Residents are invited to participate in any of the following volunteer opportunities in the area. For more information or to sign up, call the phone number listed for the event.

+The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of the Conejo Recreation and Park District offers these opportunities at a variety of local nonprofit agencies for men and women age 55 and up. For details, call (805) 381-2742 or visit RSVP at 1385 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks.

The Conejo Free Clinic needs nurses, paralegals, receptionists (days and evenings) and data entry people.

Meals on Wheels needs drivers and kitchen helpers.

Shop Ahoy wants telephone order and delivery people.

The Senior Concerns Bargain Boutique and Mary Health of the Sick Thrift Shops have various openings.

The American Cancer Society requires drivers.

Conejo Valley Adult Education will provide training for English conversation facilitators from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sat., Jan. 27.

The Civic Arts Plaza will give training for ushers on Sat., Jan. 27.

+The Docent Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is seeking volunteers to lead tours of the museum's permanent collection and special exhibitions.

An art background is not required; however, prospective docents should have an interest in learning about art, working with students, and facilitating positive museum experiences for visitors.

In addition to giving tours, docents enjoy special opportunities including behind-the-scenes tours at LACMA, invitations to view private collections around Southern California and attend lectures given by leading scholars. Upon completion of the interview process, new docents have the benefit of a one-year training course in art history and touring techniques.

Applications are due by March 23. Application information for the next docent training class can be obtained by calling (323) 8576119 or send an e-mail to Admissions@lacmadocent.org.

+The Oxnard Convention & Visitors Bureau plans to open the new California Welcome Center in late January/early February. Volunteers are being sought for the Travel Ambassadors Volunteer Program. The center seeks outgoing individuals who are knowledgeable on the area, professional, friendly and interested in lending their expertise to visitors. Volunteers will be the first to greet the visitor, offer directions and suggest places to visit in Ventura County and beyond.

The California Welcome Center is an official state-certified visitor's information agency specializing in a variety of tourismbased services. Visitors will be able to obtain travel planning advice, lodging reservations, attraction ticket sales, guide maps, Internet access, and California and Ventura County souvenir merchandise. To prepare for the position, volunteers will be able to attend orientations, training seminars and area familiarization trips to gain a greater knowledge of local, regional and state tourism.

The Center at 1000 Town Center Drive, Oxnard, will be open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information, call Rachel Harris at (805) 385-7545, ext. 224.

+The Conejo Valley Botanic Garden at 350 W. Gainsborough Road, Thousand Oaks, seeks volunteers to assist with planting, maintenance, irrigation, propagation, plant sales, preparing newsletters or fliers, and/or leading children's groups on walks through the Kids' Adventure Garden and Nature Trail. To help out, call (805) 494-7630.

+The Rancho Simi Trail Blazers group includes more than 100 volunteer members, some of whom work to create and/or sustain the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District's trail system.

Typically, on the third Saturday of the month, members meet at a predetermined trailhead location and work on an area of the trail that needs erosion patching, trash cleanup, possible routing corrections and more. Members work for approximately four hours using tools provided by the district.

Most of the projects take place in Simi Valley.

For more information, call Colleen Janssen, marketing and community outreach specialist, (805) 584-4453 or by e-mail, volunteers@rsrpd.us.

+The Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library is a nonprofit support group for the Grant Brimhall/ Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park branch libraries. The Friends executive board is currently seeking volunteers for vice president, treasurer and special events chairperson.

The vice president assists the president, serves on the Book Endowment Committee and the Budget Committee and represents the organization at library functions.

The treasurer deposits and distributes the organization's monies, keeps the financial records and prepares a monthly financial report. Basic knowledge of Excel is required.

The special events chairperson plans, coordinates and executes special programs and cultural bus tours.

For more information, call Tracey Hannel at (805) 4932648.

+Friends to the Elderly is seeking volunteers to visit lonely older adults in longterm care facilities throughout the Greater Los Angeles area and San Fernando and Conejo Valleys.

Friends to the Elderly is a nonsectarian program that serves older persons of all faiths through the recruitment of qualified volunteers who are then matched to residents of longterm care facilities near their home or work. Volunteers will receive training and continuing support from the staff.

Friends to the Elderly is a program of Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles.

For information, call (818) 710-1801.

+Court Appointed Special Advocates is a nonprofit organization that seeks volunteers to help individual children who have been removed from their homes by the court system because of abuse, neglect or abandonment.

The CASA becomes the child's voice in court as well as a mentor and provides a stable, adult presence throughout the time the child is in foster care.

Volunteers write reports to the court on the child's needs, speak for the best interests of the child in court, become a good friend to the child and help the child with needs such as tutoring.

Training classes will begin Feb. 20. For more information, call Sandi White, program manager, at (805) 485-6114, ext. 609 or e-mail swhite@icfs.org.