• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Run
    • Point Mariah Trail Marathon
    • Racing Gnome Snowshoe Race
    • Castle Peak 100k
    • Group Runs
    • Snowshoe Loans
    • Code of Conduct
  • Join
    • Membership Cost & Benefits
    • Race Discounts
    • Join Us
  • Volunteer
    • Aid Stations
    • Trail Stewardship
  • About
    • About Us
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact Us
  • Calendar
  • Store
    • Shopping Cart
  • Donate

Donner Party Mountain Runners

Inform Inspire Connect

  • Member Highlights
  • Race Reports
  • Newsletter
  • Webinar Videos

Ask the Board – Why Do You Volunteer?

June 30, 2022 by Renee Jacobs Leave a Comment

This month, we wanted to put a spotlight on volunteering. We asked our board members why they volunteer, what are their best volunteer experience(s), and their favorite way to give back to the trail. If this inspires you to find ways to share your time, please check out the Volunteer page and the calendar for current opportunities on the DPMR website. We need you at upcoming aid stations, trail and trash stewardship days and more!

Photo by Lina Trochez on Unsplash

Meggie Inouye: “My family supports Adventure Risk Challenge (ARC).

ARC’s mission is to empower underserved youth through transformational literacy, leadership, and outdoor experiences. This primarily is carried out through 30 day summer immersive wilderness courses in Tahoe and Yosemite and year round mentoring programs based out of North Tahoe High and 3 high schools in the Fresno area.

[My husband] Chris serves as the Treasurer on the Board of Directors and as a family we financially contribute and volunteer at the various community events. We especially enjoy the Voices of Youth event which allows participants to share their writings and poetry with the community.”

Renee Jacobs: “I love how volunteering not only supports others, but it nurtures your soul. It’s worth finding the time in your schedule to make it happen! You will be happier for it. Obviously, I currently give a lot of time to DPMR as a board member, but I’ve also helped take care of animals at the humane society (that’s an easy one – who doesn’t love helping animals?). Being a stay-at-home mom with a 4-year-old while training for big adventures makes it hard to fit in trail stewardship days and aid stations as much as I would like, so I have found other ways to support trails that work for me. You don’t have to be at an official trail work day to pick up trash and clear trails of debris that might make the next runner trip or take out a MTB. And my son and I have been known to haul both his and my gardening gear to help maintain trails in “our backyard.” Kids love shovels and rakes! It gives me warm fuzzies every time I use the trail.”

Angela Stark: “Volunteering and giving back is very important to me and my family. My favorite running related volunteer opportunities are when I get the chance to work at a race aid station. I love to see the different participants and to briefly be part of their experience in a helpful and supportive way. In addition, my 14 year old daughter and I are active members of our local chapter of the National Charity League. Our family has also been longtime supporters of the Tri-Valley Haven organization – from running in their annual Pace for Peace 5k/10k to contributing to their donor appreciations and most recently to helping them rebuild their domestic violence shelter through financial contributions. Ultimately, we believe it is important to actively participate in helping make our community and trails better for all and want to be part of that change. There are so many things we can do to help, big and small… but all meaningful.”

Jack Macy: “My volunteer activities currently/recently include:

  • DPMR Board and activities 🙂
  • Truckee Trails Foundation Board
  • Truckee Donner Land Trust – Truckee Springs Committee
  • Various volunteer time at our kids’ schools (SELS, Glenshire Elementary, THS)
  • AYSO soccer coach

Given my use of them, and how valuable they are to the community for physical health, mental health, social time, community identity, conservation, etc., I’m currently focusing my volunteer time more heavily on our local trails, protecting public lands, and trail stewardship.

And then we try to contribute financially on a regular basis to a much wider group of causes and organizations that are doing important, valuable work for different parts of our communities and world.”

Aude Hofleitner: “Before getting into running, I was volunteering or organizing events for girls or women in STEM such as Expand Your Horizons, Women in Machine Learning or Girls Who Code. I’ve also served on the board of the French Alumni Association to promote connections within the French community in the Bay Area. After sharing my interest in math and science, I am excited to now share my love of running and the mountains, and we have so many opportunities to do that around here! I find the energy from aid stations really invigorating when I run, so volunteering at aid stations has been a special way to give back. It has also given me a strong appreciation for ultra running by seeing the race from the first to the last runner. I also find trail days to be great to learn more about the trails around us, how they are built and help improve the places where I spend so much time playing.”

