Where friends help!

Giraffe Ride is a site devoted to finding and giving genealogy help. We are a network of volunteers. And we work for free.

What exactly is Giraffe Ride?

We're a website that tries to match volunteer researchers to people needing help. You might live in Colorado, but your ancestors lived in New York. It isn't super easy or convenient to get out there and visit the New York State Library. But what if there was a volunteer in New York that would lend you a hand? And maybe you could do some local research in Colorado for someone else? Now we're talking!

What does this cost?

Ocasionally a volunteer might want to be reimbursed for photocopies or the like. However, we do not charge for our time or help. We freely give it.

What kinds of help can I get?

We can help with just about anything family history related. We might be able to get local obituaries, newspaper articles, vital records, church records ... etc.

Who does the research?

A network of volunteers. Friendly people interested in genealogy or family history volunteer. They tell us where they can do research, and the site tries to match requests to them.

Who can ask for help?

Just about anyone working on their own family tree can ask for help. If you are a professional genealogist looking for a free workforce, this isn't the site for you.

Where did your name come from?

Family trees can get really tall. It can be tough to reach all the way up to the top and figure stuff out. Giraffe's are super tall and graceful animals. Imagine if you could get a ride on a giraffe, to get to those hard to reach places?


As of March 2014, we're just getting started. New volunteers may signup, however, we are not quite ready to take research requests yet.