HELP US GROW TEAM

The work of the Help Us Grow Team is critically important as the funding and resources that the team generates allow us to do our important work to benefit the community and the environment. For 10 years, the local community has turned to BurlingtonGreen to provide information and solution-focused opportunities to help residents lower the environmental footprint and make a positive difference.  As the global community turns its attention to the growing challenges resulting from climate change, now is the time to grow our impact by reaching more people and strengthening long term behavioural change.

Experience/requirements: If you are 18 years of age or older with fundraising, networking, or sales experience, we would love to learn more about you and how you can help us reach our goals. 


Volunteer Activities include: The Help us Grow Team plans, coordinates, and delivers fundraising campaigns and membership drives,  while creating and fostering donor and partnership relationships.


Approximate time commitment: 10 hours per month participating at team meetings (once a month), working from home conducting research/on-line communications as well as occasional community outreach to support fundraising campaigns .

You can learn more about our Funders/Supporters to date here.

EVENTS & COMMUNITY OUTREACH TEAM

The Events and Community Outreach Team is the driving force to help plan, organize and host a variety of inspiring, educational, eco-focused BurlingtonGreen events that engage and empower the community. After 10 years of successful programing and outreach, we need your help to grow our impact and reach even more members of our community to make long term environmental change.

Our current event line-up includes the following:

• Eco-film festival (5 events scheduled throughout the year)
• Youth Environmental Summit & evening Eco-Celebration (held every few years)
• Annual General Meeting (AGM held in March)
• Community Clean up Green Up  (annual week long city-wide litter clean up plus a tree planting event held on or around Earth Day each year)
• Volunteer Information events ( a few times a year)

*Our volunteer ambassadors also help host the BG outreach information booth at various Halton events throughout the year.

Experience/requirements:  If you are 18 years of age or older with  top notch customer service and organizational skills, who enjoys working on a team, then this might be the perfect 'fit' for you! Event planning experience is a definite asset for this volunteer opportunity.

Volunteer Activities include: Team members help with logistics, promotion, sponsorship, set up & execution of the event as well as post event evaluation.

Approximate time commitment: As a member of the Events Team, you can choose to participate in one or more aspects of as many events as your schedule allows. Those serving on our 'core' events planning team can generally expect to contribute a minimum of 8 hours a month, with some added time required closer to event date(s).

You can learn more about our popular Events here.

ECO-ACTION TEAM

These energetic, hands-on team members enjoy working outdoors, making new friends and getting their hands dirty! Some members participate in just one activity or project during the year and others dig in and do them all.  Lots of flexibility here while contributing to initiatives with immediate benefits to the environment. Team members actively participate in event waste sorting, habitat restoration activities, and in our Grow to Give gardening program.

Over the next three years we will be scaling up all these initiatives to have even more people take deliberate action to benefit the environment. We can’t do it without more team members and we hope you will consider getting involved today!

Learn more about the various activities that this team participates in here:

Event Greening: Sort waste at community events to divert compost and recyclable materials from the general garbage.
It doesn’t get more hands-on than this but the events are kept light and fun with real team spirit as we focus on getting the job done - and you can immediately see the difference you are making for our landfills, diverting as much as 90% or more waste for recycling and compost!

We provide a waste diversion service to roughly 5 public events in the city each year including the Canada Day Festival at Spencer Smith Park.

Experience/requirements: Age 15+. No experience required.  Training is provided as well as refreshments, work gloves and a BG t-shirt to wear. Work is generally outdoors and volunteers can expect to get dirty!

Volunteer Activities include: gathering of waste bins at event, hand-sorting waste for separation into appropriate organics, recyclables, or waste streams.

Approximate time commitment: Volunteers are needed for various shifts generally from 3 to 6 hours (up to 8 hours depending on availability) and can participate in one or more events during the year.

More details about our Event Greening service are available here.



Habitat Restoration: In addition to hosting an annual “Green Up” ( tree planting) event each year in partnership with the City of Burlington, we also support community partners such as the Royal Botanical Gardens with various habitat restoration projects.  Residents from the community are invited to participate in these hands-on rewarding activities of removing invasive plant.

Experience/requirements: Age 16+. No experience required.  Volunteers should be physically able to use a shovel or crouch down and use a garden trowel. Training and instruction is provided as well as refreshments, work gloves and a BG t-shirt to wear. Work is outdoors and volunteers can expect to get dirty!

Volunteer Activities include: working with and directing community volunteers with litter collection, invasive plant removal and plant, shrub and tree planting projects in Burlington.

Approximate time commitment:  this will vary but generally 2 - 4 hours are required to carry out the habitat restoration activities for each project.

More details about our Green Up project and habitat restoration actvities can be found here.


“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” –W. Buffett


Community Gardeners: 

BurlingtonGreen's impactful Grow To Give food donation program is all about the positivity of community action and giving. Here, our Eco-Action team volunteers come together to plant, grow, harvest and donate fresh, healthy, organic produce  to local food banks. Our Grow to Give garden is located at Central Park (behind Central Library on New Street).

Experience/requirements: Age 16+. No experience required.  Volunteers should be physically able to use a shovel or crouch down and use a garden trowel. Training and instruction is provided.  Work is outdoors and volunteers can expect to get dirty!

Volunteer Activities include: planting vegetables in early spring at the community garden and maintaining, ( watering and weeding) and harvesting the produce through the growing season to early November to then help close up the garden for the winter months.

