Tryon Palace's volunteer program offers a bounty of opportunities throughout the year. While numerous opportunities exist in obvious places like the gardens and musuems, Tryon Palace also relies on volunteers for driving the shuttle, working in the museum store, greeting visitors and much more. Prior to the holidays, hundreds of volunteers...more about Tryon Palace
As a town full of retirees that fell in love with New Bern, NC's beauty, history, charm and people, many organizations are able to depend on the giving nature of volunteerism. From historical programs at Tryon Palace to maintaining downtown development, blood drives and literacy initiatives, New Bern's volunteers play a huge role in improving the town's personality and quality of life.
As a town that’s more than 300 years old, it should come as no surprise that New Bern has numerous groups dedicated to historical preservation. And because these groups are nonprofits, they all rely almost exclusively on donated time from their volunteers.
Tryon Palace is by far one of the most popular historic sites to volunteer in New Bern. More than 355 people volunteered for Tryon Palace last year, each contributing valuable resources as they worked alongside beautiful gardens and museums. Volunteers are vital to the Palace fulfilling its mission and maintaining services every year by providing staff support in a wide spectrum of areas ranging from shuttle drivers and gardening to working in the museum store and even utilities work. This tremendous amount of local support for the Palace, which relies heavily on private donors and volunteerism, is a constant reminder of how invested the community has become with the Palace’s success.
The New Bern Historical Society and the New Bern Preservation Foundation (NBPF) are separate entities with a common goal of preserving New Bern’s history and its buildings. Each works to raise funds that are used to restore historical buildings and sites, and in some cases maintains those sites with volunteers. Volunteers can reach into the past every day by helping organize anything from fundraisers, battle reenactments and marketing plans to living history programs, ghost walks and antiques shows.
Education is paramount to a community’s success and New Bern offers several areas for volunteers to reach out to those needing a little extra help. The Craven Literacy Council helps tutors work with adult students needing help with reading, writing and math skills. Working in small groups or one-on-one, this valuable gift not only helps adults overcome obstacles in the short run, it helps nurture long-term growth and upward mobility for years to come. Volunteers are needed for younger students as well at Craven County Schools. Whether it’s working as a teaching assistant, tutor, librarian or chaperone, the school system counts on volunteerism to help manage growing class sizes in the face of diminished funding and resources.
In addition to historical and educational efforts, there are also plenty of opportunities to help the less fortunate. With choices ranging from the New Bern Police Department, CarolinaEast hospital and Habitat for Humanity, to the Red Cross, chances are good that you’ll find a cause that inspires you to help.
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