Volunteer

crested iris, KAsher

Choose to help occasionally or regularly, as your schedule permits. A great opportunity to learn, make new friends, and share your time and talents with others who are interested in promoting the preservation and protection of our native plants and their habitats. 


We appeciate our volunteers!

Volunteer Awards

Volunteer of the Year is given to a Rhode Island Wild Plant Society member who has unfailingly dedicated their efforts toward the betterment of the Society as a whole.

Lifetime Service Award is given to a Rhode Island Wild Plant Society member who has unfailingly dedicated their efforts toward the betterment of the Society as a whole for a minimum of 10 years

Immediate call for

♦ Individuals interested in leading family/children’s walks or programs.  Contact Susan Marcus 

♦ Content Writers for WildFloraRI or our blog. Contact office@riwps.org

OUR ONGOING COMMITTEES WELCOME YOUR HELP!
Contact individuals listed or office@RIWPS.org.

Committees

WALKS & WORKSHOPS COMMITTEE
Interested in shaping our educational programs? Join this committee. They arrange walks, programs and workshops to appreciate, protect and study native plants and their habitats. Committee members serve as hosts at each event. The committee typically meets a couple of time in late fall or early winter to plan for the coming year and then communicates on an ongoing basis over details about programs. Contact Susan Marcus.

PLANT SALE COMMITTEE
Our plant sales educate the public on the value and importance of planting native plants in the home landscape and are a major source of our revenue. Each plant sale is a tremendous undertaking. Help is always always need to help with digging, seeding and transplanting plants, then marketing as well as selling native plants on the days of the sale. Contact Sue Theriault.

COMMUNICATIONS AND PROMOTION
Our communications includes our website, Facebook page, pamphlets, fact sheets, brochures, press releases, monthly eNEWS  to members and friends, and our print publication, WildfloraRI. There are opportunities to help with all aspects of this work; managing and coordinating the outrearch, finding and creating the content (text, images),  editing, layout, etc. Contact Mary O’Connor

Projects

RESEEDING RHODE ISLAND INITIATIVE
This new multi- year initiative aims to Increase substantially the availability of seeds, and plants grown from locally sourced Rhode Island native wild plant seeds. Seeds and plants that are locally sourced from wild native populations are the gold standard for ecological restoration and gardening projects as they are genetically suited to thrive in local growing conditions and to contribute to the  viability of the local ecosystem, maximizing the symbiotic relationships that allow both these plants and the insects, birds and other wildlife that depend on them to survive.

The initiative is working to increase the supply of these seeds and plant.  Steps include, collecting seeds from these wild native plant populations in an ethical and sustainable manner, cleaning and winter sowing them, growing them to plugs and working with partner organizations who will plant and cultivate these plugs in “foundation plots”.  Seeds from this first generation of plants will then be harvested annually, to become the basis for future generations of plants.  We anticipate ample and varied opportunities for volunteers at each stage of the project as it gets fully underway.  Contact office@riwps.org to express your interest in helping us with this exciting adventure.

SEED STARTERS EAST AND WEST
The Seed Starter groups propagate and cultivate plants and their efforts supply our plant sales. The work is varied. They propagate from seeds, cuttings and divisions, grow plants from plugs and roots, nurture donated plants, shrubs and wintered-over plants. No experience required! You’ll learn a lot. Come share your enthusiasm, skills and enjoy the company.

Seed Starters East is in the process of moving to a new location in Portsmouth, to be ready Spring of 2024.  Currently work is being done in Bristol. Hours vary based on need.  The group will meet weekly in the Spring and Summer and much more often before  all the plant sales.    Contact Sue Theriualt 

Seed Starters West meets in Exeter. Winter activities are usually scheduled on Tuesdays as needed.  Starting in early March the group tends to meet Tuesdays and Saturdays and more often before all the plant sales.  Volunteers to water plants once or twice a week are most appreciated.  Contact Gayle Anderson.

BEECHWOOD PROJECT
Under a joint collaboration with URI Master Gardeners, in 2011 RIWPS began a joint annual lecture series at the Beechwood Center in North Kingstown. A few years later a garden was started. The garden includes over 400 native plants, trees and shrubs and includes a stockbed.  Join a team of pros and native plant enthusiasts to maintain this garden and help plan new ones. Contact Paula Morrison or Kevin Alverson

KETTLE POND NATIVE PLANT DEMONSTRATION GARDEN
Come learn about our native plants and teach others. RIWPS works cooperatively with this demonstration garden at the Kettle Pond Visitors Center in Charlestown. The garden is joint effort of the US Fish and Wildlife and URI Master Gardeners. Plantings came from the locally sourced and grown Rhode Island native plants. The group meets Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons, early Spring to Late Fall and other times as needed. Each year seeds are harvested and then cultivated to be used primarily on restoration projects on the National Wildlife Refuges in Rhode Island. Contact David Vissoe