"Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they have the heart."
— Elizabeth Andrew
Why volunteer?
Volunteering is a powerful way to make a lasting impact on our environment and community. It builds a sense of connection, ownership, and pride in the places we share while contributing to something larger than ourselves. Our volunteers are the heart of our mission, and if you’ve been thinking about joining us, consider this your invitation to get involved!
We offer volunteer opportunities across our three greenspaces: Red Mountain Park, Ruffner Mountain, and Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. Activities range from propagation and garden workdays, invasive species removal, creek clean-ups, tabling at park entrances, and much more.
Stay up to date on our latest programs, events, and volunteer opportunities by subscribing to our monthly newsletter.
Volunteer Opportunities for Individuals
Whether you're an individual passionate about nature, a student, a retiree, or a professional—everyone is welcome to join us and get their hands dirty! If you’re curious and passionate about giving back to our greenspaces, we have a variety of opportunities for you to get involved.
Check out the options below, see our Events Calendar and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay up to date on the latest programs, events, and volunteer opportunities.
Volunteers will need to create an account using the Sign Up link below before registering to volunteer. For other volunteer inquiries, contact our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@jeffcogreenways.org.
Turkey Creek Greenhouse Workdays
Are you interested in learning more about the native plants of Alabama? If so, consider helping us propagate plants at Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. This is a great opportunity for people with differing plant knowledge to learn more about our state’s native plants and biodiversity. Who knows, maybe you’ll even start growing your own garden of native plants!
Ruffner Mountain Garden Workdays
If you’ve attended our Greenhouse Workdays at Turkey Creek Nature Preserve, amazing. If you’d like to take it a step further by doing more laborious tasks like weeding, thinning, and deadheading old plant growth to make way for new growth, this event is the next stage to understanding the gardening process for native plants. Come out and join us monthly for this great event!
Red Mountain Pollinator Garden Workdays
Invasive plant removal, native plant gardening, and general beautification efforts: What more do you want in a volunteer experience? Consider joining us at Red Mountain on the third Friday of each month where you’ll be able to help in our ongoing beautification pursuits at the pollinator garden. All skill levels are welcome!
Ruffner Native Plant Sale
Do you enjoy making meaningful connections with people who share a similar love of native plants? Would you like to help customers make the perfect plant selection or help with loading the plants into their cars? If you answered “yes" to any of these questions, you should consider volunteering with us at our popular Greenhouse Days Native Plant Sale which occurs twice a year in the spring and fall.
Greeters/Docent Volunteering
Do you have a passion for educating others on topics like conservation, native planting, and the history of our greenspaces? If so, consider our weekend docent positions currently available at Red Mountain Park and Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. Our docents help inform visitors about the histories of the greenspaces, our organization's mission, membership and programmatic opportunities, and ways to get more connected with JCG.
For information on the volunteer docent training schedule or additional information not covered here, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@jeffcogreenways.org.
*Docent training is required to volunteer for this role.
All public volunteer opportunities will be regularly updated, so be on the lookout for new opportunities throughout the year!
Group Volunteer Opportunities
Group volunteering is perfect for any organization, business, university, or club with 10 or more individuals interested in hosting a private volunteer event. Whether you're looking for a team-building activity, a philanthropic opportunity, or a way to support our ecological conservation efforts, we’d love to work with you to create a meaningful experience that aligns with your group's goals.
Complete the Group Volunteer Request Form below, and we’ll get back to you within 1-3 business days to discuss the perfect opportunity for your group!
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Group Volunteer Request Form
*Asterisk indicates a required field
We work with our Site Managers, Land Stewards, and the Conservation Director to gather a priority list of tasks best suited for a large group to undertake. Some of these tasks may include clearing invasive non-native plant species like Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense) in the understories of our green spaces, collecting trash and litter, planting pollinator gardens, or laying a few yards of mulch. We have plenty of ways your team can help and will do our best to ensure a worthwhile experience!
We typically encourage a 2-3 hour window for a group volunteer event. Depending on the capacity of your group and its needs, we can work together to plan an appropriate timeframe.
We will provide light snacks and water upon request. If your organization would like to cater lunch at the end of the volunteer day at the site where you worked, we can accommodate that as well! Advanced notice is required.
Yes! The waiver is included in the volunteer application that each individual will be required to complete and sign if they plan on participating in any way during the volunteer event.
We typically can handle any size group from about 10-50 individuals. However some exceptions can be made, but this would have to be decided ahead of time considering our staff availability.
Can we accept any funding that would be used to further our coalition’s pursuits in a myriad of ways? Yes. Absolutely. To learn more about becoming a corporate supporter, you can visit our corporate support page here. Alternatively, if your volunteer event requires supplies and/or equipment to complete a task, you are more than welcome to cover the cost of those items if needed, and in some instances this may be a requirement.
We ask that a group requesting a volunteer event submit a request 3 months in advance to prevent conflicts or overbooking on our end. It also may be the case that regardless of how early the request was submitted, we may not be able to meet your request due to calendar conflicts.
Wednesdays through Saturdays are the best days for us to be able to provide a group volunteer experience.
Absolutely. We have ample opportunities for Boy Scout and Girl Scout organizations depending on the requirements of the merit badge, award, or service project the scout is looking to complete or fulfill. We have an ongoing list of priorities and tasks that fit the requirements of scout service projects, so if a scout is interested in doing some work with us at one of our three green spaces we may be able to oblige the service request depending on the list of needs at each space!
Submitting this form does not automatically mean you will be granted a volunteer opportunity, but it will help us become aware of your request and then contact you to see if we can oblige you or your organization!