Opportunities From: Elkhart Helping Hearts

Help us prepare for our Free Fishing Clinic! We're giving away 400 rods/reels this year and we need help getting them all put together and ready for the big day. Drop by High Dive Pavilion any time between 12 PM - 5 PM to help--bring friends and family with you! 

No expertise or experience needed! We have experts on hand who are happy to teach!

Friday, June 5 is a backup day! If we do not finish prepping all the rods and reels on Thursday, June 4, we will be back on Friday. Please check our Facebook page for updates in case the Friday date is cancelled. 

Volunteers will teach kids about:

Examples and instructions are provided (see the basic tackle page below). Each station will be about 10 minutes. Orientation starts at 8:30 AM and will cover all of the stations so volunteers can see how each one fits together. If you are not able to volunteer for the entire shift, please sign up for the Setup & General Helpers opportunity and leave a note or send EEC staff an email (at EECmail@coei.org) to let us know when you're available.

Volunteers will teach kids about fishing regulations (e.g. size limits, bag limits, closed seasons, prohibited species).

Examples and instructions are provided (see the conservation page below). Each station will be about 10 minutes. Orientation starts at 8:30 AM and will cover all of the stations so volunteers can see how each one fits together. If you are not able to volunteer for the entire shift, please sign up for the Setup & General Helpers opportunity and leave a note or send EEC staff an email (at EECmail@coei.org) to let us know when you're available.

Volunteers at the fishing station will be helping to assemble fishing poles and assisting kids with fishing around the pond. We'd love to have some experienced fisherpeoples here to help the kiddos get a good start!

Each station will be about 10 minutes. Orientation starts at 8:30 AM. If you are not able to volunteer for the entire shift, please sign up for the Setup & General Helpers opportunity and leave a note or send EEC staff an email (at EECmail@coei.org) to let us know when you're available

After kids have completed all of their stations and received their fishing poles, we hope they'll stick around to fish in the pond! We'd like to have some volunteers near the pond to help them get a good start with whatever they might need assistance with--casting, baiting, releasing a catch, etc. 

Orientation starts at 8:30 AM. If you are not able to volunteer for the entire shift, please sign up for the Setup & General Helpers opportunity and leave a note or send EEC staff an email (at EECmail@coei.org) to let us know when you're available

Volunteers will teach kids basic fishing knots (e.g. improved clinch, uni, palomar).

Examples and instructions are provided (see the knot tying page below). Each station will be about 10 minutes. Orientation starts at 8:30 AM and will cover all of the stations so volunteers can see how each one fits together. If you are not able to volunteer for the entire shift, please sign up for the Setup & General Helpers opportunity and leave a note or send EEC staff an email (at EECmail@coei.org) to let us know when you're available

Volunteers will teach kids how to cast a spinning rod and will cover safety talking points (e.g. keep control of the hook at all times, look behind you when casting, etc.)

Examples and instructions are provided (see the casting page below). Each station will be about 10 minutes. Orientation starts at 8:30 AM and will cover all of the stations so volunteers can see how each one fits together. If you are not able to volunteer for the entire shift, please sign up for the Setup & General Helpers opportunity and leave a note or send EEC staff an email (at EECmail@coei.org) to let us know when you're available

Volunteers will teach kids about how to become good stewards of the environment (e.g. not leaving trash behind, limiting take, helping to stop the spread of invasive species, etc.) and how to safely handle the fish (e.g. keep fish in water if possible, keep fish horizontal while supporting the belly of the fish, etc.).

Examples and instructions are provided (see the stewardship page below). Each station will be about 10 minutes. Orientation starts at 8:30 AM and will cover all of the stations so volunteers can see how each one fits together. If you are not able to volunteer for the entire shift, please sign up for the Setup & General Helpers opportunity and leave a note or send EEC staff an email (at EECmail@coei.org) to let us know when you're available

We would love to be able to serve ALL members of our community with this event, but we need YOUR help! If you are comfortable translating between English and Spanish for our visitors, we would love assistance at the registration table and for families who need translations as they make their way around the different stations.

Each station will be about 10 minutes. An optional orientation starts at 8:30 AM and will cover all of the stations so volunteers can see how each one fits together. If you are not able to volunteer for the entire shift, please sign up for the Setup & General Helpers opportunity and leave a note or send EEC staff an email (at EECmail@coei.org) to let us know when you're available

Sign up here if you would like to help with:

For those helping during the event, we will pair you with the station that needs you the most. 

Examples and instructions are provided (see the stewardship page below). Each station will be about 10 minutes. Orientation starts at 8 AM and will cover all of the stations so volunteers can see how each one fits together. If you are not able to volunteer for the entire shift, please leave a note or send EEC staff an email (at EECmail@coei.org) to let us know when you're available.