 |
 |
 |
Welcome to the sign-up page for the 2025 Volunteer Days (formerly Work Parties). The Friends of San Jose Family Camp ("Friends") in partnership with the City of San Jose, have put together a special session of volunteer opportunities for 2025 while Family Camp at Yosemite is closed while major construction projects take place at this year.
What exactly are Volunteer Days? As a supporting organization to Family Camp at Yosemite, Friends organizes events where we gather a large group of volunteers to focus on camp repairs and improvements. The camp sees thousands of visitors every year and the infrastructure of the camp (some buildings dating back almost a century) needs continual maintenance. Friends helps with these projects to both improve the quality of the camper experience at camp and reduce the operating costs thereby helping to keep the summer rates affordable.
The weekends available for these projects are-
June 20-22, 2025
Aug 1-3, 2025
Sept 12-14, 2025
What specific projects are planned and what skills do I need? The list of projects varies, but the typical projects include - sanding, painting, cooking, kitchen prep, washing dishes, tent repair, storage and organization, office work, kids games, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, raking, invasive plant removal, landscape maintenance plus a variety of specialty projects. If you have any experience or skills with the above, you would be a perfect fit to help out. We can help tailor projects to your experience as well.
Tell me more about the schedule for each weekend. The schedule for each weekend starts with Friends staff arriving in Thursday and Friday to prepare for the weekend. Volunteers are asked to arrive sometime on Friday. If you arrive early, get your cabin arranged, and are gearing to start work, we will already have some projects started. There will also be cooking prep needed for the meals. Friday night dinner is served (typically at 6:00-6:30). Saturday morning breakfast is served then the teams are briefed and projects begin. We break for lunch around noon, then work the afternoon and try to wrap up as many projects as possible, then break again in the evening for dinner. Sunday morning breakfast is served and then any remaining projects are finished as the volunteers pack to return home. Be sure to relax and enjoy camp during the breaks and ample free time between projects and meals.
Is there a cost? Yes, we pass along the cost of the 5 meals we provide for the volunteers. The City used to provide meals for our events, but budget constraints have forced Friends to purchase the food to help limit city expenses. However the meal cost is far lower than the typical $99 daily camp reservation rate. If you are a current Friends member, you do get a discount on the meal cost-
| $40 - Friends member discount price |
| $50 - Non-member price |
| $25 - Child 12 and under |
This price covers 5 meals (Fri dinner, Sat breakfast/lunch/dinner, Sun breakfast) and your cabin accommodations for the weekend
Ready to sign up? Great! Couple of things to note before you go to our signup page: Please include your name, skills and any diet needs in the text field of your signup. If you need multiple cabins, register and pay for the volunteers for each cabin separately.
Head to our sign-up page here-
Volunteer Days 2025 Signup Store
Important details to note
- No pets allowed
- Please notify us of food allergies and diet restrictions (veggie/vegan/etc). We will try to accommodate, but it may not always be possible. We recommend bringing your own food if necessary.
- Friends staff will assign cabins as available
- Volunteers are expected to contribute a minimum of 8hrs of work
- Volunteers must sign a City of San Jose liability waiver and follow all volunteer guidelines and etiquette
- Signups are non-refundable if you request to cancel less then 14 days before the event
- If you have not already paid for a 2025 Friends of San Jose Family Camp membership, you can add that to your registration to get the discounted rate.
- Questions? Email
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
