2019-Rescheduled: Evening Gardening @ Denver's Observatory Park

Start Date-End Date: 05/29/2019-05/29/2019 Land Manager Office: Grow Local Colorado Land Manager Contact: Barbara Masoner Funding Partner: Grow Local Colorado Programmatic Partner: Grow Local Colorado Summary: Plant vegetable gardens with Grow Local Colorado! For volunteers ages 8+ *WAIT LIST ONLY* Description: Where You'll Be: Observatory Park is a small, yet spacious park near the University of Denver (DU) campus. Home to DU's historic Chamberlin Observatory, the park also boasts century-old trees, an extensive playground area, and vast open fields perfect for picnicking or a pickup game of Frisbee. What You'll Do: Looking for an easy way to get outside and give back to your community? Look no further! Through our long-standing partnership with Grow Local Colorado, volunteers ages 8+ will spend the evening preparing and planting vegetable gardens in Denver's Observatory Park. While Grow Local will maintain the gardens throughout the summer, VOC will return in the fall to help harvest the vegetables, which will be donated to local residents in need. Check out our Evening Gardening @ Denver's Harvard Gulch Park on May 30 and stay tuned for our fall harvest dates! Why It Matters: The vegetables that volunteers plant will be harvested in the fall and donated to local food banks, homeless shelters, and families in need. This partnership with Grow Local Colorado creates a more connected community; demonstrates the beauty and efficacy of edible gardens; inspires residents to plant their own vegetable gardens; and contributes to a more sustainable food chain by reducing our carbon footprint. Need-to-Know Details: Minors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on single-day projects. VOC will provide all equipmentincluding tools and work gloves. Cancellation:Our partners rely on VOC volunteers to accomplish critical stewardship needs, and our projects often have wait lists. If you need to cancel, pleasecontact Emily Schaeferat 303-715-1010 ext. 116 as soon as possible so we can free your spot for another volunteer and have a full workforce. About Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is the state's oldest, largest, and leading outdoor stewardship nonprofit organization. Founded in 1984 to motivate and enable people to become active stewards of Colorado's natural resources, VOC has engaged nearly 120,000 people in more than 1,000 volunteer projects for a donated labor value of $24 million. Through award-winning youth and volunteer programs, leadership training, capacity-building programs, and collaborative efforts with nonprofits and land management agencies, VOC is an invaluable resource in Colorado, especially as our outdoor stewardship needs are approaching near-crisis levels. For more information, visit www.voc.org or call 303-715-1010. Latitude/Longitude: 39.7345542, -104.988121 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 10 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 6 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 5 Total Unique Volunteers: 6 Total Volunteer Hours: 12.5 Staff Hours: 5 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: On Wednesday May 29th, 5 VOC volunteers came out to Observatory Park to help Grow Local Colorado to help plant seeds and starter plants for the growing season.The volunteers made quick work of the 250 square foot garden, planting a variety of veggies including (but not limited to) basil, kale, collards, lettuce, beans and carrots, that will all be donated to a nearby food pantry. This garden is estimated to produce close to 250 lbs of food this season. Successes and Challenges: Challenges: Due to bad weather on the day of the originally scheduled project (May 21st) we had to reschedule. The quick reschedule date (necessary for the health of the started plants which are not meant to stay confined in their small growing containers for too long), we had difficulty recruiting the hoped for number of volunteers. That said- even with fewer volunteers, these projects still get completed easily within the short 2 hr time frame. Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: