YPG September Volunteer Programs
The LA APA Young Planners Group is now providing opportunities for our members to donate their time to worthy causes! Please join us in participating in one of three beach cleanups for Heal the Bay, a nonprofit, environmental organization dedicated to keeping Southern California’s coastal waters clean and safe. This will be a fun way to get outside and get some sun, meet other new planning professionals, and donate your time to a worthy cause!
Please contact Jennifer Arizala at Jennifer@moore-associates.net for information on how to participate for any of the following three cleanups at Santa Monica Beach, Tower 1550:
9/25/2010 at 9-11 am
10/23/2010 at 9-11 am
YPG August Volunteer Programs
The LA APA Young Planners Group is now providing opportunities for our members to donate their time to worthy causes! Please join us in participating in one of three beach cleanups for Heal the Bay, a non-profit, environmental organization dedicated to keeping Southern California’s coastal waters clean and safe. This will be a fun way to get outside and get some sun, meet other new planning professionals, anddonate your time to a worthy cause! Please contact Jennifer Arizala at Jennifer@moore-associates.net for information on how to participate for any of the following three cleanups at Santa Monica Beach, Tower 1550:
8/21/2010 at 9-11 am
9/25/2010 at 9-11 am
10/23/2010 at 9-11 am
At our last YPG meeting interest was shown in participating in local beach clean ups. Well, we’ve found “Heal the Bay” (http://www.healthebay.org/volunteer/default.asp) a non-profit organization which does just that. We have several options in volunteering with them, however, the one I think would be a great opportunity for the organization is the “Adopt-a-beach.” To adopt-a-beach, we must commit to three beach clean ups throughout the year.
We’ve signed the YPG up for the Adopt-a-beach program through Heal the Bay. The beach section we’ve adopted is Santa Monica Beach @ Tower 27.
With the Adopt-a-beach program we are required to conduct three beach cleanups throughout the year.
Tentative dates:
August 21 (9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.)
September 25 (9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.)
October 23 (9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.)
If you sign up, please arrive at least a half an hour before the event because we might have a speaker from the organization come out to meet us. In the mean time, please click on the link below to fill out the waiver form to participate in any of the events www.healthebay.org/waivers
Once you’ve reached the waivers page, look under the “Beach, Creek, and River Cleanups” section and click on the PDF file named “Cleanup waiver.” Once filled out, you can either scan the signed form and send it to jarizala@gmail.com or send it directly to the organization (see below for contact info).
Attn: Beach programs
Heal the Bay
1444 9th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Fax: 310-496-1902
Tree Care Event
Volunteers from our group would be the perfect workforce for a Tree Care Event in one of our planting sites in an LA City Park where we have planted trees in the recent past. We do need your group's help AND we are sure this will provide a wonderful team building experience. TreePeople can create a tree care event especially for your group in a relatively short amount of time.
A word on Tree Care - Tree Care is as important as planting trees. These tree care events provide the TLC a newly planted tree needs, which allows them to thrive and provide the benefits of healthy trees (trees cool the streets, clean the air, provide oxygen, capture water, prevent water pollution and combat the greenhouse effect AND actually help lessen the impact of wildfires). It is not enough to plant new trees and say “adios” and good luck.
It is critical to our city that we create a functioning urban forest and healthy trees are major component.
- Your event would consist of invasive species removal around the trees, reconstruction of berms, removal of stakes and/or restaking, deep watering (which is critical in the first five years of a new tree’s life), and possible pruning. - Even though some argue that California is the perfect place to grow almost any plant, some tree species have serious issues with drought, invasive species, and human interference. Your work will help combat these problems
Who will benefit from this tree care event - Greater Los Angeles residents and Los Angeles City Rec and Parks.
- LA City Rec and Parks does an amazing job considering how many areas they steward (The City of Los Angeles has 15710 acres of parkland, an urban forest of one million trees, including the 4217 acres of Griffith Park, the largest municipal park in the United States), but they do not have the resources to pay careful attention to tree care. In addition, the city is going through serious budgetary problems, forcing Rec and Parks to make some serious cutbacks which will have a big impact on future park maintenance throughout the city.
- Thousands of residents visit LA City parks every year. Park tree care is a big part of the work TreePeople does to restore the life-giving benefits of the forest to our city. Plus, it makes the parks more beautiful, enticing more Angelenos to experience the positive effects of spending time in nature!If tree care sounds like something your group would enjoy, Ryan Allen, our Tree Care Manager, can begin working on the securing date and a park site for your group.
