Volunteering is a very basic and fundamental way for citizens and residents to give back to their community. Over the past handful of years, Bremerton has been growing and organizing its base of volunteers into some fundamental programs that have now fully invested themselves into being part of the overall, long term, community improvement solution.

As a volunteer myself, I have been both impressed and bolstered by the sheer number of dedicated individuals who have helped to spearhead and organize these collective efforts. They are making a considerable difference in a number of community areas and green spaces.

I wanted to take the time this week to share some of them with you. Many in the community would like to enter into or increase their volunteer efforts but just don’t know how or where to get started. So here are some of the local organizations with standing dates, times and open invitations for anyone to join in.

Thanks to the new website that the City of Bremerton has launched, there is now an expanded Parks and Recreation section. Included in that section is a page dedicated to Volunteer Opportunities such as:

Forest Ridge Park Stewardship Program.

Meets at 9 a.m. on the third Saturday of every month.

Forest Ridge Park, 110 Summit Ave., Bremerton, WA 98312.

For details, please visit the Forest Ridge Park Facebook page.

Friends of Kiwanis Park.

Meets from 9-11 a.m. on the fourth Saturday of every month.

Kiwanis Park, 1701 5th St.

For details, please contact 360-473-5305.

Lions Park Adopt-A-Beach Program.

Lions Park, 251 Lebo Blvd., Bremerton, WA 98310.

Volunteer to help control shoreline beach weeds.

For details, contact Rick and Ruth at 360-373-0280.

A volunteer has also stepped up to take over coordinating individual volunteers and volunteer groups for the city parks and recreation department. That is now Sunny Wheeler who is also one of the Bremerton parks and recreation commissioners. If you contact the main office, they can put you in touch with her. She will be more than happy to discuss opportunities with you or your service group. That number is 360-473-5305.

The Bremerton School District has a volunteer page (http://www.bremertonschools.org/) that includes information about their programs, school contacts and an application that can be completed online.

Seniors can enroll in the Senior Tax Exchange Program or STEP. This program allows Bremerton resident seniors who are eligible to exchange their volunteer hours for the local school portion, levy and/or bonds of their property taxes. For more information the district contact is Joyce Cowdery at 360-620-7291.

Finally, citizens have stepped up to create a Facebook page dedicated to “Volunteer in Bremerton”. This group was fundamental in organizing the Gateway Clean Up along Hwy 304 as it enters into the city and becomes Callow Avenue and would like to do more projects and keep the buzz going about volunteer opportunities as they come up.

Check out these sites and groups.

Find something that appeals to you and come out to join in the efforts. It is fun way to get to know your community members and help Bremerton improve.