Make Your Mark as a PARC Rain Garden Watering Volunteer (July 1 – Sept 15)

Watering Work shift is 4 hours / week for 4 weeks (minimum)

You can be part of the creation of a world class native plant and rain garden demonstration site by serving as a watering volunteer! Interested? Contact Matthew Bertrand by email (mbertrand@therouge.org) or by phone (734-224-8657).

SUMMARY

Friends of the Rouge (FOTR) just completed planting over 5,000 native plants at PARC (Plymouth Arts and Recreation Complex) across 23 rain gardens that total over 10,000 square feet. These rain gardens help solve flooding problems by soaking up over 3 million gallons of water per year. The gardens also filter pollution and create habitat for birds, bees, and butterflies. The 23 rain gardens together will serve as a learning laboratory for people to learn about rain gardens, with a signed walking tour. Now with so many gardens planted, FOTR invites community members like yourself to join the effort by serving as watering volunteers.

DETAILS

• Duration: 4 hours of service per week for at least 4 weeks of the summer.
• Watering will occur from July through September. Plants will be watered primarily via lawn sprinklers. FOTR staff will assist volunteers in setting up and storing hoses.
• Volunteers will then move hoses around the site once per hour, with significant down time available between hose movements to catch up on the news, a favorite book, or explore a potential new hobby by walking PARC’s halls to meet artists of all stripes, from glassblowers to a garage band studio.
• This opportunity is perfect for someone who wants to be part of the effort to grow more native plant gardens and rain gardens here in southeast Michigan. Interested volunteers will receive training on their first day, and ongoing support thereafter.
• Plants must be watered throughout 2021, and then never again! Once established, these plants will survive on rainfall alone, and will help soak up millions of gallons of water every year.

Interested? Contact Matthew Bertrand at mbertrand@therouge.org OR by calling 734-224-8657.