On a damp morning in early August, twenty four Japanese exchange students and two local adults arrived to help tidy up an overgrown section of the park. These volunteers came through a program sponsored by CCI Greenheart, a branch of Greenheart International, a nonprofit group that facilitates cultural exchange and service learning opportunities for international students.

Stacy Johns, the local coordinator for CCI Greenheart, was particularly interested in having the group involved in a volunteer experience. “Volunteering in the U.S. is a really important part of the students’ stay here. It helps them to give back to the local community that is hosting them and is a way for them to help feel involved and a part of the place they’re staying.” she said. Most of the students will be staying with host families all over the United States for the next ten months.

One group of young volunteers  pulled weeds and vines near the east entrance of the park with staff gardeners while another worked under the trees in the circle beds.

The group was representative of the future of volunteering in the Park of Roses.. There will always be a place for people who want to help on a regular, ongoing basis. That is how the three Rose Garden groups, along with the Herb and Perennial groups work- once a week, throughout the growing season. However, we are receiving many inquiries about single time volunteer opportunities.

Corporate and civic organizations are looking for ways to bring groups of volunteers to work on projects that can be completed in about a half day. The Park of Roses Foundation board discusses these requests with the garden supervisor. We try to identify tasks that would benefit from a large number of people for a relatively short amount of time. The Japanese students did the equivalent of a full 40 hour work week in about 2 hours- and would have done more if it hadn’t started raining!

We have a large group from a local bank coming to the park next month to help with honeysuckle mitigation- an ongoing project. They definitely will make a difference that day. If you work at, or are a member of an organization that is looking for group volunteer opportunities, contact me at volunteers@parkofroses.org.