Your shore volunteers and boat captains are the backbone of your event.
If you’re having a shore event, aim to have at least 40-50 shore volunteers. It’s ideal to have shore volunteers 1:1 with participants but that isn’t always possible.
Shore volunteers must be at least 13 years of age. Minors, 13-15 years old, must have a parent or guardian on site. Parents or guardians must register minors on the shore volunteer registration form.
If you’re taking kids out fishing by boat, aim to balance the total boat capacity of you volunteer boaters with the number of participants you have. 25-30 boats is sufficient for a full event with 40 kids. Having too many boats leaves some boaters with no kids to take fishing, and too few boats doesn’t afford all children the chance to go boating the entire event. Talk to your Regional Director for more information on getting the right number of boaters for your event.
For a boating event, having a minimum of 10-15 shore volunteers to greet, register and do lunch will be helpful. Boat captains have to be 18 or older to operate a boat alone with a participant and parent. Boat captains can be younger if their parent is also on board.
The more you can get your local community involved serving at the event the better the event will be for the kids! You’ll find an email template you can use when recruiting volunteers.
Where to Find Volunteers
- Good friends
- Local Chamber of Commerce
- Fishing clubs
- Boat Dealerships
- Marinas
- Local churches- some large churches will have a special needs ministry
- Local school systems, Board of Education, County school systems, Special Education Departments
- Local school service clubs-Anchor, Earth Clubs
- Local High School Fishing Teams
- Local College Fishing Teams
- Service Clubs: Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary, Civitans
- Offices
- Dental and Doctor Offices
- Local Down Syndrome Association Groups
- Local Autism Groups
- Easter Seals
- Children’s Hospitals
- Large local companies- some may encourage employees to get involved
- Local fishing tackle dealers
Template: Volunteer Recruitment Email
Along with this email, be sure to attach your volunteer flyer.
Hello Captain Jeff,
I’m contacting you to see if you would be interested in volunteering your time for a charity event that provides a day of boating and fishing for children with special needs, ages 6-18.
Together with the C.A.S.T. for Kids Foundation, we are hosting a “C.A.S.T. for Kids” event on [DATE], at [LOCATION].
With the help of volunteer boat captains and experienced anglers, we will be able to take up to 40 children out on [NAME OF BODY OF WATER], teach them proper fishing techniques and help them land their first catch!
Each boat captain will be paired with one child and one parent/guardian. After 2-3 hours of fishing in the morning with your guidance and instruction, there will be an awards ceremony and lunch provided. You would be donating your time from [START & END TIME OF YOUR EVENT] and the use of your boat. The children receive a rod/reel combo and a tackle box. However, any fishing gear you have to help make it a successful morning fishing is appreciated.
Your support means so much in helping make this a victorious event for children who may never have this opportunity otherwise.
Feel free to call me with questions [PHONE NUMBER]. I’ve attached an event flyer with more info.
Thanks in advance,
[YOUR NAME]
Template: Volunteer Registration Email
Prior to your registration page going live, we recommend you keep a list of people who have told you they are interested in helping with your event. Ask each interested person for their email address. Once your registration page is live, send the email below to all the people on your list (BCC’ed everyone).
Hello,
You’re receiving this email because I have your name on my list of volunteers and boat captains for our upcoming C.A.S.T. for Kids event on [DATE].
Please register as either a shore volunteer or boat captain by clicking this link: [INSERT EVENT WEB PAGE LINK]
Please feel free to share this link with anyone you know who may be interested.
Thank you for helping us make this day of fishing possible for kids who may never have the chance otherwise!
Gratefully,
[YOUR NAME]