Volunteer

Volunteer at The Lights of Christmas

Share the hope and joy of the Christmas season as a volunteer. Each year, over 800 volunteers make The Lights of Christmas possible. From the first strand of lights to when it all comes down, our volunteers make it all truly spectacular! Holiday service projects for you, your family, churches, or service group!

Pre-event Setup

September - November, 2019 - Do you enjoy decorating on a grand scale or like putting together scenes and sets? Special projects can be done anytime. November needs are Mon-Fri between 9 am and 4:30 pm.

REQUIREMENTS & INFORMATION

Requirements

18+ years old, or 14-17 years-old with adult supervision
Must be able to work outdoors
Requires moderate to strenuous physical activity
Work days/hours are Monday-Friday between 9 AM and 4:30 PM, as scheduled by The Lights of Christmas staff
Need to work in 4 hour blocks of time or more

Projects Information

Outdoor projects: Assist staff in putting up scenes and sets, tents, artwork on posts, finishing touches of light hanging. Light hanging September – November. Outdoor scenes/sets in November.
Indoor projects: Skilled carpentry work for putting together a variety of stages and displays. Requires a flexible schedule. September – October is fabrication work. November is installation.

Saturday Work Days

November 16 and 23; 8:30am – 6:00pm
Volunteers are invited to join the fun of setting up displays and finish decorating for The Lights of Christmas Festival! Come as a group, family, or individual. You will have the joy of bringing Christmas to life for others!

INFORMATION

Event Volunteer Staff

Nov 29-Dec 1, 5-8, 12-15, 18-23, 26-29, 2019 Volunteers provide the smiles, warmth, and heartfelt enthusiasm! Positions include greeters, ticket sales, parking attendants, costumed characters, and more!

POSITIONS & AGE REQUIREMENTS

Ticket and Retail Sales (Positions start at 4:00pm)

Ticket Seller (age 18+) — Sells Festival tickets in heated, insulated ticket booth. (Position starts at 4:00pm.
Cashier (age 18+) — Operates a cash register/credit card machine in a designated location. Must be able to handle money.
Retail Sales Assistant (age 16+) — Assists cashier and bags purchases in a designated gift shop.

Indoor Hosting and Hospitality

Indoor Host (age 18+) — Greets and interacts with guests, answers general questions about the event in an indoor setting. Younger children may volunteer with an older sibling or under parent’s supervision.
Indoor Craft Helper (age 16+) — Assists guests in a designated craft venue to ensure that operations run smoothly.
Elfland Toy Shop Adult Helper (age 18+) — Greets and interacts with guests, helps to supervise the elves, assists with painting of wooden toys, and may also assist the cashier in sales.
Elfland Toy Shop Youth Helper (age 10+) — Assists children in assembling and decorating wooden toys. Younger children may volunteer with older sibling or parent's supervision.
Table Busser (age 14+) — Greets guests, wipes down tables/trays. Job involves a lot of walking. Younger children may volunteer with older sibling or parent's supervision.

Outdoor Courtesy

Outdoor Host (age 14+) — Greets and interacts with guests, answers general questions about the event in an outdoor setting.
Parking Attendant (age 14+) — Directs traffic to and from various parking sites. Attendants will work outdoors on foot.
Train Attendant (age 16+) — Welcomes guests to the boarding area, assists and communicates with the driver, helps passengers board, and helps with crowd control.
Cart Driver (age 18+, driver's license required) — Responds to radio calls for transport of guests with special mobility needs. May also transport overnight guests to their room with their luggage.
Event Security (age 18+, background check required) — Walks the grounds to ensure safety, answers questions, and communicates with on-site emergency services.

Themed Characters

Costumed Character (age 14+, background check required) — Interacts with guests while wearing a lovable Frosty the Snowman or Engineer Bear costume. This job involves lots of walking and plenty of dancing. Can be no larger than 5’8” and 225 pounds, or smaller than 5'4" and 120 pounds. (Suggested dress: T-shirt and shorts.) Half shift - usually switches to Escort for Costume Character for other shift.
Escort for Costume Character (age 14+, background check required) — Assists the costume character, interacts with guests, helps costume characters with visibility, and helps take pictures. Half shift - usually switches into the costume character for other shift.
Santa Claus (age 21+, background check required) — Interacts with children and listens to Christmas requests. This is a seated position. Assistant and santa suit provided.
Santa’s Helper (age 18+) — Interacts with children and parents while they wait in line and assists Santa. Must be outgoing.

Pony Rides

Pony Ride Adult Helper (age 18+, horse experience required) — Assists Pony Ride Leader, interacts with guests, assists with lifting children on and off horses, leads horses with children aboard around a circular course.
Pony Ride Youth Helper (age 14+, horse experience required) — Interacts with guests, leads horses with children aboard around a circular course. Must be good with animals and people.

Petting Farm

Petting Farm Adult Helper (age 18+) — Assists the Shepherd's Keep Leader, interacts with guests, helps oversee the youth helpers, provides dinner break for leader. Must be good with animals.
Petting Farm Youth Helper (age 14+) — Interacts with guests, helps clean stalls, and assists with caring for animals.

INFORMATION

We are looking for people who enjoy extending warm, friendly, and gracious hospitality to others. Our basic expectations are punctuality, good communication skills, accuracy, willingness to work well with teammates, and the ability to hand out lots of smiles with a spirit of welcome and caring!

All volunteers under the age of 14 must be accompanied by a parent or adult.

All volunteers who work 4 hours or more get a FREE evening meal and a ticket to return to The Lights of Christmas Festival at another time.

Limited free lodging and breakfast available for those coming from a distance. Lodging is subject to space availability. Those staying in lodging must be 18 or older or accompanied by an adult.

Event Take-down

January 2-4, 2020

The event may be over but the joy lives on! Take down The Lights of Christmas immediately following the end of the event. Crew leaders are provided and many hands make light work.

Indoor and outdoor work available.