2020-Garden Harvest and Maintenance @ Civic Center Park with Marathon - SHIFT 1

Start Date-End Date: 09/02/2020-09/02/2020 Land Manager Office: Grow Local Colorado Land Manager Contact: Barbara Masoner Funding Partner: Marathon (formerly Andeavor) Programmatic Partner: Grow Local Colorado Summary: Join us 1:00 - 2:15 PM to tend to a vegetable garden in one of Denver's city parks! Description: Where You'll Be: Bordered by the State Capitol, the City and County Building, and the Denver Art Museum, Civic Center Park is the centerpiece of Denver's green space. The park blooms with 25,000 square feet of flower beds each summer and serves as a popular event site. Civic Center Park also hosts two Grow Local Colorado gardens, both of which are maintained primarily by Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado and Return Peace Corps Volunteers. All harvest from these two gardens supports local food banks, homeless shelters, and people and families in need. What You'll Do: This is an easy and rewarding way to get outside and give back to your community. Volunteers will have the opportunity to tend a donation food garden in Denver's Civic Center Park, managed by our partner Grow Local Colorado. Why It Matters: The produce that volunteers planted in the spring will be harvested throughout the growing season 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. Latitude/Longitude: 39.739240, -104.988833 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 8 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 8 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 8 Total Unique Volunteers: 8 Total Volunteer Hours: 22 Staff Hours: 6 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: 15 volunteers between the first and second shift harvested 220 pounds of food for Metro Caring from all 8 Grow Local beds at Civic Center Park. All went well. no incidents. Successes and Challenges: this was supposed to be a Marathon SWAT but they could not get the numbers. We were able to make it a public project and ended up getting the numbers we needed. Will need to keep this in mind for the 9/30 project with Marathon and future projects with them. I think it is mostly a product of COVID but who knows. Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: