Volunteer Opportunities
ACIPCO-Finley Community Garden
2914 17th St. N., Birmingham, AL 35207. 1st and 3rd Thursdays each month, 1-3pm. Basic community garden care, providing hands-on instruction to the neighborhood volunteers. The garden contains 14 4×8′ raised beds for growing vegetables, with some containing pollinators and herbs. Come join us! It’s fun to meet and help the neighbors in this community! (Call if inclement weather)
Contact: Bunny Fite | Tel: 858-442-6403 | Email: mlfite26@gmail.com
Aldridge Gardens
Volunteer opportunities are available at Aldridge Gardens. Spots are available to work in the landscape, gatehouse, gift shop and to assist with various programs. For information and to volunteer contact: Janet Abernathy. Tel: 205-739-6553 | Email: janet.abernathy@hooveralabama.gov
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Birmingham Botanical Gardens has several opportunities. There is the General Garden Group, the Bog Garden, the Kaul Wildflower Garden, the Japanese Gardens, the Fern Glade and the Southern Living Garden. To volunteer for any of these, please contact Alice Moore, the Volunteer Coordinator by email.
Grace Klein Community/Morgan United Methodist Church Garden.
2701 Morgan Rd., Bessemer, AL 35022. Saturday, 3/4/23, 10am-12pm, or longer. Share your knowledge about seed starting or planning a spring vegetable garden with GKC and Morgan UMC volunteers, or join us as a volunteer. Optional: Bring a picnic lunch and stay to help as Morgan UMC begins to prep its garden for spring. Contact Bunny for additional details at 858-442-6403, mlfite26@gmail.com
The Grace Klein Community is gratefully accepting donated produce and vegetable plant seedlings. Please contact Bethany O’Rear at bethany@aces.edu if you can share seedlings and transplants of edible plants so she can let Grace Klein know when and what to expect. Donated produce, seedlings and transplants can be donated to Grace Klein Community on Tuesday afternoons from 1-4pm at 2652 Old Rocky Ridge Road, Birmingham, 35216.
Grow More, Give More
Grow More, Give More is a statewide Master Gardener Program that helps combat food insecurity. You can register your home or community garden in the Grow More, Give more program or learn more about how to start a Grow More, Give More Garden here: aces.edu/go/GrowMore
Helena Farmers Market
Please consider volunteering at: Helena Farmers Market each week on Saturday 8-12, at the amphitheater park in Old Town Helena. 4151 Helena Road. Set up is an hour before from 7-8. Come for all or part of the time.
Helpline and Statewide Helpline
As traffic increases on the MG Helpline, we need additional volunteers who can answer the phones remotely. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. One-on-one helpline training is available at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Statewide helpline training is available via recorded zoom sessions. Contact Kate Musso for more information if you are interested: kfm0022@auburn.edu.
Holy Rosary Church Food Pantry Garden.
7414 Georgia Rd., Birmingham, AL 35212. (Gate City). Basic vegetable & pollinator garden care. Contact Laura Kezar at 205-908-3715, lbkezar@gmail.com
Red Mountain Park Pollinator Garden
This is an ongoing project to restore an existing pollinator garden located in Red Mountain Park. This includes the identification of existing native plants, removal of unwanted vegetation, and relocation and addition of native plants. There is also an effort to remove encroaching non-native plants. Contact Larry Stephens at 205-531-9049, lgsinmccalla@bellsouth.net
Propagate transplants
Start seedlings and propagate transplants at home for distribution at community gardens and food pantries in Jefferson County. Some supplies are available, such as horticulture pots, trays, and seeds.
Contact: Marian (Bunny) Fite | Tel: 858-442-6403 | Email: mlfite26@gmail.com
Second Saturdays at Sims Garden
Miss Sims’ Garden, Homewood Parking: 913 Irving Road, Edgewood Parking Lot; Edgewood Presbyterian Parking Lot. Currently no handicap parking. Come lend a hand in our various seasonal garden tasks. Every second Saturday of the Month (Feb-Sept) 9AM to 12PM February – June; and 8AM to 11AM July-September. This event caters to all skill (hand pruning, hand/mechanical weeding, mowing/blowing, planting, fertilizing, mulching, etc); and all abilities (standing; sitting or kneeling). Refreshments provided. Always bring gloves, garden shoes & water bottle. On sunnier, warm days bring hat, sunscreen and bug spray. Please Pre-Register at: tinyurl.com/second-saturdays. Contact: Amy Weis | Tel: 205-332-0949 | Email: amym426@gmail.com
Turkey Creek Nature Preserve.
3906 Turkey Creek Rd., Pinson, AL 35126. Propagate native plants for use at the preserve or for sale to support projects at the preserve. Call if inclement weather. Contact: Betty Gowins | Tel: 205-473-9222 | Email: goraybetty@yahoo.com
United Ability Hand-in-Hand Community Garden.
120 Oslo Circle, Birmingham, AL 35211. Mentor volunteers as they clean up the garden for spring and plant sensory, pollinator, and vegetable raised beds and other garden beds. For dates and additional details: Contact: Karen Mitchell | Tel: 205-903-1987 | Email: karen35216@bellsouth.net
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Drop off extra vegetables to neighbors who are shut in by age or illness, or are affected by job loss and would appreciate fresh produce (and a kind note or a flower perhaps)
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Reach out to schools, community centers and places of worship that you already know and see if there’s a new need you can help fill
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Statewide charities like Society of St. Andrews, a crop-gleaning charity www.endhunger.org, and regional operations like Community Foodbank of Central Alabama www.feedingal.org, are positioned to coordinate donations, particularly in larger quantities.
For additional volunteer opportunities, please visit the JCMGA website community service page. Contact Bunny at 858-442-6403 or Laura at 205-908-3715 or email jcmgacommunitysvc@gmail.com