The invitation was certainly intriguing: food, shelter, R&R at the coast and all for a little volunteer work. In fact, it was so intriguing, Jeremy Richards, chaplain and director of service leadership at Linfield University, remembers thinking, “What’s the catch?” As it turned out, “There wasn’t one,” Richards said. Just a weekend of new experiences, great food and the satisfaction of knowing you did something good for the planet.
Richards and six Linfield students were among the first participants in the Tillamook Coast Volunteer Adventures , a program that started last year to provide help to local organizations in need of some extra hands. “We’ve got so many different ways that our stewardship and conservation partners need help, whether it’s clearing brush or caging trees or invasive species, you name it,” said Dan Haag, director of Trails, Outdoor Recreation, and Accessibility for the Tillamook Coast Visitors Association. “We hoped by creating this program, we could act as a bolster to some of the volunteer forces and projects that are needed out here.
But we also wanted to help create a bond, even in a small way, between residents and visitors that maybe didn’t exist previously.” The program is paid for by the Tillamook Coast Visitors Association and is open to school, corporate, church, community and family groups of about 8-15 people. The volunteer component is a physical activity outdoors with itineraries typically spanning 1-21⁄2 days wi.