April 20, 2025
Celebrating National Volunteer Week: April 20-26
National Volunteer Week is just around the corner, taking place April 20–26, 2025!

This is the perfect opportunity to recruit new volunteers, host service events, and celebrate the incredible impact of your current volunteer team. https://www.pointsoflight.org/national-volunteer-week/ Since its establishment in 1974, National Volunteer Week has grown exponentially. Each year, thousands of volunteer projects and special events take place across the country. Whether it's online, at a visitor center, or out on the trail—volunteering to support the outdoors takes many forms, and all are worth celebrating.

In 2024 alone, nearly 38,000 volunteers contributed over 1.75 million hours of service across USACE—an incredible value of more than $58.6 million. Volunteers support nearly every discipline, district, and natural resources career field within USACE, bringing diverse experiences and backgrounds to the mission.

Get ready to celebrate and engage… Here’s how you can prepare your program for National Volunteer Week:

Update your volunteer listings: Ensure your opportunities on Volunteer.gov are current. This platform integrates with VolunteerMatch.org and Idealist.org, so a single post can reach a wide audience of potential volunteers.

Plan a service event: Host a volunteer event during or near National Volunteer Week to engage your community and highlight your project.

Share your story through photos: Upload high-quality volunteer action shots (preferably with uniforms) to the Corps Lakes Photo Album. These photos may be used in USACE social media, press releases, reports, and more.

Recognize your volunteers: Send a thank-you email, host a recognition event, or give a shoutout on social media. A little appreciation goes a long way!

Throughout National Volunteer Week, we’ll be sharing daily Volunteer Spotlight cards featuring outstanding volunteers from across the country. You can view them here: https://c orpslakes.erdc.dren.mil/employees/volunteer/week.cfm and on USACE social media outlets.

Feel free to share these across your websites, social media channels, and other communications. If you’d like to create your own local versions, contact Tara Whitsel for a customizable Canva template.

A Huge THANK YOU to our dedicated volunteers and volunteer coordinators-your hard work and passion are vital to USACE's natural resources mission. We appreciate all that you do!

Heather Burke
US Army Corps of Engineers
National Partnership and Volunteer Program Manager

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