Volunteer Opportunities for Jefferson County Master Gardeners
The Jefferson County Master Gardener Foundation offers a great many ways to contribute. Every member is contributing at some level at all times, even if only by gardening using sustainable and eco-friendly methods, reading the newsletter, visiting the website, or attending the monthly meetings. All members should feel they are contributing, and every member is encouraged provide leadership over time. Our goal is to share the fun broadly, so no person feels put upon. Make It All Fun!
DESCRIPTION OF VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE JEFFERSON COUNTY MASTER GARDENER FOUNDATION
Admin
Events
On-going Assistance
Other Opportunities
The following describes programs and opportunities for leadership. Each program lives or dies by the efforts of the members, led by other members, to make it happen.
Board Member: The Jefferson County Master Gardener Foundation Board: The Board has nine voting members: four officers and five members-at-large. One member, non -voting, is an intern chosen from the current Master Gardener class after completion of the course to serve until the end of the calendar year.
The purpose of this latter board member is to provide communication between the interns and the leadership of the Foundation. Elections are held each November. Each of the officers is elected for a one-year term and cannot serve more than two years in a row in the same position. The members-at-large are elected for two-year terms; two in odd-numbered years and three in even-numbered years. The Board meets the first Thursday of the month at 1:00 PM at WSU Extension.
All Master Gardeners are welcome. The Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State: As we are a chartered chapter of the State Foundation, we select one representative from our local Foundation to serve at the state level. Many of our local members have also served on the state Executive Committee.
Monthly Foundation Meetings: Two volunteers are needed to coordinate the refreshments, plan programs and obtain speakers for our monthly Foundation meetings. Our Foundation meeting is open to the public, and is held from 7:00-9:00 PM on the second Monday of the month in the WSU Spruce Room. It includes a one-hour educational presentation with a break for social time and refreshments followed by the meeting. This meeting keeps the members informed of events and projects.
Master Gardener Training: A committee coordinates the training, which takes place every winter. The work involves extensive planning starting in the late summer and intensive coordination of the classes in January and February.
Plant Clinics: Our three clinics, at WSU, The Port Townsend Co-Op and the Chimacum Farmers Market are held from March to October and offer solutions to gardening questions about plant, pest, and other gardening dilemmas. Two to four volunteers are needed for each clinic session. MG's assist walk-in or call-in members of the public in diagnosing problems and make recommendations based on WSU references and other WSU-approved information. Out of season, one master gardener is needed to answer a telephone messaging system.
Yard And Garden Lecture Series: This popular winter fundraiser features experts lecturing on gardening and gardening-related topics and is an educational outreach to Jefferson County, the region, and to us! A committee begins planning in early summer, with several meetings through the fall and more intense work during the programs held on six Saturdays in January and February.
Secret Garden Tour: Our biggest fundraiser, this wildly popular (500+ tickets!) June event showcases private gardens in our community. The committee meets periodically through the year to plan, identify and line up gardens. All Master Gardeners are asked to pitch in just before the event and the day of the event. Volunteers are needed to distribute flyers, identify and label plants and tour the gardens with the coordinators ahead of time. On the day of the tour, Master Gardeners are in each garden to take tickets, act as docents and identify plants. Garden owners are encouraged to be on hand to share their gardens' stories.
Plant Sale: This fundraiser is a time to show what we can do as gardeners. Members are asked to grow and contribute plants for this biannual event held in the spring. The committee meets periodically through the plant sale year. Many volunteers are needed the day of the event.
Master Gardener Park: Master Gardeners designed, constructed, and planted this garden located at 600 Sims Way in Port Townsend. The garden is open to public viewing all year. Volunteers plant, prune, deadhead, weed, check irrigation, mulch and tour visitors. Every season needs workers.
Youth Gardening: Master Gardeners provide a fun interactive program for 2nd-grade classrooms that engages children with puppetry, song, poetry and hands-on activities. Volunteers prepare materials, set-up and clean-up in classrooms, speak in front of the classes, and sit at tables to guide the children in making the simple root viewers. The season is April-May each year, with preparation before classroom presentations.
