Next week we will be halfway through our 5 1/2 month commitment here at the San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuges. We each work 20 hours a week for our RV site and are the only volunteers. Our work days are Monday and Tuesday with a half day on Wednesday. We typically work extra hours on Wednesday just to finish up whatever job we’re on. There is a lot to do and we are really enjoying our time.
The refuge had gone through a safety review a few weeks before we arrived and our first few weeks were spent fixing things on the findings list.
My first job was to completely recreate the MSDS book for the maintenance shop.
(MSDS - Material Safety Data Sheets are intended to provide workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working with that substance in a safe manner, and includes information such as physical data (melting point, boiling point, flash point, etc), toxicity, health effects, first aid reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill-handling procedures.)
I was provided with a list of all chemicals used in the maintenance shop and spent about four days surfing the internet to find and print Data Sheets for everything on the list.
We’ve also done a little painting:
We have spent A LOT of time at the local hardware store:
This is our first assignment where I’ve had to work in maintenance. Mark did some work in maintenance during our first year at LBJ State Park.
There were three empty houses on the refuges that were to be used for fire crews and student interns. Our job was to get all the houses ready to be lived in. This included a lot of cleaning and even some electrical work.
The volunteer center is only open on Friday afternoon and Saturday by the local Friends Group. We’ve spent a lot of time working on the landscaping and the drip irrigation system.
About three weeks ago we were given a 4 page list of maintenance items we needed to take care of. We have been working hard the last three weeks and just got started on the list a couple of days ago! It’s amazing how much work there is to do.
New mail boxes
We’ll just keep on plugging away at that list!
How lucky they are to have you!
ReplyDelete--Sharon
Where exactly is San Luis Valley NWR? I can't seem to remember what state you are in. By your account, it sure looks like they could use volunteers there. Nice to know what type of things you are doing there. How many hours for solo volunteers are required?
ReplyDeleteHi Judy-
ReplyDeleteWe are in Southern Colorado, not too far north of the New Mexico border. The refuge is at about 7500 foot elevation, so we've escaped most of the heat wave.
This refuge doesn't have the type of highly organized volunteer program that we've encountered at other refuges, but they are super friendly here and very pleased to have the assistance. I don't know what they would ask of a single volunteer, but I'd guess it would be 20-24 hours each week.
Let us know if you would like contact information.
Mark