Volunteer Opportunities

Every year, volunteers and student interns donate hundreds of hours of their time to Capital District Community Gardens (CDCG), allowing us to accomplish far more than our small staff alone can do. Volunteers help dig, build, draw, plant, design, repair, write, and they assist with events. They are the roots of our organization.

See below for the different types of volunteer opportunities we offer.  We ask that interested volunteers fill out our Volunteer Registration Form online or print it out as a pdf and return by mail: volunteer registration form. 

If you're interested in learning about gardening check out our Know to Grow and Demo classes: Know to Grow

Click on the logo below to download Acrobat Reader if you need it for the form:

Volunteer Opportunities Available:

Community Gardening Program
We manage 46 neighborhood garden sites throughout Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady counties that support more than 700 gardening families. Additionally, we are committed to building two new gardens each year.

Help is always needed to develop new gardens and make repairs to existing ones. Much of the work is outdoors: rototilling, clearing brush, painting, building sheds, planting, weedwacking, soil spreading, and mowing. Other areas of involvement include: garden design, small engine maintenance & repair, and seed sorting.
                                                      ___________________

Garden Mentor
In an effort to improve the success of our novice gardeners we are asking experienced gardeners to help a new gardener catch the “gardening bug" through our Gardener Mentor Program. A few hours of your time during the growing season can make a huge difference to someone just getting started. With your help we can assure that an inexperienced gardener will have a successful and bountiful first harvest.
                                                     ___________________

Communication/Education/Events
CDCG organizes three annual events to help raise funds and visibility for the organization. We need volunteers to assist with such things as event planning, donation solicitation, posters and signage, setup, cleanup and volunteer recruitment and organization. Some events also require specialized assistance such as electrical expertise or stage management. Working on events is a terrific way to meet interesting people and have fun too! So you don’t have to get down ‘n dirty to help – just call us today!
                                                     ___________________

Administrative
We always need help in our office with mailings, phone calling, seed sorting and data entry, even if you don't have a lot of experience, we make sure it's a positive experience. If you have good computer skills, especially in the areas of graphic layout and design, help is also needed to help produce our quarterly newsletter and other informational materials. We also do several bulk mailings each year . . . and many hands (and a few laughs) make light work.
                                                     ___________________

Veggie Mobile
The Veggie Mobile is making fresh fruits and vegetables available to low-income residents in Albany, Troy and Schenectady. Set up like a produce aisle on wheels, the Veggie Mobile makes scheduled stops each week in the neighborhoods we serve. Since launching the program in April of 2007 the community response has been overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic.

Join the fun on the Veggie Mobile and help us bring nutritious food to our region's families in need.
                                                     ___________________

Squash Hunger
Squash Hunger is a program of Capital District Community Gardens that collects excess fresh produce from gardeners around the Region for donation to area food pantries.

We will be looking for volunteers to pickup donated produce at local businesses throughout the Capital Region and deliver the veggies to area food pantries for consumption by low-income families in need.  The program starts around June when gardens begin to be productive.  Volunteers are assigned one day of the week where they are responsible for picking up any donated produce and then bringing it to a selected shelter or pantry.  We are also always looking for gardeners or CSA's with extra produce that they can donate at one of our drop-off locations (see our Squash Hunger page for more information). 

Help give families in need access to freshly grown produce by choosing one of our locations to make pickups and deliver them to food pantries - it's as simple as that!
                                                     ___________________

Street Tree Program
CDCG plants hundreds of city street trees each spring and fall throughout the Capital District. Local high school and college students plant trees under the leadership of volunteer planting supervisors. Community Gardens staff conducts a planting demonstration before the volunteers move on to their designated planting sites. The one-day tree plantings are normally held in late April and late October.  Contact CDCG to find out when the next scheduled planting is being held.
                                                     ___________________

Giving of Yourself
Here are just a few stories of people who are having a tremendous impact on our work: