LRNow works actively with the community to learn how we can each contribute to preserving and restoring our natural resources and meet the challenges that lie ahead. Every year, LRNow volunteers spend thousands of hours dedicating their time and working towards cleaner and healthier Virginia Beach waterways.

Our work could not be accomplished without our volunteers. Knowing that it takes a community to bring about change and reverse decades of abuse and neglect of our waterways, we hope you will join us in our efforts. From getting your boots muddy at a monthly trash cleanup to encouraging residents to incorporate sustainable practices at home, there are opportunities for everyone! Get involved today!

Current call for volunteers:

Education and Outreach: Sign up
Assist LRNow’s Pearl program staff at an upcoming event’s LRNow outreach table. Help our Pearl Home Coordinator pack and prep materials for new pearl home members. Work with children and help assist our Pearl School Coordinator with education programs.

Waterway Cleanups: Sign up
CLICK HERE to learn more about LRNow waterway cleanups.

Join Our Advocacy Team! Sign up 
CLICK HERE to learn more about LRNow Advocacy Program.

Restoration Projects: Sign up
(examples: planting trees, installing oyster castles and living shoreline grasses)

Other upcoming volunteer opportunities:

Saturday October 8th – Proteus Block Party presented by Zeiders American Dream Theater – Volunteer with LRNow and help engage with the community around the LOVE sign. Don’t forget to bring your clean plastic lids, of any size, roll up your sleeves, and glitz up your garbage so it becomes part of the 16-foot-long LOVE sign! Local artist Renee Calway will be working to incorporate repurposed materials in the painting of this sign during the festival. SIGN UP to volunteer at this event!

Please note: If you are interested in volunteering but aren’t available on any of the dates listed or do not see upcoming event listed on the links above, send us your info anyway using the links above or email emily@lrnow.org.

Volunteer opportunities throughout the year:

Monthly Waterway Cleanups
LRNow hosts cleanups along our Virginia Beach waterways every month (except December) to remove marine debris, improve water quality and keep our city’s waters healthy and safe. Cleanups may be land-based and/or water-based depending on the location chosen for any given month. Click here for more information. Ready to get muddy and help keep our waterways clean? Sign up here.

Water Quality Monitoring
Our water quality monitoring volunteers are our every month collecting samples that provide us with valuable data on a wide range of pollutants. In partnership with HRSD, Lynnhaven River Now works with volunteers to collecting water samples at over 20 different waterway sites across Virginia Beach. Water samples are delivered to HRSD for processing and the results are shared and published to provide local community groups, schools, the City of Virginia Beach and state agencies. Email Helen@lrnow.org for more information.

Oyster Spat Catchers
Do you have access to tidal waters in Virginia Beach or know of someone who does? Spat catchers can gather important data that will assist us in understanding spat (baby oyster) settlement in Rudee Inlet/Owls Creek, the Lynnhaven River and tributaries, and Elizabeth River (Virginia Beach only). Volunteers will each receive two small cages, one with oyster shell and the other with an experimental substrate. Next spat catcher volunteer roundup: Spring 2023. Email Helen@lrnow.org for more information.

Learn more about all the ways you can help by volunteering with LRNow!

• Attend a monthly waterway cleanup
• Become a Community Scientist
• Assist LRNow staff at outreach events 
• Advocate for good environmental policies
• Help with office administration. Email Dominique@lrnow.org 
• Assist with Oyster Restoration (Heavy lifting required).  Email emily@lrnow.org
• Help plant trees. Email Emily@lrnow.org for future opportunities.
• Inspire and educate future generations through our education department.
  • Read to students in Virginia Beach Schools.
  • Email education@lrnow.org

For more information or questions contact our office (757)962-5398 or email Emily Bodsford at Emily@lrnow.org