Volunteer at Lakewood
For over 150 years, Lakewood has been a treasured place for the community to gather and hold space for memorialization, remembrance and reflection, and we are honored to provide a unique opportunity for our community and families to get more involved and share their love of Lakewood through our volunteer program. Lakewood currently offers two volunteer opportunities – our Welcome Team who support Lakewood events and offerings, and our Tour Guide Program which leads historical tours of our grounds and buildings.
Volunteers at Lakewood will get a hands-on opportunity to work with visitors at public events, while supporting this local treasure. Time commitments and needs vary by volunteer role. More information about each role is available in the drop down menu below.
Lakewood Welcome Team
Volunteers are needed to welcome Lakewood visitors to our beautiful grounds and help them connect with our storied history. The Lakewood Welcome Team greets visitors, helps with directions and locating graves, serves as a resource for general questions, and hands out brochures, maps and ribbons for our Living Memory Tree. Many volunteer opportunities are offered during Lakewood events, like Memorial Day, the Midsummer Memory Mandalas Celebration and our Lantern Lighting Celebration.
Training and resources are provided.
Lakewood Welcome Team Tasks Include
- Greeting visitors, handing our programs and refreshments, parking/directional help, and other duties as needed
- Assisting guests to find their way around our 250-acre grounds
- Serving as a resource connecting Lakewood visitors to our staff for help with questions
- Overseeing activities like the Living Memory Tree, handing out flowers for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and more!
Schedule
The Lakewood Welcome Team will primarily have opportunities on evenings and Sunday mornings and afternoons from spring through fall. Shifts typically run two to four hours. Most shifts will be outdoors with a tent and/or seating provided. Please note: You will not be asked to work in any extreme weather conditions (extreme heat, storms, or snow).
Training
Volunteers will attend a 2-hour training session and gain valuable knowledge about Lakewood, including a variety of volunteer resources. These training sessions occur once a year in the spring.
Volunteer training for 2023 has passed. If you are interested in joining us for next year, please fill out the form below and we will be in touch when a new training date is scheduled for 2024.
To join the Lakewood Welcome Team, click here to complete an interest form.
Tour Guides
The new Lakewood tour guides will engage and educate Lakewood visitors during 60–90-minute guided tours of the grounds. These tours will cover Lakewood’s history, architecture and notable residents, along with local history and cemetery history. Guides will also promote and discuss current Lakewood offerings and events as well as provide additional resources, like connecting with Lakewood staff when needed.
This unique, flexible volunteer opportunity offers the chance to learn more about local history, connect with the community, and gain unique insights into death, dying, memorialization and the importance of cemeteries as sacred spaces for education and storytelling.
Guides must complete a 4-hour training session on Saturday, August 12 from 9 AM – noon, and an additional 2-hour group practice tour session on either Tuesday, August 22 or Wednesday, August 23.
All tours take place on weekday evenings or Sunday mornings or afternoons.
For our first year of volunteer tour guides, we are accepting a limited number of people, so please thoroughly fill out the form below explaining your background and experience.
Minimum Requirements
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills
- Ability to stand and walk over uneven terrain for extended periods of time while giving tours
- Knowledge of, or ability to learn about, Lakewood’s history, Minnesota history, cemetery history, and/or memorialization preferred
- Previous experience leading tours preferred
If you are interested, please click here to fill out an interest form.
Interested in learning more about our volunteer opportunities, or have question about becoming a volunteer? Email us at volunteer@lakewoodcemetery.org or call 612-540-5165.
