FAQs
You can sign up by contacting our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@rfkgc.org or 617-603-7737.
In order to provide the highest quality experience for our volunteers, and to have the necessary tools and safety equipment for each participant, we ask that you do not simply show up for volunteer projects. However, you can sign up as late as the day before by contacting our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@rfkgc.org.
Volunteers are expected to show up, on time (usually 9AM), wearing closed-toed shoes (mandatory), and in weather appropriate clothes that they wouldn’t mind getting dirty. Volunteers are also expected to have fun, and ask questions if they don’t understand something or if they are curious about anything related to the project or the park.
Regular Horticulture opportunities are designed for people of all ages. Anyone under 18 needs to have their parent or guardian sign a permission and waiver. Volunteer opportunities for folks under 14 are reserved for special project days. If you are interested in getting your student or child involved, please contact our volunteer coordinator at volunteer@rfkgc.org.
Volunteers meet at various locations on the Greenway. Once you have signed up for a volunteer project the Volunteer Coordinator will be in touch with you regarding the meeting location by 2PM on the Tuesday prior to the project.
Different projects require different numbers of volunteers. On our individual volunteer days we try to have approximately 10-15 people. Our corporate and group opportunities can accommodate anywhere from 10-30 people.
Times vary depending on the project. However, our weekly horticulture projects typically take place from 9AM-12Noon.
Typical projects include: weeding, mulching, trimming, pruning, dead-heading, cutting-back, raking, and planting.
Volunteers must wear close-toed shoes and we suggest that you wear weather appropriate clothing that you wouldn’t mind getting dirty.
Other volunteer opportunities include tabling or orienting guests at one of our many public events, collecting and maintaining our plant records, tutoring for the Green & Grow program, assisting office staff with mailings and reoccurring tasks, and assisting our maintenance staff. These volunteer opportunities are generally dependent on the level of interest and training of the volunteer and occurrences vary throughout the year. Contact our volunteer coordinator (volunteer@rkfgc.org) to find out more!
There are so many wonderful benefits to volunteering, here are just few examples:
- Learn and develop a new skill by working alongside a talented and knowledgeable staff
- People who volunteer have been shown to live longer! (Sabin, 1993; Rogers, 1996; Musick et al., 1999)
- You can feel good about giving back to your local (and global) community by practicing organic maintenance techniques!
- Volunteering can be a great way to meet new people!
We typically only re-schedule our opportunities if the weather is dangerous or prevents us from completing the project, this means, we work in the rain. However, if the weather report on the day before the project looks too severe, the Volunteer Coordinator will contact you about rescheduling, most likely for the following day at the same time and location. If you are unsure about the weather, please feel free to contact volunteer@rfkgc.org.
Nope! Our volunteer projects are designed to suit a variety of skill sets. However, if you have any special skills we’d like to know about them such as; speaking non-English languages, horticultural knowledge, or other administrative and office skills. We can work with you to design a volunteer experience that is beneficial to you and helps further the Conservancy’s mission.
Volunteers are already donating their time; however, we encourage our volunteers to support us by becoming members of the Greenway!
