Help keep our storm drains clear. Adopt a drain.
Volunteer Opportunities
Get Involved in Hastings
Thank you for considering working as a volunteer! The city is excited to offer a variety of volunteer opportunities to support our great Hastings community. Are you looking for a one-day event? How about a long-term opportunity? Do you want to work outside? Maybe you have excellent organizational skills? There are many opportunities in Hastings to put your skills to great use.
Volunteer Commissions
City Commissions are advisory in nature and offer an ongoing way to be involved in planning, development, and preservation issues. Learn more about our City Commissions and consider getting involved in this important role.
City Volunteer Opportunities
Hastings Adopt-A-Park Program
- 2-year volunteer commitment
- Plan clean-ups twice a year, Spring & Fall
- Report Clean-Ups to 651-480-6184 and staff will pick up bags and debris.
For more information on volunteering, please view our informational brochure.
How Do I Get Involved?
To get involved, simply contact the Parks & Recreation Department at (651) 480-6184 or email parksinfo@hastingsmn.gov to adopt a park!
Thank you to our 2025-2026 Adopt-A-Park participants:
- Anytime Fitness Hastings - Roadside Park
- Ardent Mills - Cannon Park & Old Mill Park
- Boy Scout Troop 23 - Pleasant Park
- Carol & Mike Jacoby - Greten Park
- Friends of Lions Park - Lions Park Trailway
- Friends of the Neighborhood (Kelly & Sheila Reis) - Rosemary Ponding Basin
- Hastings Area Rotary Club - Vermillion Falls Park
- Hastings Fire Dept. Relief Association - River Flats & Jaycee Park Trail
- Hastings Hawks - Veterans Athletic Complex
- Hastings Rivertown Lions - Lions Park
- Hastings Wal-Mart Academy - Featherstone Ponding Basin
- Hope Lutheran Church & Preschool - Wilson Park
- Jim & Sue Flipp - Riverwood Park
- Merchants Bank - The LeDuc
- Minnesota Dental Lab - Wallin Park
- Minnesota Veteran's Home -ConAgra Park
- Mrs. Glazier’s 3rd Grade Class - Tierney Park
- Our Savior's Lutheran Church - Levee Park, Olivers Grove Park & Depot Park
- Plastic Printers - Crestview Park
- United Steel Workers Local 662 - Levee Park Garden Beds
- The Caneff Family - Pioneer Park
- The Crisp Family - Jaycee Park Trail & Lake Rebecca
- The Thomas Family - Lake Isabel Park
Current Volunteers
Contact Hastings Parks & Recreation for supply needs (bags, garbage grabbers, gloves)
When you have completed a clean-up, staff will remove full bags you've collected. You may call us at (651) 480-6184 or send an e-mail to parksinfo@hastingsmn.gov
After a snowfall, shovel a path to the nearest fire hydrant and three feet around the hydrant to ensure our firefighters can access water during an emergency. Send us a picture of your cleared hydrant and you could win a gift card. Be a Hydrant Hero!
Visit Dakota County Historical Society LeDuc Historic Estate Volunteer webpage.
Located on the first floor of City Hall, the Pioneer Room is a historic records room focusing on the town and citizens of Hastings, Minnesota. The Pioneer Room has artifacts from its citizens and businesses, a historical photo collection, reference materials on Dakota County, Minnesota, and the City of Hastings history, plus genealogical records and newspaper archives organized by topic or person.
Learn more about how you can be a steward of Hastings' history. Visit the History, Archives and Pioneer Room webpage for hours and contact information.
Parks and Recreation: Special Events
Contact Parks and Recreation department at 651-480-6175
Visit Minnesota Wetland Health Evaluation Program (WHEP) for more
The City of Hastings and Tennis Sanitation have teamed up to offer an exciting program designed to involve youth groups to help increase the recycling of mixed papers throughout the community!
How does the program work?
Tennis Sanitation has provided a recycling container that is located in the parking lot at Fleet Farm, 875 General Sieben Drive (the container was relocated from Coborn's Grocery to Fleet Farm on September 10, 2025). Paper materials, including cardboard, magazines, newspapers, junk mail and box board (cereal, cookie and cracker boxes) can be placed in the recycling container.
Various youth groups are in charge of the program for a block of three months. During this time, the youth group will be expected to monitor the collection box to make sure it stays clean and to get out in the community to help make people aware of the program. This may include going door-to-door, putting up posters or flyers and other unique ways you come up with to communicate the program.
How will our group benefit?
As a reward for these efforts, youth groups will receive $15/ton for all the mixed papers collected in the recycling box during their three-month block of time. On average, groups who participate earn $500-600, depending on the amount of time and effort they put into the recycling program. Additionally, the group is recognized as the “Youth Green Team” by the Hastings City Council and Tennis Sanitation.
How can our group participate?
If your youth group is interested in this program, please contact Erin at 651-459-1887 or via email at
erink@tennissanitation.com. Complete the application form and submit to Tennis Sanitation. Groups selected to participate will be notified well in advance of their three-month term.
Community Opportunities
Many organizations throughout the community have ongoing volunteer needs. To learn more, please contact these groups directly.
- Benedictine Senior Living: Contact Sandra Krenick.
- Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: Supporting military families and veterans.
- DARTS: DARTS empowers older adults and caregivers in the Twin Cities southeast metro to stay in the home of their choice as long as possible. Services include caregiver support, indoor and outdoor chores, transportation, and so much more. Make a difference in your Hastings community by supporting an elementary school classroom as a Learning Buddy or Pen Pal, providing yard support to an older neighbor, giving your time as a Break Buddy or with group respite support, and more! Together, we are creating connections that enrich aging!
- Hastings Community Education: Volunteer with the Senior Center or Hastings Community Education.
- Hastings Family Service: Providing food, clothing, and housing assistance.
- Junior Achievement North: Teaching children to succeed in a global economy.
- Rivertown Days: Music Fest, Craft Fair, Carnival, Food Trucks, Petting Zoo and more in mid-July!
- United Way of Hastings E-volunteer Network: A portal to a variety of local volunteer opportunities.
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