Chick Program: This program is designed to enlighten young children to the wonders of chicken life. One or two volunteers who are skilled in chicken care are needed in the spring. In early April the Chimacum kindergarten teacher is contacted and a date is picked for starting the incubator so the chicks will hatch out just prior to the end of the school year. The incubator is set up and each kindergarten class is told the history, laying cycle of chickens and use of the manure for fertilizer. Three or four days after starting the incubator, the eggs are candled and the students see a fertile egg. Periodic visits to the school during the 21-day incubation period ensure the incubator is functioning properly. Hatched chickens are given to persons who are responsible poultry owners.
Jefferson County Fair: The Foundation provides an educational booth at the Fair in August each year. This is an excellent opportunity to meet and educate the public about Master Gardeners and issues of importance to our organization, and to recruit applicants for our annual training classes. Several weeks before the fair, a committee plans a booth to coordinate with the fair theme and to highlight a horticultural practice.
Advanced Training/Continuing Education: This program provides Master Gardeners and the public with horticultural training. Training may be offered at the county, regional or state level, and may include lectures, hands-on activities, or field trips. Presenters may be WSU-certified, local gardeners or specialists. Programs are intermittent and year-round.
Field Trips: Often, but not always, part of the Continuing Education Committee work, trips are made to gardens, horticulture-related businesses or other places of interest to home gardeners. Trips are intermittent, demand-driven, and year-round.
Habitat For Humanity: In support of people getting into a house with sweat equity, we donate a Sustainable Gardening Handbook, a gift certificate to a nursery, or money to enhance the landscape of the new home. There is a one time meeting with the homeowners once the house is completed.
Membership: A committee with one or more members maintains the membership roster and tracks volunteer hours. Communication with Interns regarding their commitment to pay back volunteer hours for their training and reminders to members to submit quarterly volunteer hours are the responsibility of this committee. Reports and analysis on accumulated Master Gardeners' hours document our contribution to the community and the mission of WSU. This is a year-round activity.
Communications: This group is responsible year round for publicity in local newspapers and the Web site to provide a consistent message of our mission for our educational programs and fund raising activities.
Archives/Historian: One person organizes JCMGF records to allow easy retrieval, retires records after six years, and protects information and documents of legal or historical significance. This is a year-round, low-level responsibility, where you can set your own schedule.
Library: The librarian chooses, acquires, and maintains a research and lending library of gardening-related books and pamphlets. This is a year- round activity as needed.
Grants and Scholarships Program: As the Foundation is able to raise funds in excess of that necessary to sustain the activities, the Foundation felt these excess funds should be utilized for worthy horticulture projects and education in the community. The Foundation sends out requests twice a year for proposals and applications to groups and individuals who may request grant money for projects and education that would benefit the community. The committee reviews all proposals carefully for well thought out realistic plans and then selects the ones that best align with our goals and values. The Board reviews the committee's selections for final approval.
Newsletter: A Master Gardener with simple desktop publishing skills is needed to edit and produce our newsletter with articles from the Master Gardener membership. Members are encouraged to share a recipe, review a book, or tell about a project you are doing. Members are encouraged to receive the Newsletter via e-mail, but a copy can be mailed to those unable to receive it by e-mail.
Website: The JCMGF web page is a part of the WSU Jefferson County Extension website, and provides Internet access to information about our organization, programs and events. A committee of three or four review content to be placed on the web as well as annually review the content for needed updates and clarity. One person on the committee serves as the webmaster and works with WSU to place the content on the web. Persons with only simple Internet skills are needed to handle this year round intermittent task.
Property Management: JCMG Foundation has numerous pieces of equipment that need to be managed. One person and a back-up is responsible for a system requiring Master Gardeners to sign out and bring back borrowed equipment
Merchandise Management: One person is responsible for maintaining an inventory and selling Master gardener related merchandise.
Annual Holiday Party: In lieu of a Foundation Meeting in December we hold a party. Coordinators plan in November and coordinate the party in early December.
Annual Potluck Picnic: In late summer or fall we hold a potluck picnic. The leader picks the date and location and communicates with the membership before the picnic.
MGFWS Convention Volunteer Support: The state convention coordinator may ask for assistance for the yearly conference.
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