Volunteer

Living historians portraying the Second South Carolina during Carolina Day

NPS/Everitt

Program Overview

The National Park Service meets the mission through its diverse employees and Volunteers-in-Parks (VIPs). Volunteers can work in every division, doing almost any kind of work. We value VIPs who want to give their time and talent to America’s special places.

All VIPs must interview with the park’s Volunteer Coordinator. They may also interview with specific event leaders, the historic weapons and living history supervisor, etc. This is to ensure the VIP will be a good fit for the park. A Volunteer Handbook and Difficult Conversation Guide is given to every VIP. These documents are approved by park leadership, and work to ensure all VIPs and staff are working on the same page to meet the mission of the National Park Service.

Various types of volunteer opportunities are available throughout the year, from single time, drop-in events, to living history opportunities, to long-term commitments.

Long Term Volunteers

Duties include helping staff the visitor center front desk, providing informal tours of park grounds, and assisting visitors on ferry boats to Fort Sumter. The parks can get very busy, especially in the summer, so volunteers with high energy and patience are especially helpful in these roles.

Volunteers are asked to have a regularly assigned work schedule of at least once per week to maintain status as a reoccurring VIP.

(Image: NPS/ K. Crawford)

RV VIPs

Interested in a longer stay to help the park while living in Charleston? If you have an RV, you can apply for a 3–4-month season with the park as a resident volunteer. A background check is necessary for all resident volunteers.

To learn more about RV VIP opportunities, click here.

Virtual VIPs

Interested in helping parks from home? Check out the Citizen Archivist Project!

The National Park Service and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) are collaborating on a special project to transcribe the pension records of more than 80,000 of America’s first veterans and their widows. The project will make a permanent contribution to the historical record for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

To learn how to get involved, please click here!

Revolutionary War Pension Project - American Revolution (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

 

Contact Us

If you have questions about applying for VIP positions, please contact Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park and Charles Pinckney National Historic Site's Volunteer Coordinator via email.