Volunteer with us!
Trees don't like being planted during Oregon's dry summers - but we still need your help! Here you will find both a list of current volunteer opportunities and a complete list of opportunities that are available at one time or another throughout the year. Please contact Cara Coffee, our Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator, at carac@friendsoftrees.org, or 503-282-8846, ext. 12 if you would like to volunteer. Thank you for your interest!
Current Volunteer Opportunities
Community Outreach
This involves manning a table at an event and chatting with people about Friends of Trees opportunities. We provide you with literature, banners, and Friends of Trees tattoos! This is an important method of spreading our message. Call Cara for dates and times. 3-4 hours
Office Assistance
We often need help with tasks in the office from filing to entering information in our database to sorting t-shirts to making a few phone calls. 2-3 hours
Wear Tree Costume and Wave
Put on our wonderful tree costume, attend events / parades or stand on a corner and wave to people bicycling, walking or driving by. This raises awareness of Friends of Trees and is a fun way to meet people. 2 hours
Natural Area Summer Tree Care
Friends of Trees organizes volunteer work parties to weed, mulch and water newly planted native trees and plants at urban natural areas. Our restoration efforts would not be successful without this valuable contribution. If you have a group of six or more people who would like to help for a morning or afternoon this summer, please contact Cara Coffee. 3 hours
Flag Tying for NAR
Help us tie flagging tape to the bamboo stakes that we use to mark where native plants are to be placed. This includes tying the colored tape on the stake and gluing it in place with a hot glue gun. 2 hours
Marking Tools with Paint
Volunteers mark our tools with different colors of paint so we can keep our tools organized at planting events. This is a great hands-on project. 3 hours
Cleaning Vehicles
Help staff members vacuum and wash our trucks. 2 hours
Complete List of Opportunities
Note: some of these opportunities are only available seasonally. Please check 'Current Volunteer Opportunities' above to see what is currently available.
Interns
Interns are integral to our organization. They help with a variety of tasks in the field and/or in the office. They commit to a regular schedule, 5 to 25 hours a week for three months to a year. For information about current internships, contact the Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator.
Current projects for interns include the following:
Post yard tree signs in neighborhoods.
Distribute flyers to local campuses for volunteer recruitment.
Develop new educational materials for school groups.
Wear tree costume at community events.
Enter tree route information in database.
Photograph at plantings.
Register volunteers at plantings.
Translate Friends of Trees information into Spanish, Mandarin or Russian.
Monitor natural area plantings during August and September.
Weed, prune, and clean at Friends of Trees.
Wash coffee mugs for planting events during planting season.
Tree-Planting Volunteer
Help plant trees in neighborhoods and natural areas. No experience or pre-registration is necessary. All tools and training will be provided. Events are usually 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays (occasionally Sundays) between November and April. See our planting schedule for more information. We'll see you there! Groups are encouraged to pre-register by contacting the Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator.
Natural Area Restoration Crew Leader
Natural Area Crew Leaders teach and lead others in properly planting native trees and seedlings at urban natural area restoration projects. Crew leaders commit to attending a six-hour training session in November (see Training Schedule for more info) and to crew leading at four plantings between November and March. Events are usually on Saturday mornings, sometimes on Sunday.
Natural Area Restoration Maintenance Volunteer
Natural Area Maintenance Volunteers help with summer maintenance - invasive plant removal and tree care. No experience is necessary. All tools and training will be provided. See our Natural Area Care schedule for more information. Groups are encouraged to pre-register by contacting the Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator.
Site Steward
Site Stewards adopt natural area sites and organize plantings and maintenance events.
Neighborhood Coordinator
Neighborhood Coordinators are committed neighborhood residents who work with Friends of Trees staff to organize a street tree-planting project in their community. Neighborhood Coordinators receive training and technical assistance. These volunteers agree to contact property owners in their neighborhood who don't have trees. They also process tree orders and organize the planting day. A Neighborhood Coordinator Training is held each spring. See Training Schedule for more info.
Neighborhood Trees Crew Leader
Neighborhood Trees Crew Leaders teach and lead others in properly planting street and yard trees at neighborhood planting events. Crew leaders commit to attending a six-hour training session in November (see Training Schedule for more info) and to crew leading at four planting days between November and April. Events are usually 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
Truck Driver
Truck drivers offer to drive their own trucks at planting events or to drive large rented moving trucks to transport trees.
Summer Inspectors
Summer inspectors are trained to monitor recently planted street trees during the summer. The volunteers are assigned neighborhood routes to check on the health of street trees and to remind property owners about caring for their trees properly. The Summer Inspectors training is usually in the spring. See Training Schedule for more info.
Office Assistant
Office Assistants help out at Friends of Trees with projects such as mailings, data entry, filing and other prep work.
Fundraiser
Fundraisers assist with fundraising projects and activities and membership drives.
Special Event Volunteer
Special Event Volunteers help with preparation and day-of and follow-up tasks for events.
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