Volunteer Program

Thanks for your interest in working with The Children of the Earth Foundation. Volunteer help has become a crucial part of our summer programs. It is a wonderful way to be able to support the programs and be able to be exposed to the teachings at the same time. While most of our need for volunteers is during the summer Coyote Tracks programs, there may be opportunities to help out at other events or in other ways.

During the Coyote Tracks program, the bulk of the volunteer work revolves around the kitchen. We rely on our helpers to assist the cooks in food preparation, kitchen clean up, and dishwashing. There are also other tasks having to do with keeping the program area clean and sanitary. This help is greatly needed, and greatly appreciated. In exchange there are opportunities for volunteers to observe or participate in the programs, with some guidelines for conduct so that the learning experience of the students is not impinged upon. Volunteers might get involved in helping instructors prepare for the days activities, possibly gathering materials needed for a workshop, or fun things like camouflaging in at a site where the kids will be brought. There are also times when they are able to join in fully on the activity of the moment. As a volunteer there is often ample free time to work on skills or just enjoy the beautiful setting of our camp location.

You do not need to have children in the program in order to volunteer. It is helpful to have taken the Coyote Tracks or Tracker School equivalent of the program before volunteering. Volunteers are accepted for individual or multiple weeks.

To sign-up as a COTEF volunteer; please fill out employment application on Instructor/Intern page.

Quote from Pamela, Volunteer for Coyote Tracks 2004:
"For me personally it was an incredible experience. I was so honored to be able to be there with the kids and have an inside view of what they were doing. I loved working in the kitchen, and helping the kids enjoy themselves by relieving them of the burden of kitchen work. Bottom line, as an experience it was second to my marriage and having kids. I had yearned to be able to do that and would do it again in a heartbeat. The instructors were extremely impressive. I loved watching the kids go from being afraid to throwing their shoes off and being closer to the earth. I loved watching the kid's transitions. You guys as instructors and directors added to my ability to teach. If anybody had any interest in teaching I would highly recommend it."
Copyright 2005 Children of the Earth Foundation