The chapter provides several types of volunteer opportunities. Committee work provides a longer term opportunity and Special or One Time Events offers variety with several different options. Volunteering for the chapter can offer many rewards. You may learn a new skill, increase your knowledge of native plants, expand the public’s knowledge of native plants and much more. Not only will you help the environment but you will also get to know other members of the chapter.
Contact our Volunteer Coordinator for more information and to volunteer for any of these committees or special events.
Current Board-Related Committees
Membership: Maintains the membership records, supports member retention, and promotes chapter growth.
Plant Sale: Responsible for coordinating the annual native plant sale.
Publicity: Serves to notify the public of meetings, activities, and projects sponsored by the Illinois Prairie Chapter.
Newsletter: Coordinates the preparation and distribution of an Illinois Prairie Chapter newsletter at least quarterly.
Programs: Plan a schedule of programs and activities (with input from the Board) for the General Membership meetings.
Volunteers: Recruit volunteers among the members for various chapter-sponsored activities.
Website: Coordination of activities necessary to maintain an up-to-date Illinois Prairie Chapter web presence; stay up to date on website activities at the National level; and perform other duties as deemed necessary by the Board.
Special or One Time Events
Booth Volunteers: Help the chapter expand the public’s knowledge about the benefits of using native plants at various events around the area such as the Master Gardener’s Home Lawn and Garden Show. Responsibilities may also include set up, take down, and delivery of the booth materials. These hours can be counted toward Master Naturalist and Master Gardener volunteer hours.
Dirt Crew Volunteers: These volunteers are a group of individuals willing to work on outdoor native plant projects as they arise. Notification of an upcoming volunteer opportunity will be sent via e-mail. Those contacted will need to notify the Volunteer Coordinator of availability. Volunteers are welcome to bring friends and family to the project site to help out. These hours can be counted toward Master Naturalist and Master Gardener volunteer hours.
Field Trip Committee: Assist with the planning of native plant-related field trips.
Forever Wild Partnership: This committee identifies potential native planting partnerships and identifies partnership project mentors to assist with the project.
Garden Center: The committee was created as a way for our chapter to work with local garden centers to encourage them to offer more native plants for sale by giving them brochures about gardening with natives, offering to give native-plant related presentations, or by sponsoring an onsite for a “Natives Day” where our chapter members would staff a display and answer potential customers’ questions about native plants. We are seeking to expand our reach to communities outside of Bloomington-Normal.
Mentor Program: Members with questions or wishing to have a house call (currently Bloomington-Normal area only), should send these to the Chapter’s email address ([email protected]). An experienced chapter member will address any questions received or arrange an on-site visit.
Note: Experienced members add your name to the mentor list by seeing a Board member or sending a message to the chapter email account.
Pollinator Pathway: The Pollinator Pathway was created as means of improving the health and abundance of both pollinators and the native plants that sustain them. By mapping native plantings in Central Illinois, we hope to both build awareness of local native plantings and recruit participants to fill in the gaps where resources for pollinators are scarce. The committee maintains the online Pathway map and is continually focusing on ways to recruit new Pathway participants. The committee meets (currently via Zoom) at least once a month.
