What do you get when you combine fun & meaningful…A COMFORT ZONE CAMP WEEKEND!
Comfort Zone Camp (CZC) is a lot like a regular camp with games, archery, arts & crafts, bonfire, s’mores and more! We help grieving kids get back to being a kid again – and our volunteers are our “secret sauce”!
You don’t need to have experienced a loss or have any clinical background to be a great volunteer. You just need a big heart and a willingness to have fun and be silly!
What’s needed to volunteer? You must complete an online application, criminal background check, and complete our volunteer training.
Sign up now! Complete an application and select a training:
Have more questions before filling out an application? Complete this form and our Volunteer Coordinator will follow up with you with more information on our camp programs:
Find the volunteer role that fits your skillset!
Each child (Little Buddy) is paired one-to-one with a Big Buddy volunteer mentor based on the same interests, hobbies and gender. Big Buddies serve as the child’s anchor for the weekend and take part in all aspects of camp alongside their camper. Big and Little Buddies eat meals together, play games, sleep in cabins and participate in Healing CirclesSM, which are support groups led by our Healing Circle Leaders.
As a Big Buddy, you will be asked to run, jump, climb and lift. The Big Buddy role is the most active and intensive volunteer role, but also the most rewarding. Big Buddies do not have to have experienced a loss, but simply know how to listen, be supportive and have fun.
Our Healing Circle Leaders are trained grief counselor/mental health professional who has experience facilitating support groups, working with children, and addressing grief issues. Required to have a degree in social work, therapy, counseling, or a related field.
Registered nurses are needed onsite for our entire camp weekend including overnight! We have two nurses per camp. They administer medications to the campers and handle any medical needs should they arise.
Junior Counselors (ages of 15-18 years old) & Healing Circle Assistants (18 and over) and are assigned to support the volunteers and campers in their group. They will also support Comfort Zone staff as needed throughout the weekend.
Assist behind the scenes at camp, helping with registration, setting up/clean up various activities throughout the weekend and assisting in supervising the campers. Floaters may volunteer for a few hours, a day, or an entire weekend!
Our camp photographers our needed to capture candid pictures throughout the weekend as well as posed Big and Little Buddy photos that are printed and sent home with them. Experienced photographers—we need you!
During a camp weekend, volunteers are needed from 2:30 p.m. on Friday to 4 p.m. on Sunday. (Floater role is the exception to this.)
Camp involves a lot of physical activity. There is a lot of walking, often up hills, and volunteers are expected to participate in field games, repeat after me songs, challenge course activities to name a few. Those in the big buddy and junior counselor roles are particularly physical. The floaters and healing circle assistant role also has a physical component to them but are a little less intensive.
Camp is “rustic” but not primitive! We sleep in cabins. Some with the bathrooms in them and some without. Everyone stays onsite at camp for the entire weekend.
We ask volunteers who’ve had a close personal loss to not serve as a big buddy for a year so that it won’t tap into their own loss and they can be fully present for the little buddy.
We require that all camp volunteers attend a four-hour training prior to volunteering to gain a better understanding of childhood bereavement and volunteer expectations.
50% of our volunteers have never experienced a close loss. You do not have to experience a loss to be a great volunteer.
Even more ways to get involved!
Our screeners speak with parents and guardians of campers and make sure camp is a good fit for them and answer questions about camp. A mental health background is required for all screeners.
Help organize files, prepare mailings and assist with other general office work.
Preparing for camp by helping organize camper name tags, making grocery store runs, packing and counting inventory for the Camp Store.
Serve on Comfort Zone Committees or Boards. Event support including help with event planning, preparation, set up and execution (Fall Bash, Golf Tournament, Grief Relief 5k, Gala, etc).
Share Comfort Zone in your community by distributing Comfort Zone information, or speaking about Comfort Zone in front of organizations for which you are a member.
Need support or have additional questions? Please email info@comfortzonecamp.org
