Opportunities From: Elkhart Helping Hearts

Help us prepare trees for our Earth Day tree giveaway! This year, we are partnering with Elkhart County Soil & Water Conservation District and Michiana Master Gardeners' Association to prep trees for our Earth Day and their tree sale all at once! We will be working out at the Elkhart County 4 H Fairgrounds in Commercial Building F. We will be there from 8 AM - 4 PM--feel free to drop by whenever is convenient for you!

Trees range in size from 12 inches  to 5 feet. We'll be preparing the trees by covering the roots in moss, wrapping them individually, and adding a label. 

Typically, tree prep goes pretty quickly but since this is our first year doing this type of prep (instead of potting the trees) and because we have so many trees, we are planning for an all-day event and are happy to end early!

Please feel free to stop by whenever is convenient and help for 5 minutes or 500 trees--we appreciate however much help you are able to give!

Help lead Earth Day-themed crafts and games for the kiddos! More details about the activity will be posted closer to the event.  

This shift includes a 9:30 AM volunteer orientation in the Visitor's Cabin. Please check in at the Environmental Center Visitor's Cabin.

Help lead the Springs & Starters Exchange! Volunteers at this station help sort the seeds and starter plants (e.g. indoor/outdoor, sun/shade, etc.), calling out numbers to lead the exchange, assist guests with carrying plants to and from their cars, and whatever else is needed. If you have questions, feel free to email EECmail@coei.org or call 574-293-5070.

This shift includes an 11:30 AM volunteer orientation in the pavilion. Please check in at the Environmental Center Visitor's Cabin.

Help us clean up the event! We'll be packing up supplies, folding up canopy tents and tables and chairs, and getting everything put away. Thanks to our trailers and UTV, there will be minimal lifting/carrying of heavy items (unless you want the workout) and folded tents/tables/chairs can be stacked next to the road to be dropped off and loaded into the event trailer.

This shift is usually super quick! The sooner we get items stashed inside, the sooner we can all go home (maybe even with extra food).

Love taking pictures? Come snap some shots of our Earth Day event! Check out all the different parts of the event--the tree giveaway, booths, Spring Seeds & Starters Exchange, and more Capture the family fun of the event for us to put up on our Facebook page and event marketing for next year.  

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a camera for the event. If you would like to volunteer for this activity, please bring your own camera. Photos can be sent via email, drop box, or memory card. We are happy to provide and SD card or thumb drive (please email EECmail@cityofelkhartin.gov or call us to let us know if you need one).

This shift includes an optional 9:30 AM volunteer orientation in the Visitor's Cabin. Please check in at the Environmental Center Visitor's Cabin.

Help us hand out free trees! Volunteers will work with our city's Engineering team to provide information about available tree species, planting tips, and mapping where they plan on planting their trees (training and information will be provided).

This shift includes a 9:30 AM volunteer orientation in the Visitor's Cabin. Please check in at the Environmental Center Visitor's Cabin.

Help us get set up for our Earth Day celebration! We will be putting up canopy tents, tables, chairs, and other materials before the event starts. Please check in at the Environmental Center Visitor's Cabin.

If you are also volunteering for shifts during the event, there will be a 9:30 AM Volunteer Orientation in the Visitor's Cabin to prepare you for any event shifts.

Join InSPEC, the Invasive Species Partnership of Elkhart County, in one of their annual Weed Wrangles! Learn about the group, invasive and native plant species, and how to identify and remove invasive honeysuckle. We'll work on removing the invasive plant and planting native plants to restore our forest ecosystem on site. Tools and gloves provided.

This activity will be happening throughout the Elkhart Environmental Center's Earth Day event. Feel free to drop in and out of the activity at your convenience. Signing up for this activity does not mean that we expect you to participate for the entire event. This is just a convenient way for participants to submit waivers.

Parking volunteers are the event's first greeters! We provide bright vests for the shift (please return the vest once your shift is over). Volunteers greet cars on the drive in, hand out our event information, and tally the number of visitors in each car (using our ticket counter).  They also keep track of the amount of parking available in the lot (parking volunteers will have radios to make communication easier). They let cars know if they need to park in the overflow lot, and direct them to our excess parking area. 

This shift is quieter towards the end of the event. Shifts starting around 11 AM typically won't be as busy, but we still need a volunteer to help out--counting visitors is extremely helpful for us!  Meet in the Elkhart Environmental Center's Visitor's Cabin to receive the vest, ticket counter, and handouts.

This shift includes an optional 9:30 AM volunteer orientation in the Visitor's Cabin. Please check in at the Environmental Center Visitor's Cabin.

We need a couple of volunteers to staff the Elkhart Environmental Center's booth at the event. We will have displays available to provide information about our site, events, and programming, and would like to have volunteers available to discuss the EEC with visitors. If you aren't familiar with the EEC, don't worry! Training is available and information will be provided

This shift includes an optional 9:30 AM volunteer orientation in the Visitor's Cabin. Please check in at the Environmental Center Visitor's Cabin.

Help us give our volunteers a break for lunch--sign up to be a floater! Floaters provide 15-30 minute breaks for volunteers at any station.

Each station will have a cheat sheet with all the info needed to keep things running smoothly. Volunteers are also welcome to attend the optional 9:30 AM volunteer orientation in the Visitor's Cabin before the event starts to get an overview of all the volunteer shifts.