Volunteering and Service learning at Urban Roots
Thank you for your interest in volunteering at Urban Roots! We are a small staff of dedicated individuals and youth interns managing and maintaining six urban gardens and several local park sites. Your participation is vital to helping us continue our successful programming!
Sign up for an Urban Roots volunteer or service learning experience to get outside, build your team. and give back to the community, all while feeling the benefits of being active and in nature right here in the city! Contribute to our efforts of addressing food insecurity or habitat restoration.
This is the volunteer site for Urban Roots Minnesota – for Urban Roots Austin, visit https://urbanrootsatx.org/volunteer/. Thank you!
Which experience/calendar should I sign up for?
Service Learning
Service Learning is designed for students and learners of all ages. If you are a school, university, or youth program this is likely the option for you. Service learning links the volunteer experience to curriculum. It is designed for students to be able to participate in a hands-on experience that reinforces something they are learning in your program. Service learning also incorporates reflection. This is something we can facilitate during the experience or you can do back in the classroom or your regularly scheduled programming.
Group Volunteering
If you are a workplace, corporation, or community group this is likely the option for you. This is a classic volunteer experience that gives you a chance to learn about our organization and give back to the community.
Individual Volunteering
If you are an individual looking for a way to get involved, this is a great option. Our community volunteer events are a way to meet new people, give back to the neighborhood, and get your hands dirty. If you’re interested in helping out even more regularly, we suggest coming to this event to get to know us and learn more. Our Market Garden Program runs community volunteer events weekly on Wednesdays from 3-6pm during the growing season. If you are interested in this please reach out to Marcos at mgiossi@urbanrootsmn.org.
Our Programs
Garden group volunteering and service learning is done for the season! Spring sign-up is now available!
Our Market Garden program grows vegetables in six urban plots on the east side of St. Paul. The gardens allow us to teach youth important job skills, address food insecurity on the East Side, and sell produce to support our vital programming. In the spring, help us prep our garden plots for the growing season, summer, help us weed and maintain our gardens, and in the fall we’ll put our gardens to bed for the winter.
In the spring, summer, and fall help restore our local parks by removing invasive species (like garlic mustard and buckthorn), planting trees and native flowers/grasses, collecting native seed, engaging in citizen science, and cleaning our parks of trash and debris. The parks that we focus on include Rivoli Bluffs Farm and Restoration Site, Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary, and Pig’s Eye Regional Park.
Shift times and locations are liable to change based on the availability of our staff. For any additional information or information about individual volunteering opportunities, please email our Outreach Coordinator at smockert@urbanrootsmn.org.
Service Learning Groups
Group Volunteer Shifts
Individual Volunteer Shifts
Join us on September 28th, 2024 to help our goal of planting 100 Trees on the East Side this year!
Volunteers are needed to help us dig trees out of our gravel bed and prep them for delivery to their new homes. Our staff will be working from 8am to 4pm, but volunteers are welcome to stay for as long or as short as they would like. All help is greatly appreciated!
Sign up with at the shift listing below to be added to our contact list for the event.
FAQs
How long is a shift?
Generally 3 hours, although we recommend 2 hours for middle school students and 1-2 hours for elementary students,
When are the shifts?
Group or Service Learning Garden: Spring and Fall- Wednesdays or Thursdays from 9:00am-12:00pm or 12:30pm-3:30pm, July 1- Aug 15th- Tuesdays 9am-11:30am
Individual Garden: Thursdays in Spring and Fall from 3:30pm-6:30pm
Group or Service Learning Conservation: Mondays from 12:30-3:30pm, Wednesdays from 9:00am-12:00pm or 12:30pm-3:30pm, and Fridays from 9:00am-12:00pm
Individual Conservation: Select Fridays from 1pm-4pm
What should I bring?
Close-toed shoes you don’t mind getting dirty and potentially wet, clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, water bottle, a snack and a willingness to work! Gloves are optional. We provide gloves, but many people like to use their own.
What will Urban Roots provide?
