Tag Archives: volunteer outside

Planting Events with NYRP

23 Sep

Another great volunteer opportunity with the New York Restoration Project is right around the corner. If you’ve got a green thumb, these projects have your name on them!

Join the New York Restoration Project, American Express and MillionTreesNYC on Saturday, October 1, 2011 at Co-Op City in the Bronx as they plant hundreds of new trees. Lunch, tree planting equipment and a free t-shirt will be provided, courtesy of American Express.
   DETAILS: 
   The Co-op City Greenway Stage
   Registration begins at 9AM
   For more information, please visit the MillionTreesNYC website.

Towards the end of October, there will be three more Reforestation Days with MillionTreesNYC and the NYRP; October 22nd, 23rd, and 26th. I will be sending out a reminder, but you can register now and ensure your spot by visiting the Reforestation sign-up page. Beautification locations for those dates include Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx  River Shoelace Park, Marine Park, and more, across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

To stay up-to-date with upcoming volunteer projects, please visit the Give and Get NYC Events Calendar!

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Hands On NY Day 2011: Highland Park Clean-Up

19 Apr
2011

This past Saturday was Hands On New York Day, a citywide volunteer day which mobilizes thousands of New Yorkers to give their city a good ol’ fashioned spring greening. Though the weather wasn’t 100% optimal, the rain held out long enough to  get 70 public spaces cleaner, greener, and ready for people to enjoy all summer long.

Team Give and Get NYC was out straddling the line between Brooklyn and Queens this year, turning over plots in the Highland Park Children’s Garden. It was clear that the garden had endured a long winter and was in need of some TLC. Our site had an army of volunteers that were spreading compost, pulling weeds, and raking leaves, among other things. Our team was tasked with turning over four garden plots that belonged to local public school students. We prepared the soil for planting, which will take place in the next few weeks when the garden is turned into an outdoor classroom of sorts, teaching elementary-age kids how to grow their own fruits and vegetables.

Before

After!

Despite the weather it was a great day, as these events always are. It gives me a great sense of pride any time I can volunteer alongside such a large, diverse group of people; we didn’t know each other’s names, but we shared shovels, fetched compost for each other, and lent a hand when it was needed, no questions asked. I like to think this is what it’s all about to be a New Yorker.

It was also seriously hard, back-breaking labor that I know could not have been completed by the small children and surrounding community who will ultimately benefit from our hard work and the support of New York Cares.

To see more photos from our day in the Highland Park Children’s Garden, check out the G&G Flickr account!

Did you volunteer for Hands On New York Day 2011? Feel free to reply below with links to your own photos and recaps of the day!

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Hands On New York Day: Volunteer in Queens!

4 Apr

A few weeks ago I posted about New York Cares’ annual Hands On New York Day, taking place on April 16th citywide. That’s two weeks from now- have you signed up yet? The Give & Get NYC team will be cleaning up the entranceway to Highland Park in Queens. We have plenty of room on our team if you’re looking to volunteer outside on a beautiful April morning!

Hands On New York Day is an incredible day of service, with over 5,000 volunteers fanning out across the boroughs to work on spring greening projects. Last year our team was placed in Queens where we painted benches in Bowne Park.  It’s a great way to get outside with some friends and make a difference, and also an important fundraiser for New York Cares that supports the 11,000 volunteer projects that run year-round. I’ve thrown together a team for this and NY Cares other annual event, New York Cares Day, for the past three years. This year is no different: Join Team Give and Get NYC on April 16th


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Volunteer This Saturday at Jenny’s Garden!

23 Jun

This weekend, thousands of people dedicated to service will be converging on NYC for the National Conference on Volunteering and Service. Nationally convened by the Points of Light Institute, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and locally convened by NYC Service and New Yorkers Volunteer, the annual event provides attendees with an opportunity to learn, connect, and be inspired through a wide range of exciting and informative workshops, special events, service projects, exhibits, specialized corporate tracks and more. In anticipation and celebration of their arrival, a whole slew of service projects will be happening throughout New York so that attendees can serve our city, their host, during their stay and continue to proliferate the growing service movement in NYC.

One of the projects is happening at Jenny’s Garden in Harlem (138th Street and 12th Avenue). Common Cents, an educational, not-for-profit organization which specializes in creating and managing service-learning programs for young people, will be sending out volunteers and you can come join them (and me) this Saturday the 26th from 10am-2pm. We will be weeding, planting, pruning and raking leaves at Jenny’s Garden, a community garden in Riverside Park. So if you don’t have plans already for what is looking like a beautiful Saturday, come join us for a day in the park!

You can sign up for this project by going to http://www.volunteeringandservice.org/plan/service-projects.cfm , and clicking the sign up link next for Jenny’s Garden mid-way down the page.

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