Getting Started and Volunteer Engagement
Tuesday, February 25, 2025, from 6 to 8 PM - Introduction, Getting Started, and Volunteer Engagement
- Introduction: Learn about Illinois Extension in Cook County programming and meet Extension staff that will help you make connections with local organizations and resources including grants. We will also share the process for requesting volunteer support through our Master Gardener and Master Naturalist programs.
- Forming and Leading a School or Community Garden: Local Foods Systems and Small Farms Educator Kathryn Pereira and Horticulture Educator Nancy Kreith will walk you through the steps of forming and leading a school or community garden. Topics will include determining your garden’s purpose, recruiting volunteers, how to select and prepare a site, how to set rules and guidelines, and best practices for critical processes for communications, meetings, and planning. Real-life case studies will be used to illustrate garden success and setbacks.
- Garden Volunteer Engagement: Have you ever found yourself with too few volunteers on a garden workday? Does it seem like the same people do all the work? Do parents tell you their kids love the school garden program, but they never contribute? How do we as garden leaders overcome these hurdles? Local Food Systems and Small Farms educator Kathryn Pereira, a founding member of Quann Community Garden (est. 2001) in Madison Wisconsin, will present some common problems and solutions she’s seen work followed by a roundtable discussion where you can present your problems and share your solutions to learn new tips, tricks, and tools create a thriving volunteer culture. Register for one or all three sessions. It is strongly recommended that you have three members of your garden team attend the series.
If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate, please contact
Keywords
Program Areas
Related Events
School and Community Garden Training
County
Cook