Boston Flora

Category: Volunteer Opportunity

  • Monday, April 3 – Sunday, April 21 – 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge

    Food Solutions New England will host the 9th version of its food system-oriented free 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge from April 3, 2023 to April 23, 2023. Click here to register. When FSNE first developed this customized version of the Challenge, inspired by the work of Debby Irving and Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., they intended it to have a food system focus. While many other organizations have been inspired by FSNE’s interactive and customized version, this is the one that focuses most deeply on food, food systems, agriculture, land access, and topics near and dear to the group’s Vision and Values.

    Each year, thousands of individuals and hundreds of officially participating organizations join in a shared journey of learning and charting a course of action to dismantle racism in our food system and our world.

    About the Challenge

    The 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge is simple. You commit to deepening your understanding of, and willingness to confront, racism for twenty-one consecutive days in April of each year and the Racial Equity Challenge will:

    • Raise your awareness, change your understanding and shift the way you behave.
    • Go beyond individual or interpersonal racism by helping to demystify structural and institutional racism and white supremacist patterns that are sometimes invisible to people.
    • Inspire you to act, on your own or with others in your organization, business, or group, to dismantle these systems, to make changes in your work and the world that can build true equity and justice for all.

  • Friday, April 14 – Marathon Daffodil Volunteer Day

    Boston Marathon 2023 is Monday, April 17th, 2023.

    This is Boston Strong Marathon Daffodils’ tenth year, bringing a symbol of Hope, a tribute to Boston Strong, and a celebration of Spring and Patriots Day in Boston. We hope you will help welcome back the runners and the crowds. We hope you will help us thank our Boston healthcare workers.

    The goal is to continue the tradition by delivering thousands of potted Marathon Daffodils throughout Boston for the 127th BAA Boston Marathon. When the BAA Marathon was cancelled during the COVID pandemic, Marathon Daffodils kept the city blooming by distributing thousands of potted daffodil plants to our healthcare facilities.

    Thanks to your continued support, we hope to keep the spirit of Marathon Daffodils strong by funding this volunteer community endeavor that provides as many daffodil plants as possible to brighten our city.

    Volunteers are needed  to distribute the daffodil plants on Friday, April 14th, 2023. The Garden Club of the Back Bay has helped with this effort in the Back Bay for a number of years, but all are welcome throughout the Metropolitan Area to participate in their communities. Visit https://www.marathondaffodils.org/ to access a sign up sheet and receive more information, or to donate. You may also email Dianevalle@gmail.com

  • Botanic Gardens Conservation International Disaster Recovery Fund – Ukraine Botanic Garden Appeal

    Botanic garden staff across the world are risking their health and safety to ensure that we do not lose the planet’s incredible plant diversity – more than one third of which is held in botanic garden collections. For more information on the susceptibility of botanic gardens, and their responses, to disasters please see Botanic Gardens Conservation International’s technical review.

    By establishing the Disaster Recovery Fund and launching the 2022 Ukraine Botanic Garden Appeal, BGCI will be working to support the botanic gardens impacted by disaster, focusing at this point in time on supporting the Ukrainian community of botanic gardens. Funds raised will be disbursed via a central coordination mechanism in close consultation with BGCI’s governing body. Updates on how the funds have assisted those in need will be shared across BGCI’s social media channels and website.

    US Donations:
    For those who wish to make tax-deductible donations in the United States, please send checks to ‘BGCI-US’ at:
    1151 Oxford Road, Botanical Division
    San Marino, CA 91108

    For the 2022 Ukraine Appeal, BGCI is collaborating with Partnerships for Nature (Seattle, US) and leading gardens in Ukraine, funds raised through this appeal will initially be supporting:

    For more information visit www.bgci.org

    courtesy Toronto Star

  • Monday, December 5 – Thursday, December 8 – Where We Are This Week

    Looking for a Garden Club of the Back Bay member? Need to discuss wreath delivery options? You will find us at The First Lutheran Church, Boston, 299 Berkeley Street, where, for the first time since 2019, we will be decorating holiday wreaths! If you need immediate assistance, call our new phone number 617-872-2697 (617-USA-BOWS) or email info@bostonflora.com. Follow us on Instagram for up to the minute sneak peeks – @gardenclubbackbay.

  • Monday & Tuesday, November 28 & 29, 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm, and Wednesday, November 30, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Wreath Making Workshops at Historic Deerfield

    Help create beautiful, natural wreaths to decorate the doorways of Deerfield. Bring your creativity, enthusiasm, and an extra pair of pruning shears. No experience required. Supplies and refreshments provided. Free, pre-registration required. To sign up, visit https://www.historic-deerfield.org/events

  • Saturday, September 24, 8:30 am – Greenway Challenge: Run, Paddle & Bike Adventure Racing

    Each year, the Greenway Challenge athletes run, paddle and bike on a course designed to bring you through one of the most beautiful and historic regions of New England, the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor located between Worcester, MA and Pawtucket, RI.

    Athletes can compete as solo racers or in teams of 2-4 and 5-8, with each team member competing in at least one segment along the course. This annual race is one of New England’s premier adventure races!

    A program of the Whitin Community Center, presented by UniBank and supported by other partner organizations, the Greenway Challenge promotes the recreational quality of life in the Blackstone River Valley.