Approximate time commitment:  Varies depending on the number of volunteers supporting the program at a given time.  An estimated 3 hours per week during gardening season with a heavier concentration of hours during peak activity periods such as planting, summertime watering and at harvest times. 

More details about our Grow to Give program can be found here.

Community Clean Up Green Up:  BurlingtonGreen hosts a dual component clean up green up event every April in partnership with the City of Burlington. Schools and businesses generally participate in the city wide Community Clean Up  during the week leading up to Earth Day with neighbourhood groups, community organizations and families including CHILDREN, participating throughout the city on the Saturday closest to Earth Day ( April 22^nd) . We also host a very popular Green Up (tree planting) event on the same day, where volunteers sign up to plant native trees in a selected location in the community.Our Eco-Action Team volunteers serve as community champions helping to spread the word on this great opportunity while encouraging clean-up activities within their own neighbourhoods, workplaces etc.  


DIY Clean Up Green Ups: Of course we love it when anyone and everyone does their part to clean up litter from where they live, work and play or green up an identified location by removing invasive plant species and planting native plants, shrubs and trees helping to improve local biodiversity. Our Plan a Clean up Green up web page offers some handy step-by-steps tips!

ADVOCACY TEAM

As a volunteer with the Advocacy Team you will help effect policy and political change.  For 10 years, all sectors of the community have looked to BurlingtonGreen to address their questions about the environment and advocate for a greener and more sustainable city.  The Advocacy Team is a key part of this work and crucial to address our future goals of responding to climate change, empowering our community, and growing our impact. Team members help identify, research, and develop BurlingtonGreen positions on local environmental issues and on provincial, national, and global policy with local implications.

Advocacy Team members may also do outreach activities to inform the public and solicit input and feedback.

Experience/requirements: Age 16+. This role needs passionate, yet balanced and positive, informed individuals who want to be involved in changing local regulatory policies, procedures, bylaws, and approaches to planning and development. Experience gathering research and effective written and verbal skills are assets for volunteers serving on this team.

Volunteer Activities include: working independently conducting research, preparing position papers and campaign materials for various environmental issues. Also working collaboratively with the team to develop and advance strategies to support issues and campaigns.

Approximate time commitment:  Varies depending on the number of volunteers supporting the program at a given time. Generally, research, regular meetings (minimum one in-person team meeting every month), and position development requires approximately 8-10 hours of contribution per month.

More details about BG Advocacy is available here and some of our Greenprint  for the Future issue campaigns are here.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board of Directors: As a Director serving on our 'working' Board, you will be an ambassador of the organization collaborating with 9 to 12 other Directors to effectively advance the vision and goals of our organization.  As a governing body, Directors develop and apply strategy, solution-focused decision making with financial and governance oversight to ensure our organization continues to operate and grow effectively, always with integrity and professionalism.

The Board meets monthly and each Director is required to serve on one of the 3 Standing Committees: Nominations & Governance, Fundraising, Finance & Audit. Required time commitment is 10 to 15 hours per month (sometimes more).

Previous Board experience with a not-for-profit organization is preferred but not a pre-requisite.

KID'S GO GREEN LEADERS

Kid's Go Green Leader:
Do you enjoy and have experience working with children? Perhaps you are a substitute teacher looking to gain valuable experience leading engaging programming? We are looking for a few reliable, enthusiastic volunteers, preferably with some teaching experience, to lead our fun and educational Kid's Go Green workshops. The workshops are provided to school and community group children, ages 4 to 12 (grades JK to 6).  Training is provided as are travel expenses to and from the workshops (Burlington schools and community centres).

Our effectiveness as the go-to environmental organization in Burlington is derived from our community-based approach.  Key to this and to achieving our goals going forward is increased community awareness. Kids Go Green is a great place to start!

Experience/requirements: must have driver's license and vehicle to transport supplies to and from Burlington workshop locations. Verification of police background/vulnerable sector screening is required as well. A passion for engaging children, highly organized, punctual and reliable. Asset: teaching certificate/working with children.

Volunteer Activities include: preparation of program materials, lead informative and fun workshops, post workshop clean up, program evaluation with group leaders/teachers.

Approximate time commitment: 2.5 to 3 hours per workshop including travel time within Burlington. An estimated 1 to 2 workshops booked per month, fewer during summer months.

You can learn more about the popular and impactful Kids Go Green Program here.

YOUTH NETWORK

BGYN (BurlingtonGreen Youth Network):

Youth mentoring and networking with other youth has proven to be a very successful model for our Provincially recognized Youth Network.  If you are passionate about helping the environment and currently attend a Burlington high-school or are a recent graduate, volunteering to participate in the Youth Eco Network provides a multitude of benefits...plus you can earn your high school volunteer hour requiremEnts at the same time! Learn about the environment, local issues and how you can take action by speaking up for the rights for the environment. We also have lots of 'take action' opportunities ( i.e. habitat restoration, waste sorting at events, community gardening) for you to participate in!

You can learn more about the innovative Youth Network Program here.

COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS NETWORK

Are you passionate about lasting change for our environment? Are you interested in leading others in your community to do the same?

Consider joining our new initiative of Community Champions, dedicated individuals who will work to encourage and build eco-networks in their own communities.  By empowering your own neighbourhood or community to raise awareness, advocate, and take action to grow a healthier and more sustainable city, we can further the reach and impact of BurlingtonGreen’s successful model.

Please contact BG team member Chantelle to learn how you can get involved today!