Diane Frederic: “For me, giving back is what being part of a strong community is all about. Living in Tahoe presents so many opportunities for being involved that it’s easy to live up to my chosen volunteer mantra of “say yes more”. In addition to being a DPMR Board Member, my current volunteer roster includes all the branding and design work for Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care and serving as an Election Worker while also being heavily involved with my chosen political party.

But best DPMR volunteer experiences? All of them… quite simply being a part of the running community by sharing trail time, giving back at races, hosting events and trail and trash stewardship benefits me as much as (hopefully) my community, so it’s a giant win-win for all!”

Filed Under: General, Volunteer

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Become a Member Today »

Subscribe to our email newsletter & announcements!

DPMR’S NEW RACE

trail marathon
Saturday, August 6, 2022
Sign Up / Volunteer

Connect in Person

Aug
9
Tue
5:45 pm DPMR Weekly Social Run & Hangout... @ Trout Creek Pocket Park
DPMR Weekly Social Run & Hangout... @ Trout Creek Pocket Park
Aug 9 @ 5:45 pm – 7:00 pm
DPMR Weekly Social Run & Hangout @ Alibi Public House, Truckee @ Trout Creek Pocket Park
We are excited to create even more opportunity for connections for Tahoe/Truckee mountain runners by kicking off a weekly social run on Tuesday evenings starting on May 17th to go through our 2022 running season until[...]
Aug
10
Wed
6:00 am Morning Speed & Hill Work with P... @ Castle Peak Trailhead
Morning Speed & Hill Work with P... @ Castle Peak Trailhead
Aug 10 @ 6:00 am – 7:30 am
Morning Speed & Hill Work with Peter Fain @ Castle Peak Trailhead
Join Coach Peter Fain Wednesdays at 6:00am sharp for a “no-host unofficial” morning speed & hill work session at various dirt trail  locations.  This week they are meeting at the Castle Peak trailhead in Castle[...]
Aug
16
Tue
5:45 pm DPMR Weekly Social Run & Hangout... @ Trout Creek Pocket Park
DPMR Weekly Social Run & Hangout... @ Trout Creek Pocket Park
Aug 16 @ 5:45 pm – 7:00 pm
DPMR Weekly Social Run & Hangout @ Alibi Public House, Truckee @ Trout Creek Pocket Park
We are excited to create even more opportunity for connections for Tahoe/Truckee mountain runners by kicking off a weekly social run on Tuesday evenings starting on May 17th to go through our 2022 running season until[...]
Aug
17
Wed
6:30 am Morning Speed & Hill Work with P...
Morning Speed & Hill Work with P...
Aug 17 @ 6:30 am – 8:00 am
Morning Speed & Hill Work with Peter Fain LOCATION TBD
Join Coach Peter Fain Wednesdays at 6:30am sharp for a “no-host unofficial” morning speed & hill work session at various dirt trail  locations. Contact Peter Fain for location information and status at runondirt@gmail.com This run[...]
Aug
23
Tue
5:45 pm DPMR Weekly Social Run & Hangout... @ Trout Creek Pocket Park
DPMR Weekly Social Run & Hangout... @ Trout Creek Pocket Park
Aug 23 @ 5:45 pm – 7:00 pm
DPMR Weekly Social Run & Hangout @ Alibi Public House, Truckee @ Trout Creek Pocket Park
We are excited to create even more opportunity for connections for Tahoe/Truckee mountain runners by kicking off a weekly social run on Tuesday evenings starting on May 17th to go through our 2022 running season until[...]
View Calendar
Add
  • Add to Timely Calendar
  • Add to Google
  • Add to Outlook
  • Add to Apple Calendar
  • Add to other calendar
  • Export to XML

Connect Online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

See us on Instagram

dpmrunners

It's #medalmonday! Congrats again to all our runne It's #medalmonday! Congrats again to all our runners and thanks to everyone who came to cheer and volunteer, this inaugural #pointmariahmarathon wouldn't have happened without you! Let's continue the celebration with our weekly Tuesday social run starting from @alibialeworks Truckee at 6pm. Come for the run or just the social time afterwards.

