DO YOU LOVE OUR NORTHERN NECK PLANTS, PLACES & PEOPLE?
WANT TO HELP CREATE A PLACE THAT CELEBRATES AND HELPS SUSTAIN ALL 3?
THEN PLEASE JOIN US AS WE GROW RIVER ROOTS DISCOVERY GARDENS INTO SOMEPLACE SPECIAL!
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Do you get your energy from being around other people?
Do you enjoy seeding stimulating conversations?
Or perhaps you thrive on planning and sharing gracious hospitality?
Work with River Roots Discovery Gardens founders and other volunteers to organize a series of ‘Community Confabs’ or ‘kitchen table talks’—small, regularly scheduled, informal meetings at local venues to engage the community in our garden creation.
DESCRIPTION
The best public spaces reflect the desires and dreams of the communities who will use them. To ensure that River Roots Discovery Gardens will be gardens of and for the Northern Neck, we need help planning, organizing, and running informal sessions where people can connect with each other, with River Roots’ mission, and share ideas of how they’d like to see the gardens evolve.
Join us to fill one or more of the roles below:
- Help plan the series--may include scheduling, locations, volunteers, materials, hospitality, participation incentives
- Identify communication channels to reach interested community members.
- Solicit in-kind and/or partnership support from local venues to host table talks.Write copy to publicize events; distribute through identified channels to reach targeted groups.
- Help run the series—may include coordination with host locations; set up/take down; welcome/check-in desk; conversation facilitation; creative design games; record conversations.
- Organize and maintain attendance records with contact details to build stakeholder database.
- Transcribe talk output; identify and organize by emerging themes.
TIMING/DURATION
Minimum 4-8 hours/month (depending on role) for 6 months
QUALIFICATIONS
- Enthusiasm for River Roots Discovery Gardens mission
- Interpersonal skills
- Ability to work with teams
- Organizational skills (for roles planning, running, and organizing attendance and output data)
- Marketing communication skills (for publicity roles)
LOCATIONS
- Some at garden site*.
- Other sites to be determined but may include Lancaster Public Library (Kilmarnock), coffee shops, gathering spaces in Irvington/Kilmarnock/White Stone area.
TRAINING/SUPPORT
- Introduction to Community Confab series concept and goals provided.
- Access to the garden development team by email and phone for questions and concerns.
- Work with other Community Confab volunteers.
BENEFITS
- Help shape a brand-new public space.
- Enjoy informal, fun conversations about possibilities.
- Collaborate with other volunteers to create welcoming events.
* NOTE ABOUT GARDEN SITE
The site to be developed as River Roots Discovery Gardens is in Lancaster County, VA, on 14 acres of land behind the under-construction Lancaster County Middle/High School on Irvington Road.
All are welcome to visit the site which is access via Old St John's Road, the northernmost entrance road to the Hills Quarter Community. Turn onto Old St John's Road. The site is on the left just beyond the pond behind the high school. Park across Old St John's Road in the gravel parking lot by the small yellow building.
