Volunteers

At Camp Haiastan, volunteers make a real difference because they become an integral part of Camp Haiastan’s family through the unselfish offering of their talents and services to the camp in many areas. We are truly blessed to have an amazing group of volunteers who support our mission of providing safe, healthy and wholesome camping with the goal of instilling appreciation and pride of our Armenian heritage in our Armenian youth while building bonds of lifelong friendships. Our volunteers help to create an exceptional place for these values to become a reality from season to season.

What Can You Do?

Camp Haiastan offers a variety of different opportunities for volunteer experiences. Some include:

• Off Season Work Parties – During the spring pre-opening period and the fall post-camp period work parties are organized on weekends to accomplish a variety of necessary tasks ranging from painting, to landscaping, to repairs, to cleaning, to preparing and maintaining equipment for the summer or maintaining and stowing equipment away for the winter.

• Airport Transportation Team – Many campers fly to and from camp each session. Volunteer drivers are needed on the “Change Sundays”, the Sundays that sessions begin and end, in order to transport campers from Boston and Providence airports to Camp Haiastan, and to Boston or Providence airports from Camp Haiastan for their trip home. Volunteer drivers drive camp vans or they drive their own vehicles (we reimburse for fuel costs). The Airport Transportation volunteers not only drive but also provide chaperone service in the airport terminals making sure that campers and their luggage are immediately supervised when they deplane upon arrival and are checked in properly and are at the correct gate upon departure. This is truly a labor of love.

• Alumni Picnic – Each July, usually on a “Change Sunday” the Board of Directors of Camp Haiastan sponsors an Alumni Picnic in the picnic grounds at the camp. Volunteers are needed for various tasks including food purchasing, food preparation and serving, ticket sales, publicity and clean up.

• Professional Assistance – Camp Haiastan alumni come from all walks of life and professions. We have called upon all manner of professions to come to the aid of Camp Haiastan as volunteers over the years. Physicians, engineers, architects, contractors, skilled tradesmen, computer and computer program specialists, legal counsel, food service professionals, professional sales persons representing a wide spectrum of products and services, athletes, artistic performers, educators, political and governmental officials are some of the professions that have been tapped.

  Summer Season “Evening Armenian Enrichment Series” – One of the most popular programs at Camp Haiastan relies almost solely upon volunteers. Each week of camp three guest presenters are recruited and invited to Camp Haiastan to share with campers their talent, profession, skill, avocation, interest, accomplishment or knowledge. We search for these unique Armenian men and women to come to camp and in a forty-five minute presentation offer to our campers what sets them apart as Armenians in the world today. Over the years we have found this to be one of the most rewarding as well as most looked forward to programs for both campers and presenters especially when the presenter has his or her own children in camp!

• Summer Activity Instructor or Specialist – We adhere to the philosophy that camp is a learning experience and our motto for what we strive for in what we teach at Camp Haiastan is “100% Success, 100% Of The Time”. That simply means that we take full advantage of the unique learning atmosphere that exists in the camp setting to promote the learning of many skills that all have life-long importance to growing bodies and minds with never the fear of failure or disappointment. Rather we promote 100% success 100% of the time. We are always interested in volunteers providing enrichment and enhancement to our regularly scheduled programs and activities toward our goal of success, especially if the volunteer has achieved a special rank or accomplishment within the field of that particular activity. It could be archery, nature and wildlife, swimming, tennis, Armenian dance, language history and customs, vegetable gardening, sailing, canoeing and kayaking just to name some.

• Year Around Office, Promotional and Fundraising – Believe it or not, Camp Haiastan and its administration functions twelve months a year. The full-time Executive Director and the Board of Directors are responsible for the full-year operation of the camp. Volunteers are often sought out to assist with computer related office tasks, promotional projects for camper and staff recruitment, and all-important fundraising campaigns. If you’ve ever been involved, even in the slightest way, with a non-profit, you’ll understand the wide spectrum of tasks that beg for time and talent and that are important to the success of the organization yet often go undone because of the lack of paid office staff or other personnel.

I’m Interested, I Can Do It. Now What Do I Do?

Simply contact the Camp Haiastan Year Around Office and the Executive Director, Roy Callan by calling, emailing or writing. All inquiries are answered promptly, we promise!!

Roy Callan, Executive Director

Camp Haiastan of The Armenian Youth Federation, Inc.

P.O. Box C

Franklin, MA 02038

Phone: 508 528-0505/508 520-1312

Fax: 508 528-0471

Email: haicamp@verizon.net

You may also use this Contact Form to reach the camp directly from this website