TreePeople / Coldwater Park Work Day
TreePeople / Coldwater Canyon Park in the Hollywood Hills is a beautiful 45 acre area that thousands of elementary aged school children visit every year to attend Eco-Tours, TreePeople's unique environmental educational program. We need ongoing help to keep the park looking great by maintaining the trails, invasive plant removal, rock replacement, slope regrading, erosion protection, wall restoration (the walls were built in 1930's) and seedling cage/nursery work. The work day will take the following shape:
8:45 - 9:00am – Volunteers arrive. They will be welcomed to the amphitheatre
9:15-9:30 – Greetings, safety and overall orientation. (TP with VIP’s optional)9:30 - Split out volunteers for work day tasks (mulching, berm rebuilding & watering, invasive plant removal, possible nursery work).
9:30-11:35 – AM work period.
11:35 – Clean-up and final return to amphitheatre.
NOON-12:35PM – Lunch (optional, volunteer brown bag or provided by group) – back at amphitheatre.
12:35 – Hike & tour. (Hike back to hill top and tour of TreePeople Conference Center, Watershed Garden and Nursery)
Approx. 1:00 – Volunteer Departure. If lunch is not desired, the 25 minute tour will begin at 12:00 noon and volunteer departure time will be 12:30PM. The tour is a great way for folks to learn simple tricks they can employ at home to preserve our all important watershed / environment.
If a Park Work Day sounds like something your group would enjoy, Julie Prejean, our Senior Manager of Forestry, can begin working on the securing date for your group.
Helping Nature Heal our Cities!
Planning a Tree Planting
Our group is welcome to plan a planting by participating in our free Citizen Forester program. Citizen Forester Program - here’s how you can plan a tree planting with your group: TreePeople educates and trains Citizen Foresters & Green Teams (the members of your group planning the planting) in every aspect of planning a community tree planting, from securing the trees to working through the logistics of the planting event to the care of these newly planted trees for at least 5 years. Once trained, the Citizen Forester and their Green Team (your group) begin to plan their planting and TreePeople supports them by providing expertise, encouragement and (on the day of the planting) all the tools and shovels necessary to get the trees into the ground.Below are some of the points and next steps that may help you decide to work with TreePeople on a planting event.
• This is a 4 to 6 month long process with the bulk of the work for the group, family and friends being in the month leading up to the planting date.
• At least one member from your group is required to attend a free Citizen Forester Training (the next one is July 10th, 2010) at our free Community Greening Workshop hosted by TreePeople before the planting. They occur every two months. He/she will, in essence, be the “event planner” and this training will give him/her crucial information and all the tools to make his event a huge success. TreePeople will serve as a support for the planting, but the Citizen Forester will be in charge.
• Once the Citizen Forester is trained, a date and location can be determined. TreePeople’s planting season is mid October to early May. TreePeople does not plant during the summer months.
• Corporate Forester Tree plantings take place in city parks as a part of Mayor Villaraigosa's Million Trees Initiative and therefore require no permits.
• TreePeople works in partnership with Los Angeles City Rec and Parks to determine a park that can accommodate 25 – 30 new trees. Rec and Parks determines the amount and species of the trees to be planted. Park sites because the canopy is in jeopardy within the next 10 – 15 years due to the tree’s lifespan or disease. While planting natives is sometimes desirable, Rec and Parks must factor the historical significance of the park site and/or park design when determining species. TreePeople will provide tools, mulch, trees and support staff for the planting. The Citizen Forester will recruit volunteers and secure donations to provide food, water, and minor materials for the event.
• The Citizen Forester is required to create a Tree Care plan for the trees you will be planting that will insure the trees will thrive for at least one year.
• It is required that a few group members are recruited as “The Green Team” to attend the free Planting Supervisor Training / Tree Care Supervisor Training. These trainings are offered at the same time as the Citizen Forester Training and will ensure there is enough supervision on the day of the planting. I would suggest one member of your group take Corporate/Citizen Forester Training, 3-5 members take Planting Supervisor Training, and 2-3 members take Tree Care Supervisor Training.
If Planning a Planting sounds like something your group would enjoy, Julie Prejean, our Senior Manager of Forestry, can begin working with you on the process of forming your Green Team.
Thanks to Jennifer Arizala for providing all the info on volunteering activities.
If you have any suggestions for involving our group in other activities please contact Roopa Dandamudi at Roopa_Dandamudi@URSCorp.com.
Please stay tuned and thanks so much for your interest!
Enter your email address:
Delivered by FeedBurner
Volunteering Opportunities:
Adopt-a-beach Program
