Volunteer with us!
Friends of Trees welcomes volunteers all year, in all parts of our work, from planning to planting. Find a role that suits you best. We look forward to working with you!
Become a Summer Inspector
Become a Summer Inspector
We're welcoming spring at Friends of Trees by looking forward to the summer!
With the hard work of thousands of volunteers, we'll plant over 4,000 street and yard trees in Portland and Vancouver this planting season. And we will visit every one of them twice this summer to make sure they're being properly cared for during the critical first summer in their new homes. You can help us with this huge task!
Summer Inspectors are always one of our most popular volunteers roles - and with good reason. After attending one of our Saturday morning trainings, you set your own schedule to visit about 30 newly-planted trees twice throughout the summer -- once by the end of June and once by the end of August. You can bike, walk, skate and dance your way through your route, in the sunshine, whenever it works best for you.
**UPDATE as of May 14th: both trainings are now FULL. If you'd like to be placed on the waiting list, please email us at Volunteer@FriendsofTrees.org. Thank you!**
Current Volunteer Opportunities
We're at the end of our planting season and we are wrapping up most of our volunteer opportunities for the next few months. Please take a look at the list below to see what opportunities we do have and when they are available. Please let us know if any of these interest you.
SATURDAYS: Planting event roles
- *Tree planters help plant trees at weekend events between November and April. We welcome people of all ages and abilities. No previous experience is necessary. We provide gloves, tools and guidance…just dress appropriately for the weather and wear sturdy shoes. Saturday mornings, 9:00am-1:00pm.
- *Truck drivers are invaluable members of the planting day crew. We always need people with pick-up trucks (without canopies) who are willing to drive their trucks to deliver trees and tools with each planting crew. Saturday mornings, 9:00am-1:00pm
- Staging site volunteers help unload planting day materials and prep the parking lot for tools/trees for each crew. Saturday mornings, 7:00am-9:00am.
- *Registration volunteers help register other volunteers at the staging site prior to the planting event. Saturday mornings, 8:00am-9:30am
- *Food volunteers provide lunch items for our potluck meals following each neighborhood planting event. People typically provide a crock pot of soup or chili, cookies/dessert items, breads/cheese or other nutritious comfort food. Drop off food between 9:30 – 11:00am at staging site on Saturdays.
Mid-week volunteer roles
- Mondays: entering volunteer information into our database
- Wednesdays: planting trees with staff members in the morning, making phone calls to customers in the evening
- Fridays: helping prep for planting events with a multitude of various tasks
*denotes our greatest needs!
For more information about our key volunteer leadership roles that require training, please click HERE.
Friends of Trees in Eugene/Springfield
In September 2011, the Eugene Tree Foundation joined forces with Friends of Trees to become our Friends of Trees Eugene office!
Friends of Trees Eugene organized dozens of tree planting work parties this planting season. If you'd like to volunteer, please email Erik Burke or call him at 541-632-3683 to learn more.
CONTACT US! For more information about any of our volunteer opportunities, please email Andy Meeks or Jenny Bedell-Stiles in the Volunteer & Outreach Program. You can also reach us at 503-595-0213. We're here to help make your volunteer experience a good one.
