Volunteer Recognition for Your Club

Great Falls Trail Bike Riders Association Adopt a Trail project for Pilgrim Creek Trail #304.  Shown in the picture are Bob Dewar, Mona Ehnes, background, Heidi Annau & Vic Ehnes, at the trailhead with bags of weeds.  Trash bags supplied by Redline Sports, Butte, MT, Honda dealer.

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) and the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA) are announcing a new program to recognize the outstanding Take Pride in America (TPIA) volunteer efforts by OHV clubs across the country.  The recognition program, being undertaken in cooperation with the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC) and Americans for Responsible Recreational Access (ARRA), is designed to encourage volunteerism and reward OHV clubs and organizations for their efforts.

Volunteer hours logged by clubs will be tracked through the Americans for Responsible Recreational Access website and MIC and SVIA will recognize those clubs whose members make a significant contribution to improving our public lands and recreation areas.  We know that OHV clubs already contribute thousands of volunteer hours and simply by keeping track of your hours and registering them, you can gain recognition for those efforts from the Industry as well as from the U.S. Department of Interior.

How It Works
Recognition will be based on the number of volunteer hours contributed by clubs on a per member basis (i.e. if a club has 10 members and the club volunteer hour total is 100 hours, the club’s score would be 10.  If a club has 200 members and the club volunteer hour total is 1000, the club score would be 5.) By doing this, small clubs will be on an equal footing with very large clubs.  Youth participation will also be encouraged and acknowledged with a special category of recognition for those clubs who have the most volunteer hours by kids under 16, again based on number of members in your club.   The recognition will be based on TPIA volunteer events conducted between the launch of the program on March 31, 2005 and December 31, 2005.

Prizes 
Gold Level – Win a sound meter!  The top 5 clubs by volunteer hour per member will achieve the Gold Level and in addition to being recognized by MIC, SVIA, ARRA and NOHVCC, will receive a sound meter. 
Silver Level - The next top five clubs will earn Silver Level recognition and a $200 contribution to your club for use in purchasing supplies needed for volunteer projects, for off-setting the cost of refreshments at your next volunteer event, or for any other worthy club need.

Bronze Level - Third group of five clubs will earn the Bronze Level and a $100 contribution to your club.

How to Register to Participate
1. Designated point person - Participating clubs will need to designate a contact person as the “responsible officer” to be in charge of forwarding the necessary information to ARRA. 

2. Provide a club roster - Since clubs will be recognized based on the number of volunteer hours per member, participating clubs will be required to submit a club roster, including names and if possible email and street addresses, so that we know the number of club members on which to base the recognition.  (You may need to obtain permission from your club members to provide this information.)  For additional information or contact information please click here.

3. Report volunteer hours – Each time your club members participate in a volunteer activity, your club’s point person can send the information to ARRA to get credit for your club.  Your volunteer activity can also be listed on the ARRA  Volunteer Opportunities web page to help spread the word and publicize your event.

At the end of the year, ARRA will tally club hours in relation to the number of club members to determine the winners.  Winners will be announced in March at the annual National OHV Conservation Council annual meeting and notified in advance.

ARRA's Legislative Alert System
In addition to participating in the recognition program, your club can offer members the opportunity to become part of ARRA’s national Legislative Alert System.   ARRA’s on-line grassroots system allows OHV users the ability to easily send letters directly to their members of Congress and the Administration on important land access issues and really help make a difference.  

Members can be included in the ranks of Americans for Responsible Recreational Access and receive critical information about OHV issues both nationally and in your region of the country.

Once your club provides the roster to ARRA, ARRA can offer an opt-in option for club members with an email address to join this important grassroots movement.  ARRA has a strict privacy policy and does not sell or trade names.  A copy of that policy is available on line at http://www.arra-access.com/arra/privacypolicy.html.

You can get even more recognition for your club and the hard work done by the OHV community by sending in pictures of your club’s volunteer activity.  When you report the results of your event to ARRA, send pictures!  Not only will ARRA display them on its website, but we will forward the pictures to TPIA and they may be included on the Take Pride website as well.

If you have questions or would like additional information please visit the ARRA web site at http://www.ARRA-Access.com or email webmaster@mail.arra-access.com.

Program Sponsors

About Take Pride

About the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC)

About the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America® (SVIA)

About the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC)

About Americans for Responsible Recreational Access (ARRA)