Making a Difference in Your Community : Volunteers Keep Nature Center Going

Columbus Day at the Placerita Canyon nature center began cold and drizzly. A group of schoolchildren had canceled a morning nature hike, daunted by the dampness left by an all-night thunderstorm.

Outside, few hikers were sloshing on the muddy trails. A red-shouldered hawk and a red-tailed hawk, each missing a wing, perched inside their cages and shrieked.

Like others in cages and pens around the center, the birds, found with broken wings, were brought in to the the park by local residents.

Inside the warm nature center that smells of sawdust, volunteers were pondering the fate of a soaking-wet great horned owl found by a motorist.

The center, on Placerita Canyon Road, is a common drop-off spot for injured or stray animals. It is an almost pristine, 350-acre patch of nature, with 10 miles of hiking trails, nature classes and a museum. Although it does not have a clinic, volunteers attempt to find places where injured animals can be cared for.

The teaching programs and center are kept going through the work of volunteers, said Valerie Vartanian, the center’s supervisor.

In fact, on Columbus Day, a holiday for government employees, one part-time staffer and a few volunteers held down the fort.

For one of those volunteers, Gini Shadwick, and her 11-year-old son, Jon, the center has become a sort of home away from home. In 1990, her first year as a volunteer, Shadwick volunteered a total of 300 hours while working as a waitress at night.

She said the nature center has taught her about the outdoors and a little about herself.

“I had a self-esteem problem. I thought, ‘I can’t do this. I don’t have anything to offer,’ ” she said. “Everyone has something to offer. You don’t need any special talent to come in and say, ‘Hey, I can help.’ ”

The center needs volunteers for a myriad of tasks, including answering telephones, working in the gift shop, cleaning and mending displays and helping with a native plant nursery.

The center’s collection of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles--kept there to educate visitors--also need volunteer attention.

“Even if it’s everybody’s day off, the animals still have to eat,” said docent and volunteer Donald Hamilton.

The menagerie includes Graham, an inquisitive 7 foot, 2 inch Burmese Python; Rojo, a red-tailed hawk brought in with rickets; O. J., another great horned owl; a gopher snake with a bandaged tail; and an affectionate, cross-eyed opossum named S’More.

“I like dealing with small children,” said Shadwick, now a trained docent who heads a student naturalist program for 8 to 12 year olds. “We need to get the children headed in the right direction as far as ecology and environmental policies go.”

Some young visitors have never been in the wild. “Some come out here scared to death,” said Shadwick.

They usually leave excited and somewhat in awe of nature, said Shadwick.

“I love this place,” she said.

For more information or to volunteer, call (805) 259-7721.

The Burbank Family YMCA is looking for volunteers to teach English to speakers of other languages. Training sessions are scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 30 and Nov. 6. For more information, call Jeanette Matthews at the YMCA at (818) 845-8551 or (818) 842-1184.

The American Red Cross, Los Angeles chapter, needs volunteers to set up and staff display booths at public events. For more information, call (213) 739-5271.

Getting Involved is a weekly listing of volunteering opportunities. Please address prospective listings to Getting Involved, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338.