    It also supports the development of new programs, purchase of additional equipment, and facility renovations for the members and guests of the Whitin Community Center. For details of costs, registration, and volunteering, as they become available, be sure to visit the website https://greenwaychallenge.org/details#whenandwheresec Registration now open, closing September 16.

  • Friday, August 26, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – BARK Ranger Program

    Calling all dogs (and their humans)! Come join National Park Ranger Amanda on August 26 to learn about our BARK Ranger Program, what the acronym BARK means, and why it is important to you and your park. Animal attendees—all pets are welcome—will receive complimentary water and a treat. Upon taking the BARK pledge humans will receive a Boston National Historical Park Dog Tag for their canine partners. Please stop by anytime from 6-7pm to become a BARK Ranger!
    Meeting Location: Charlestown Navy Yard Flag Pole No reservations or registration required.

  • Saturday, August 20, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm – Stewardship Saturday at Grape Island

    Come join National Park Service biologists and volunteer stewards for Stewardship Saturday on Grape Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area on August 20. Help us control non-native invasive plants and enhance native ecosystems and natural processes in the park. We will explore the local flora and fauna and discuss the ecology, natural history, and cultural significance of landscapes in the park as we work to understand and improve habitat for the native birds, bugs, trees, and flowers of the Boston Harbor Islands.

    We will be departing from a dock at the Charlestown Navy Yard, 21 2nd Ave, Boston MA. We are able to offer free parking at the park- individuals will need to share their vehicle information with park staff in advance for entrance. There are also a variety of public transit options nearby. We will send more information to registrants about parking prior to the event. We will be going to Grape Island.

    Timing: The boat departs at 9am. We will return by 3pm.

    What to wear: Long-sleeved shirts, long pants, socks, and closed-toe shoes. Conditions can be unpredictable so please monitor the weather in the days leading up the event and dress appropriately.

    What to bring: Please bring a lunch and reusable water bottles. Bring all your water for the day! Sunscreen and a hat are always recommended. Tools will be provided.

    Event will run rain or shine, however, may be cancelled due to severe weather.

    Special consideration:

    • MASKS may be required to be worn on transportation to the island based on local COVID levels at the time of the event.
    • Do not attend if you have had recent exposure to a positive COVID case or if you are experiencing symptoms.

    Work consists of natural or cultural resource field stewardship. Potential hazards include transit by boat, the use of hand tools, carrying moderate weight, working in varied terrain, dense brush, thorns, poison ivy, and/or ticks. Tasks may include data collection, clearing vegetation, debris, and/or trash, consolidating cut material into bags or piles, carrying materials, planting, trail clearing and/or light maintenance. Work may be conducted in extreme heat or cold.

    Program destination is subject to change based on field conditions. For questions please contact Erin Drumm at 617-780-1057 or erin_drumm@nps.gov Free. Register on the Eventbrite site HERE.

  • Wednesday, August 24, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm – Martha’s Vineyard Atlas of Life: Citizen Science and Biodiversity

    The Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury is hosting a free public lecture on Wednesday, August 24 at 5:30 pm.

    Launched in 2021 by BiodiversityWorks and the Betsy and Jesse Fink Family Foundation, the Martha’s Vineyard Atlas of Life project seeks to enlist a broad community of nature enthusiasts to document the distinctive biodiversity of Martha’s Vineyard. We protect what we value; we value what we understand—preservation of the Island’s irreplaceable biological wealth ultimately depends on building a constituency of Vineyarders committed to studying and preserving diversity. MVAL Program Director Matt Pelikan will explain how the Atlas of Life is achieving this through tapping both archival information and the power of “citizen science” websites.

    Registration is required. Sign up here: bit.ly/MV-Atlas-of-Life-Lecture

  • Garden Time is the Inaugural Recipient of the Page Dickey Grant for American Gardens

    The Garden Conservancy is pleased to award this endowed $10,000 grant, the Page Dickey Grant for American Gardens,  to Garden Time in Providence, RI. Garden Time provides prison-based garden education programs and prepares incarcerated individuals for the workforce by supporting successful transitions to reentry and long-term employment.

    In 2011, Garden Time’s Co-Founders worked with inmates at the men’s maximum security facility at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institutions to build a garden in the empty section of the prison yard. Since then, they have added two more gardens at other facilities within the complex and trained 300 incarcerated men and women to become skilled gardeners. While producing thousands of pounds of produce for the prison kitchen, participants have also gained a positive outlook and a new connection to nature. In 2017, Garden Time expanded their work to include a pre-employment program at the men’s medium-security facility offering important life skills and job training for the green industry with reentry planning and support.

     In 2020, Garden Time partnered with OpenDoors, a Providence-based nonprofit that supports formerly incarcerated individuals reenter society, to build a Reentry Community Garden, benefiting Garden Time graduates as well as OpenDoors clients and residents. The community garden at OpenDoors offers a space to perform reentry planning, job coaching, and continuing plant-based education. To further extend opportunities for released students, Garden Time piloted a tree care and environmental justice training program in 2021 allowing formerly incarcerated Rhode Islanders to learn technical skills related to tree care and other green industries through classroom and hands-on instruction. 

    The Page Dickey Grant for American Gardens honors our dear friend and longtime board member Page Dickey’s lasting contributions to the Garden Conservancy and to garden enthusiasts nationwide. As part of the Garden Conservancy Grant Program, this grant will be awarded each year, in perpetuity, to a distinguished small public garden making a significant impact in its community through garden-based programming.

    Learn more about the Page Dickey Grant for American Gardens here.