All tools, gloves, land, projects, and programming! Some raingear is available upon request as well.
How much does the experience cost?
We don’t charge for our experiences but ask for a donation if you are able. Your donation is a valuable investment in our youth programming and covers staff time for your experience. Click here to donate: https://urbanrootsmn.org/donate/.
What are the minimum and maximum number of people required?
Garden: minimum = 5, maximum = 25
Conservation: minimum = 5, maximum = 50 (depending on project and staffing)
Where will my shift be?
Garden: Our headquarters address is 845 Edgerton, St. Paul, MN 55130, but your event will take place at one of our 6 garden locations within a mile from here. You will receive an email two business days before your event telling you your exact location, directions to get there, and a cell phone contact for last-minute questions. We plan our projects based on the garden’s needs and can only tell which location once we see what is growing that week!
Conservation: Our headquarters address is 845 Edgerton, St. Paul, MN 55130, but your event will take place at one of the many wonderful parks in St Paul.. You will receive an email at least two business days before your event telling you your exact location, directions to get there, and a cell phone contact for last-minute questions. We plan our projects based on the seasons and park needs and can only tell which location when we see what is needed that week!
I signed up and you didn’t tell me the location! When will I know?
Garden: You will receive an email two business days before your event telling your exact location, directions to get there, and a cell phone contact for last-minute questions. We plan our projects based on the garden’s needs and can only tell which location once we see what is growing that week!
Conservation: You will receive an email at least two business days before your event telling you your exact location, directions to get there, and a cell phone contact for last-minute questions. We plan our projects based on the seasons and park needs and can only tell which location when we see what is needed that week!
What can I expect to be doing?
Garden: Get your hands dirty doing one or more of the following: laying and spreading compost, raking, weeding, cleaning out garden beds, planting, and harvesting.
Conservation: Jobs include: removing invasive species, planting trees, trimming trees, planting/maintaining rain and pollinator gardens, engaging in citizen science projects, and picking up trash.
What does a 3-hour shift look like?
Arrival and Welcome (10 min) – we will introduce ourselves, give a background about who Urban Roots is, team will sign waivers
Instruction (10 min) – we will explain the projects for the day, demonstrate how to use tools they might need, distribute gloves and tools, and have team choose the project they’d like to work on
Projects! (1-1.5 hrs.) – examples of projects: weed, prep beds, shovel, rake, plant, harvest, build/fix fences, trellis, weed whip, etc.
Break (15 min)
Projects! (1 hr)
Clean-up, Pictures, Goodbyes & Thank yous (20 min)
What if there is bad weather?
We will be in touch with you in the days leading up to the event. We will decide together when to make the call, what weather your team is willing to tolerate, and in what conditions our gardens and green spaces can handle traffic.
What’s the difference between service learning and volunteering?
Service learning links the volunteer experience to curriculum. It is designed for students and learners of all ages to be able to participate in a hands-on experience that reinforces something they are learning in your program. Service learning also incorporates reflection. This is something we can facilitate during the experience or you can do back in the classroom. If you are a school or youth organization, likely this is what you should sign up for.
Volunteering is an experience that allows participants to give back to the community and do good in the world.
What should I do if the times on the calendar don’t work for me?
Sign up for the time that most closely matches the time that works for your group. Then in the comments, share what time you propose. Sometimes we are able to be flexible. We will get back to you as soon as we can.
What are the physical requirements of the volunteer shifts? Can you make accommodations for accessibility?
Typical volunteer shifts include motions such as walking, bending, squatting, twisting, reaching, kneeling, pulling, and carrying 10 to 50 pounds. We encourage everyone to contribute at a level of exertion well within their comfort, and can adapt tasks for those with less-than full mobility (e.g. using long handled tools while standing, rather than squatting, kneeling or reaching.) The urban farm spaces have narrow (1.5ft) aisles between crops and the green spaces are unpaved, so neither is ADA accessible. If you have limited mobility or other accessibility needs, do not hesitate to reach out and make them known! We are accommodating and adaptable, and there are plenty of ways for everyone to contribute.