Volunteering with the San Francisco Bay Chapter Inner City Outings Backpacking and Hiking Section


Will had never seen the stars except from San Francisco nor snow except on TV, and he was already carrying two felony strikes. As the winter night fell near Carson Pass he stood with his eyes wide and his mouth open, staring at the sky. "Wow, oh wow! Wow. . ." he said softly.


SF BAY CHAPTER ICO
Inner City Outings is the Sierra Club's highly acclaimed all-volunteer outreach program. ICO provides backpacking, day hikes, car camping, and snow outings, led by experienced, competent and motivated leaders, to segments of the Bay Area community that would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience our area's natural wonders. These trips go to local state and county parks, National Forests and Wilderness Areas, and National Parks. ICO's immediate objectives are to promote interpersonal skills, to improve trip participants' self-esteem through active involvement with nature, and to have fun. This in turn serves an ultimate objective to broaden the base for the Sierra Club's environmental education efforts.

COMMUNITY
ICO works with a wide variety of community agencies: alternative schools; hiking groups within a school or a church; drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs; juvenile delinquent facilities; group homes; street programs, etc. Most participants in ICO are young people from urban communities, but we also conduct trips for disabled persons, abused women, or any population that may not have access to outdoor activities.

OUR VOLUNTEERS
There are three levels at which people participate in the ICO program:

  1. As a VOLUNTEER: You can get involved by helping to keep the organization functioning: volunteer to maintain equipment, publish the newsletter, fundraise, etc. Come to a meeting to find out about these opportunities or call 510-496-3663 ext. SFICO.
  2. As a certified DAYHIKE LEADER.
  3. As a certified BACKPACK LEADER: If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please fill out the volunteer application form. Once your form has been received and reviewed, you will be assigned to an agency team and contacted by an ICO leader. You may also contact outing leaders directly if you'd like to volunteer on a particular outing. The schedule of outings and the roster of active leaders appears in the ICO Newsletter as well as on the SF ICO homepage. We have over a hundred volunteers who want to go on outings, so you might have to be persistent. However, a volunteer's participation is always subject to the discretion of the ICO leader organizing the outing.
IT'S HARD WORK
Being an ICO Volunteer is hard work. Organizing your participants, getting the equipment together, doing the paperwork, etc. takes a lot of time. Leaders look to volunteers to help them organize the outings and to work hard while on the outings. As a volunteer, you must be willing to offer more than just your company on a hike. As a leader you must be willing to make a major time commitment several times a year.

[If you are just interested in learning wilderness backpacking, the Sierra Club backpacking section [not ICO] or the California Alpine Club conduct excellent trainings. If you just want to hike, backpack, bike, etc. in Northern California for free with knowledgeable leaders, check out the Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter Activities Schedule, which is sold at most Bay Area mountaineering stores; you don't even have to be a member to participate. If you want to meet people, call the Sierra Singles (mostly under 40), Solo Sierrans (mostly over 40), or Gay/Lesbian Sierrans Sections.]

OUR RESOURCES
ICO maintains several equipment sites around the Bay Area containing sleeping bags, backpacks, sleeping pads, tents, pots, stoves, first aid kits, and all the other gear needed to support an ICO field trip. ICO leaders are covered by the Sierra Club's liability and medical insurance and trip participants are covered by its medical insurance while on a valid ICO trip. ICO does not provide car insurance.

BECOMING A CERTIFIED LEADER
Leading ICO outings is deeply rewarding, but it also involves a lot of hard work and exasperation. Without a properly trained leader, taking an inexperienced group into the outdoors on any kind of trip could be uncomfortable or even dangerous. As an ICO leader you must be proficient not only in conducting a safe outing, but also in working with often difficult participants. And you must be willing to make a serious commitment: you must deal with paperwork, finances, equipment, transportation, dozens of phone calls, weather cancellations, and much more.

Please do not pursue becoming a certified ICO leader unless you are willing to commit time and energy.

Participation in ICO Leader Training is by invitation only. To qualify, you must be an active Sierra Club member, have volunteered on at least two ICO outings, and be certified in Standard Red Cross first aid or its equivalent (we strongly recommend wilderness first aid). If accepted for training you will be required to submit your fingerprints and a copy of your drivers license for screening. Participation in a leader training program does not guarantee certification. Certification as a leader is also based upon participation on ICO outings, and supervised leadership of ICO outings of your own.

If you have further questions contact our Volunteer Coordinator:
David Greene
PO Box 26061
San Francisco, CA 94126
Telephone: (510) 496-3663 ext. SFICO (73426)

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