Volunteers Needed: Earth Day Events

Earth Day is rapidly approaching and we need some wonderful volunteers to represent Denver Urban Gardens at various locations! You will be responsible for general Denver Urban Gardens outreach, including answering basic questions, signing people up for the volunteer and newsletter list and operating the DUG booth. You will be provided with DUG tabling materials and a cheat sheet for basic questions, and if any unanswerable question arises, you can send them to the DUG staff via phone or email. These events are a valuable opportunity to inform the public of DUG's programs and services, as well as how to become involved with Denver Urban Gardens. Times, dates and locations are as follows: 

• April 18th from 10:00am-2:00pm at CU Boulder Student Union
• April 21st from 12:00pm-3:00pm at Tamarac Whole Foods Market at 400 East Hampden Avenue in Denver
• April 21st from 11:00am-1:00pm at Sunflower Market at 2880 South Colorado Boulevard 
• April 22nd from 1:30pm-4:00pm at Glendale Whole Foods Market at 870 South Colorado Boulevard in Glendale 

Please contact Lauren if you're interested!

Free Seeds and Transplants: Volunteers Needed

It's only January, but we are already gearing up for the 2012 growing season! This time every year, Denver Urban Gardens distributes applications for our Free Seeds and Transplants Program to community centers, schools, churches, and senior centers throughout Metro Denver. In early February, we will collect nearly 2,000 applications from those same centers, and enter the information into a database so that we can order vegetable seeds and transplants to be delivered for spring planting. 

We are seeking volunteers to assist with data entry for this program! For each data-entry shift listed below, we can take up to five volunteers. 

• Wednesday, February 8th, 9:00am - 12:30pm (Shift is full.)
• Wednesday, February 8th, 1:00pm - 5:00pm
• Thursday, February 9th, 9:00am - 12:30pm
• Thursday, February 9th, 1:00pm - 5:00pm
• Monday, February 13th, 9:00am - 12:30pm (Shift is full.)
• Monday, February 13th, 1:00pm - 5:00pm
• Tuesday, February 14th, 9:00am - 12:30pm (Shift is full.)

Volunteers interested in this opportunity should be comfortable using Microsoft Excel, and not mind repetitive data entry tasks (though you are welcome to bring your headphones for Pandora, internet radio and/or your own mp3 player). Because we will be signing up exactly as many volunteers as we have spare computers, we ask that you only sign up for this opportunity if you are absolutely sure you can make it. To sign up, please email us at dirt@dug.org and let us know which shift you would prefer. We will confirm within two business days.

To learn more about the Free Seeds and Transplants Program, click here. 

Whole Foods Market 5% Day for DUG

On Wednesday, September 14th, 5% of total sales from four Whole Foods Market locations will be donated to Denver Urban Gardens, and our partners at Slow Food Denver and Sprout City Farms. This proceeds of this incredibly generous fundraiser will support our collective work in building school-based community gardens, and providing hands-on education in nutrition and gardening at Denver Public Schools. The four participating locations are:

Whole Foods Market Capitol Hill
Whole Foods Market Cherry Creek
Whole Foods Market Colorado Boulevard
Whole Foods Market Tamarac 

Whole Foods Market has long supported our efforts to bring healthy eating and gardening to our community schools. This community support day is your chance to join Whole Foods Market and Denver Urban Gardens in supporting school-based community gardens. Do your grocery shopping at a participating Whole Foods Market on Wednesday, September 14th, and help us raise money for school gardens!

Free Festival on Fillmore Plaza

A portion of the proceeds from this event with go to supporting new Denver Urban Gardens community gardens! Join Cherry Creek North on Saturday, June 25th for a Free Festival on Fillmore Plaza, featuring live music, food, beverages, and activities on a beautiful Denver afternoon. Performances by Flash Cadillac, Sons and Brothers, Lannie Garrett and the Gypsy Swing Revue, and Haunted Windchimes. 

We need volunteers for this event! Through this opportunity, volunteers get to enjoy food and music on a gorgeous Denver day, and will help us raise funds for the more than 20 new community gardens we are building in 2011! All volunteers will receive a DUG t-shirt. Volunteer shifts:

• Beer Garden Volunteers: 1:30 - 4:00pm (Will not be serving alcohol; must be 21+) 
• Beer Garden Volunteers: 4:00 - 6:00pm (Will not be serving alcohol; must be 21+) 
• Courtyard Tabling Volunteers: 1:30 - 4:00pm 
• Courtyard Tabling Volunteers: 4:00 - 6:30pm 
• Event Docents: 1:30 - 4:00pm 
• Event Docents: 4:00 - 6:30pm 

To volunteer, contact us via email at dirt@dug.org or at 303.292.9900 with the shift you are interested in. Thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers and to Cherry Creek North for helping us build community- one urban garden at a time!

We need volunteers!

Distribution week for our Free Seeds and Transplants Program is coming up, and we are looking for some great volunteers to help us get seed orders to nearly 40 community centers, senior centers and schools in Denver. There are two ways you can help:

Sort Seeds for our Free Seeds and Transplant Program:

Every year, Denver Urban Gardens distributes free vegetable seeds and transplants to over 5,000 residents-in-need. Over two days in March, we partner with a senior volunteer group to fill those seed orders at the East Montclair Community Center. This year, we're also looking for volunteers to assist with quality control. Quality control volunteers will check each seed order to make sure it's correct. We are looking for three volunteers per shift. 

Available shifts:

• Monday, 3/14, 9am - Noon
• Monday, 3/14, 1pm - 4pm
• Tuesday, 3/15, 9am - Noon
• Tuesday, 3/15, 1pm - 4pm (Can take 4 volunteers this shift.)

Morning volunteers would be welcome to stay through lunch, and afternoon volunteers would be welcome to arrive early for lunch (Noon - 1pm). If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact us with your name, contact information, and list the shift(s) you're interested in. We can take up to three volunteers per shift (and 4 volunteers on the 3/15 afternoon shift), so small groups are welcome. 

Deliver Seeds for our Free Seeds and Transplants Program:

Our free seeds and plants are distributed through nearly 40 recreation centers, senior centers, and schools across Denver. We are seeking volunteers to deliver seeds to those distribution centers on Wednesday, March 16th. Each delivery route consists of 4-6 distribution centers. At 10am on Wednesday, March 16th, volunteers will pick up 4-6 medium-sized boxes at the East Montclair Community Center, and deliver those boxes to 4-6 distribution centers in Denver. You would need access to a vehicle for this opportunity, though it's not necessary that you have a truck or SUV. 

Available routes (each route consists of 4-6 delivery points): 

• Central/North Denver
• Central/West Denver
• East Denver
• Northeast Denver
• Northwest Denver
• South Denver

If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact us with your name and contact information, and let us know what route you're interested in.