Under the direction of each state/provincial director, members volunteer to take on tasks such as planting new gardens, maintaining existing landscape, building overhead shelters, cleaning up debris, welcoming visitors, manning information booths, and completing light maintenance tasks. Each park defines its own volunteer assignments and these will differ from park to park.
The Club is proud of all of these dedicated Chapter and state/provincial organization volunteers. If you are interested in learning more about adopting a park, please feel free to contact your state or provincial director. All participants receive special Adopt-A-Park patches and caps from the Club.
With summer just around the corner, it's time for spring cleaning and the annual Good Sam Club Cleanup Days. On May 18 and 19, Good Sam Club members across North America will get together to do their bit for the environment, just as they have since 1996.
Nowhere is the club's original Good Samaritan mission more evident than at Cleanup Days. Over the weekend, members head out in force, not only to pick up trash, but also to prune branches, paint fences, restore hiking trails and whatever else needs to be done. At a time when public agencies have less to spend on upkeep, Good Sam Club volunteers provide a much-needed boost.
To thank members for their participation, the Good Sam Club sponsors a drawing for chapters that fill 10 or more trash bags during Cleanup Days. Each Good Sam Club family membership in the winning chapter receives a $25 Camping World merchandise certificate. To enter, email a photo of your chapter with its bulging trash bags to CleanupDays@GoodSamClub.com, along with a note letting us know where you volunteered. Entry deadline is May 31. There will be a random drawing from all entries received. Only one entry per chapter.
Good Sam Cleanup Days is sponsored by the Good Sam Club and Camping World, America's largest retailer of recreational vehicles and RV supplies and services. Camping World's nearly 100 locations welcome Good Sam Club members to dispose of their trash bags in their dumpsters on Cleanup Days and enjoy the weekend's annual GrillFest celebration.
Everyone's invited to help out on Cleanup Days. Members who don't belong to a chapter can contact their state or provincial Good Sam Club director for information on volunteering with a local chapter. Visit GoodSamClub.com/chapters to get in touch with your director.
For more information, please contact your Chapter president, State
or Provincial Director or email CleanupDays@GoodSamClub.com.
State and Provincial Chapters & Directors
One of the greatest benefits of Good Sam membership comes from the wonderful people you meet at club functions. Over the years, thousands of members have formed their own Chapters to host outings, campouts and volunteer activities. State or provincial directors are the contact point for events in their state or province.
Nearly 1,500 local Good Sam Chapters host a variety of fun activities, and many volunteer for worthwhile community projects. Find out more about Chapters in your area by contacting your state or provincial director at the link below. Visit the Event Locator link, below, for information about Good Sam-sponsored state and provincial events.
Chapters and Directors Locator
State and Provincial Event Locator
Adopt-A-Highway
Nearly 10,000 volunteer Good Sam Chapter members have helped clean up more than 500 miles of
highways in the United States and Canada through the Adopt-A-Highway
program. If you are interested in volunteering for this worthy cause,
contact your state or provincial director at the link below.
Chapters and Directors Locator
SeriousFun Children’s Network
SeriousFun Children’s Network is a growing global community of innovative camps and programs that provide life-changing support to children with serious illnesses and their families. Previously known as The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, in April 2012 the organization decided to changed its to underscore founder Paul Newman’s passionate belief in the power of taking fun seriously. SeriousFun Children’s Network remains deeply rooted in the philosophy that children with serious illnesses deserve an opportunity to simply be kids. Since the first camp’s inception in 1988, more than 384,700 children and their families have been served by SeriousFun Children’s Network, including over 253,800 children from 50 countries. Today SeriousFun Children’s Network includes 28 initiatives worldwide, all reaching beyond illness to help children and their families discover joy, confidence and a new world of possibility. SeriousFun Children’s Network and each of its member camps are independent not-for-profit organizations dependent upon private funding and the generosity of others to serve all children free of charge.
Learn more
about SeriousFun Children’s Network
Dogs for the Deaf
Dogs for the Deaf, a nonprofit organization supported by the Good Sam Club since 1980, received $191,036 in donations from individual Good Sam Club members, regional chapters and the club itself in 2012. Good Sam Club chapters are consistently donating over $100,000 a year, with $103,000 donated in 2011!
Based in Oregon, Dogs for the Deaf is North America’s oldest and largest Hearing Dog institution, providing dogs free of charge to people with a variety of physical and emotional challenges, from autism to hearing loss. The organization also trains dogs for teachers, counselors and working professionals to assist them with disabled students, patients and clients.
Good Sam Club chapters raise money for Dogs for the Deaf by collecting recyclables, holding raffles and staging book sales, bake sales and yard sales. "Doggy banks" make the rounds at Samborees for contributions, and the Oregon Good Sam Club hosts a regional dog walk each fall. Thanking Good Sam Club for its many years of support, Dogs for the Deaf recognized the chapters that contributed the most in 2012:
Sam’s Radio Hams, Southern California: $7,833
Square Samers, Northern California: $6,409
Prairie State Sams, Illinois: $5,000
Vegas Hi-Rollers, Nevada: $5,000
Sammamish Sams, Washington: $4,450
Clackamas Campers, Oregon: $3,000
Get Along Sams, Washington: $2,864
Trail Dusters, Oregon: $2,523
Caldwell Ramblers, Idaho: $2,125
Norwega Sams, Georgia: $2,100
Tired and Retired Sams, Washington: $2,000
Learn more about Good Sam Club’s contributions to Dogs for the Deaf at dogsforthedeaf.org/good-sam-club.