This post was originally written for offManhattan, an eco travel site featuring destinations out of Manhattan that are accessible sans car.
Whether or not the weather agrees, Spring is officially here. It’s time to put those winter sweaters back into storage and dust off your flip flops. It’s also the perfect time to volunteer in New York City. As the seasons change, so do the opportunities available; there are gardens to be planted, parks to prepped for the onslaught of visitors, and other outdoor projects that are most enjoyable in the cool sunshine of Spring. Below are some ideas for outdoor volunteer projects and activities that you can sign up for right now:
Pick A Day, Any Day
Are you too busy for a big time commitment? Sign up for these one-day volunteer events:
- ‘It’s My Park Day’ is an bi-annual event taking place this spring on May 21st, 2011. You don’t even have to register: just find a participating park and GO. Partnerships for Parks invites dedicated community groups to organize volunteer projects and free cultural events in their neighborhood parks, in the hopes that people will come out to help and learn more about year-round opportunities. There will be over 150 community organizations and parks participating throughout the 5 boroughs.
- Hands On New York Day: Join New York Cares and 5,000 other volunteers on April 16th to make our city’s parks and gardens cleaner, greener, and ready for summer. You can join my team or start your own!
- Million Trees Planting Event: The city’s Million Trees Initiative has an ambitious goal: to plant and care for one million new trees across the City’s five boroughs over the next decade. On April 30th, 2011 you can help them reach that goal by joining them in one of five parks in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island and volunteer to help plant 20,000 trees in one day!
Runs Don’t Run Themselves
New York City plays host to a slew of fundraising 5K’s and walks, and all of them need volunteers to help ensure the day goes smoothly. You can help by handing out water along the route, checking in participants, cleaning up after the race, or even cheering! Here are some upcoming runs and contact info:
- Common Cents’ Penny Harvest Run for Change: April 30th. Sign up on website or contact Common Cents at events@CommonCents.org or (212) 579-0579.
- EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women: April 30th. Sign up on website.
- AIDS Walk New York: May 15th. Sign up on website or contact Volunteer Coordinator Shaun Sheppard with any questions at shauns@aidswalk.net or (212) 807-WALK (9255).
- New York Get Your Rear in Gear 4 Mile Run/Walk for Colon Cancer: June 12th. For more information, please contact Vanessa Lal Steinkamp, 773-425-8048.
- New York Road Runners: Find more races and opportunities here by signing up to volunteer at any NYRR race. All opportunities in 2011 will count as a volunteer credit toward the 9+1 Program for those who would like to receive a guaranteed entry to the 2012 ING New York City Marathon.
- ioby (which stands for ‘in our backyards’) connects donors and volunteers to environmental projects in their neighborhoods to inspire new environmental knowledge and action in New York City. They have sponsored projects in need of volunteers to plant veggies, building gardens and educating the public; email volunteer@ioby.org for more info or visit the website.
- TimeBanksNYC Green April is a month-long marathon of eco-friendly, green-inspired projects. Each Saturday in April, TBNYC will be in a different borough for an environmental community service event. To gain access to the Green April events, attend the volunteer kick-off event on March 30th at the Horticultural Society of NY; RSVP at volunteer@timebanksnyc.org.
- Botanical Gardens: The New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Queens Botanical Garden, and the Snug Harbor Botanical Garden in Staten Island all offer a variety of opportunities, from greeting visitors to garden maintenance. It may require an application and even interview depending on which position you’re looking to fill, but its worth the effort to gain access to these beautiful gardens in any borough.
- New York Cares is the all-encompassing, citywide mecca for volunteers. Just sign up online and attend a 45-minute orientation and you’ll be able to access their database of 1,000’s of projects that take place all over the city, from Pelham Bay Park to Gregory’s community garden in Brooklyn and almost everything in between. You can volunteer once, weekly, monthly; whatever you schedule, NY Cares has something for everyone.
- Slow Food NYC is the New York City chapter of Slow Food, a non-profit, member-supported organization founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life. From time to time they need volunteers to staff events or to help with outreach programs. Contact them at volunteering@slowfoodnyc.org to find out what’s available now; for one, they will be preparing their neighborhood farm in Brownsville on April 16th, 30th and June 4th for the upcoming summer program for 100 local kids.
For more environmentally-helpful volunteer projects, visit my spring greening tips from last year, “Volunteerism in Full Bloom.”
Give & Get NYC 
Volunteer for Earth Day 2011!
Great addition! I see on http://www.earthdayny.org that you need volunteers for big events in Times Square and Grand Central, April 21-23. If you have more specifics, email info@giveandgetnyc.org and I’ll get them up on the site for sure!