Volunteering in the Regional Parks

Being grateful and counting your blessings is one way to make you feel better in tough times; another way is to do something for someone else. Volunteering your time is a great way to do something for others. The San Francisco Bay Area has many volunteer opportunities – serving food in a homeless shelter, working with at-risk youth, leading tours as a docent in a museum or gallery, or raising funds for scholarships or charity. Another option is to volunteer your skills and labor at a historical, botanical, or non-profit garden. With funding being cut at every level of government, organizations rely heavily on volunteers. You can help.

Non-native ice plant, brought in for freeway plantings, has "travelled" and
become invasive at Crown Beach in Alameda.

I spent a Saturday morning volunteering for the East Bay Regional Park, at Crown Beach in Alameda. I worked side-by-side with two high school students – one was an exemplary exchange student from Germany, another was a local student doing community service while reflecting on some poor choices. Together we faced the challenge of removing invasive, non-native ice plant from the beach. We worked out a system and removed 70 bags of plant material. At the end of four hours, I was exhausted, but I think we made the world a better place. Learn more: http://www.ebparks.org/getinvolved/volunteer.

Bags of ice plant removed from Crown Beach.