Welcome, Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists, college interns and others! We are glad you are here, and have we got hours for you! There are many opportunities to get involved with Rain Gardens of West Michigan. The dedicated involvement of individuals, schools, businesses, municipalities and organizations have made our project what it is. Which is FABULOUS.
Don't miss WMEAC's Ecofriendly Garden Day on June 7!
We have a rain garden workshop (fee), composting workshop (free!-donation appreciated), and rain barrel demonstration (free! donation appreciated). Click here for information.
Rain Garden Volunteer Orientations 2008
April 24, Thursday, 2008 5:30-6:30 p.m.: rain garden volunteers orientation one.
If you are a potential volunteer, please come to this meeting! There is still plenty of room for you. If you didn't preregister, come anyway! If you can't make this meeting, contact us--we need you, we want you, and will give you a personal orientation and set up another group orientation at a later date.
Location: 1007 Lake Drive SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan. We will go over the season activities, meet the interns and volunteer coordinators, check out the rain garden, and sign people up! If you can't come to this orientation, there will be more coming up, or we will work with you individually. Call 616-451-3051 ext 29 to sign up, or email Patricia through the form on the site (see "contact" link).
May 10, Saturday, 2008 9:30-11:30 a.m.: rain garden volunteers orientation two (RAIN DATE: MAY 17, SAME TIME, SAME PLACE). Hands-on rain garden work!
Location: Aquinata Hall parking lot, 153 Lakeside Drive SE, Grand Rapids (south of Michigan, north of Fulton). We will do a spring cleanup on the Marywood rain garden. For those of you who aren't sure what to do first, we will cover first through last. Get down and dirty. Join us! Bring your favorite garden gloves and tools.
Volunteer Opportunities
We Need Your Help with the Rain Gardens
Volunteers have helped our project in the following ways:
- rain garden stewards (care for a rain garden over the growing year)
- site managers (take full responsibility for education and planting on a rain garden site)
- give presentations or accompany exhibits at conferences
- help dig rain gardens
- help plant rain gardens
- design rain garden layouts, and more!
We welcome inquiries from volunteers, and from students who are interested in volunteer internships or opportunities for service learning. We couldn't do all these rain gardens without your help!
June 21, Saturday, 2008: Kent Garden Clubs Annual Tour of GREEN GARDENS
We need your help! The tour is coming to raingardens.org at WMEAC! We need your help to educate and inspire the hundreds of people who will tour our site to see our beautiful rain gardens, green roof, and office. Volunteer tour guides needed for three hour shifts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We will train you. 616-451-3051 ext. 29.
Summer 2008: Native Plant Nursery. WE HAVE A SECOND NURSERY!
We have a native plant nursery that we can't keep under control without YOU. We also have a NEW rain garden nursery that we are very excited about. You can start planting!
We need volunteer gardeners to work with our intrepid nursery intern, Shannon, on week days any hours between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. We must keep our weeds beaten into submission, our plants mulched, and keep things growing and blooming in the nursery. We also are very grateful for gifts of seeds and native plants. The weeds are planning a take-over, so we need your helping hands this year. Please call 616-451-3051 ext. 29.
FARMERS Market plant sales
We have a booth on Saturdays during the early spring through early summer, where we sell native Michigan plants. We need volunteers willing to help set up, man (or woman) and tear down the booth. This is a fun day outside, talking with people who love to garden. Let us know if this interests you!
Demonstration Sites: We Need Your Help!
We now have perhaps forty total public rain garden sites in the West Michigan area. The public and school sites need YOU to help keep them looking their best. People travel from outside the state to see them! Do you have time to adopt a rain garden for the summer? We are delighted to teach you how to take care of one and we appreciate your stewardship. Call us at the office (616-451-3051).
Business Partnering
Your business can be associated with Rain Gardens of West Michigan by by associating engineered bioretention sites with our project and helping us support our program. Let us know if you are interested!
We particularly encourage businesses to be site managers for rain gardens at Grand Rapids City schools. These businesses not only donate funds for the plants, mulch, and soil, but staff join the students in the educational process, designing, planting, and caring for the rain garden. This option helps educate communities, enhances more meaningful education, and greens our city.
Advertise Your Business
Are you a rain garden and bioretention professional, a landscape designer who specializes in landscaping for water quality, or a developer who uses better site design and "green" building techniques? Advertising your business on our website helps customers find you, and helps us keep our project going. Please contact us about advertising on our site.