoop (at) gmail (dot) com. 

COMPA Glean Project- Saturday, October 2nd and/or 9th     7:30am-2:00pm

Many of us take fresh produce and the rewards of our gardens for granted, but for those less fortunate in our community, having a healthy, nutritious meal is only a dream. Thanks to Project Glean, the support of many volunteers, and the generosity of several long-time farming families, those dreams become reality for many.

Project Glean bring COMPA staff and volunteers, and the RPCV's of Colorado together, to spend two Saturdays in October harvesting fresh produce from local farms in Denver, Brighton, and Wellington. The produce is then brought back to COMPA's Farm Market program, which serves area hunger relief agencies with free meals for those in need. It's a great program that gets Colorado-grown fresh produce out into the community that needs it most.

Unlike many service projects that require kids to be of a certain age to participate, children of all ages get the opportunity to work alongside family members and learn what it truly means to give back.

COMPA Ministries was officially established in 1988, but began in 1981 when six inner-city pastors began distributing free food from the trunks of their cars to the congregants throughout their neighborhoods. Their desire was to reach out in a practical way to meet the needs of the families and individuals around them. It was a grassroots approach to serving a growing need in their community and putting their passion in action.

Those original founders named their ministry, COMPA Food Ministry, deriving the name from the Spanish word 'compadre,' which, when translated, means 'friend' or 'companion'. The mission of COMPA Ministries is to assist preventing homelessness through their vocational training and life skills development program and free food distribution.

Developing marketable job skills and teaching fundamental life skills among homeless and low-income individuals in trasnsitional programs is the first step in enabling them to secure a meaningful job that provides a living wage and starts them on the path of self-sufficiency. Free food distribution helps individuals save their money at the grocery store and pay other obligations, such as rent, utilities and medications.

If you are interested in volunteering for the above project please contact Casey Burnette, Third Goal Coordinator, at caseandcoop (at) gmail (dot) com. Please specify what date you would like to volunteer, October 2nd or 9th, or both.