#unafraid #trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning
Who's excited about the Point Mariah marathon tomo Who's excited about the Point Mariah marathon tomorrow 🙋‍♀️ ? See you there to run, cheer and celebrate!

.
.

#unafraid #trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning
Share all the excitement from TRT, celebrate and d Share all the excitement from TRT, celebrate and demo some @adidasterrex shoes. See you tomorrow!
It's #statesmas ! See you at the escarpment tomorr It's #statesmas ! See you at the escarpment tomorrow! 
Meet at the start line at 4am!

📸 @aude_hofleitner 

#unafraid #trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning #wser
Looking for some training runs for the #pointmaria Looking for some training runs for the #pointmariahtrailmarathon? Check out the Regional Park Fun Run/Walk 5K series from @northtahoerecreation. 

#unafraid #trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning #trailrace #funrun
Tuesday Social tomorrow with @salomonrunning and @ Tuesday Social tomorrow with @salomonrunning and @insidetracker! Come share all the energy from the past weekend or excitement about the coming weekend!

Meet at 5:45pm at the Trout creek pocket lot, run at 6pm, follow up with social time at @alibialeworks. 

#unafraid #trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning
Thanks to our volunteers at the Julia Millon Memor Thanks to our volunteers at the Julia Millon Memorial Aid Station who helped our runners stay hydrated and fed as they went through High Camp and cheered to Julia. See you tomorrow at High Camp and stop by in the Village for pancakes!

@brokenarrowskyrace 

#unafraid #trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning #pancakes #skyrace #skyrunning #volunteer #memorial #whiskeyshots
Our President is #unafraid. Send her your cheers f Our President is #unafraid. Send her your cheers for the triple crown at @brokenarrowskyrace this weekend.

📸 : @travelwoo 

#trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning #skyrace #skyrunning #triplecrown
Are you ready for @brokenarrowskyrace fun this wee Are you ready for @brokenarrowskyrace fun this weekend? There is still a chance to fully take on the energy of the event through volunteering: Julia Millon Memorial Aid Station at High Camp for either Saturday’s 52K race or Sunday’s 26K distance (or both!) or at the pancake breakfast in the village Sunday morning. Sign up in bio!

#unafraid #trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning #volunteer #aidstation #pancakes
Double the fun tomorrow! On top of our regular Tue Double the fun tomorrow! On top of our regular Tuesday Alibi social run (meet at 5:45p, run at 6pm), we have a pole clinic co-organized by @leki.trailrunning and @tahoemountainsports at Johnson Canyon at 5pm. We will regroup for social time at Alibi afterwards.

#unafraid #trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning #vert #verttraining #leki #mountainrunning #socialrun
Ready for the weekend? We are looking forward to s Ready for the weekend? We are looking forward to seeing you at the picnic on Sunday. Learn more about it in the Newsletter! https://bit.ly/dpmrjune22

Besides the picnic, there is a lot of interesting content: join us at the inaugural Point Mariah Trail Marathon, our weekly Tuesday group runs, trail work and aid station volunteering opportunities; get inspiration for where to get vert to get ready for all your summer adventures; meet @kellyfuson and the women running one of the @utmbmontblanc races this summer and pick up your next book: Endure by @sweat_science.
Today is Tuesday which means it's Social Run Day! Today is Tuesday which means it's Social Run Day! Lots of places to explore and people to meet or catch up with. After the run, stay for post run refreshments (and more social time) at @alibialeworks!
See you at 5:45pm, run starts at 6pm from the Trout Creek Pocket Park.

#unafraid #trailrunning #runningcommunity #runninglife #runningmotivation #donnerpartymountainrunners #tahoe #tahoerunners #mountainrunners #DPMR #TruckeeTahoeTrailRunning #WeRunTrails #ultrarunning #socialrun
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Footer

Run with Us

  • Group Runs
  • Code of Conduct

Race with Us

  • Point Mariah Trail Marathon
  • Racing Gnome Snowshoe Race
  • Castle Peak 100k
  • Discount Codes

Join Us

  • Membership Cost & Benefits
  • Join Us
  • DPMR Gear
  • Donate

About Us

  • About Us
  • Volunteer
  • Board
  • Contact Us

© 2022 · Donner Party Mountain Runners · Truckee, California · Website by Tahoe Web Works