Staff at Powell Gardens know one thing for sure … we couldn’t do what we do without our volunteers! We have asked so much, for so long, of so many volunteers, we decided it was time to give back a little. As a dedication to all of our volunteers, on a recent Saturday 13 of us spent the morning volunteering at Harvesters. Harvesters is our regional food bank that serves 620 area food pantries. On a side note, some of the produce from our Heartland Harvest Garden ends up at Harvesters.
Dale, our custodian, with his wife and grandchildren were a great team.
Sara, our Human Resources manager, and her son wondering where to put those beans.
Barb the Gardener in a blur of activity as she volunteered with her husband.
And, of course, me in the box tossing out those last few hard-to-reach items.
We sorted tons of groceries, and yes, several of us learned something new about the Harvesters’ mission, we got to know other co-workers and their families a little better, we definitely had fun and we emptied a lot of boxes, so, hopefully, we made a difference to hungry families that will eventually receive that food.
Did you know Kansas City ranks number 11 among the 51 largest cities in the nation for volunteerism? In 2012 Kansas Citians volunteered more than 50 million hours!! (” href=”http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/MO/Kansas-City”>http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/MO/Kansas-City) Powell Gardens volunteers contributed more than 18,000 volunteer hours to the Gardens that same year.
If you would like to get involved in volunteering at Powell Gardens I am here to make that as easy as possible.
- The first step is to fill out a volunteer application. I can email it or you can find it on our website.
- Next, attend one of our New Volunteer Orientations. The next sessions:
10 a.m. February 25
10 a.m. February 28
3 p.m. March 2
10 a.m. March 15
- Finally, we match your interests to the Gardens’ many opportunities and voila!!! You have yourself a volunteer job.
Obviously you’ll find plenty of gardening to do at Powell Gardens. Our volunteers enjoy getting their hands dirty and seeing the Gardens grow. But we also need help with special events like the Easter Egg Hunt, Plant Sale, Butterfly Festival and many other super fun activities. Plus we need gift shop assistants, weekend greeters, tram drivers and tasting station hosts. Volunteer with friends, family or your children and/or grandchildren (ages 13 and up) to build friendships and family bonds.
We understand schedules are busy, so we provide options including a new way to volunteer called Six Days of Summer. You choose a garden area in which to work and six or more days of the growing season (May through September) to volunteer for four-hour shifts. Options are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, with 8 a.m. to noon being the most popular shift.
As a volunteer you’ll get in FREE anytime, learn new things, meet friends, have fun and make a difference.
Thanks for sharing your time and talents.
See you in the Gardens,
Connie
Connie Harclerode, Volunteer Coordinator