There are many ways you can get involved with GROW. Our organization thrives by the contribution of many. Here are a few ways you can be a part of the great work we are doing:
Volunteer with GROW
Volunteers contribute in a variety of ways.
Individual volunteers, we love to have help with school garden lessons. Positive adult mentors make a difference in the lives of the children attending our lessons. You can follow this link to find out if there are currently volunteer sign ups for lesson times.
Volunteer groups are crucial in helping with our bigger projects. In the past we have had groups of volunteers from WWTC help rebuild the hoop house, a group of employees from SAP helped build the garden at Hamilton/SOTA and again volunteered to help install the Edible Schoolyard. Kujak Orthodontics employees helped with maintenance at the State Road Garden.
If your place of work has a volunteer program you would like to connect with us about please email Bonnie at bonnie@growlacrosse.org.
Donate
As a non-profit all of our programs are funded through individual donations, grants and business sponsorships. You can help us reach our financial goals by contributing. Every dollar counts.
Intern for us
If you are interested in interning for us, please contact Bonnie at bonnie@growlacrosse.org.
Summer Garden Internship Description:
GROW La Crosse is a non-profit which connects children to healthy food and nature through school gardens and farm camps. We are looking for interns this upcoming summer 2020.
Internship Description:
Intern will be responsible for overseeing a school garden, organizing volunteers, helping with summer lessons. Currently, we have gardens at Gundersen Childcare Center, State Road Elementary, Hitgen Elementary, Emerson Elementary, La Crescent-Hokah, Coon Valley Elementary, Hamilton/SOTA 1 Elementary schools. During the summer, we ensure the gardens are being maintained through family volunteers from the school. Interns check on the gardens, check-in on the volunteers, help coordinate the volunteers and help troubleshoot when needed. We also help instruct lessons to summer school classes and Hamilton students (Hamilton is a year-round school). Interns help to plan and instruct a few lessons with help from the supervisor. Interns also have the opportunity to help with Farm Camps which take place at Deep Roots Community Farm, about 12 miles from La Crosse.
Requirements:
6 hours a week from June 1- August 31st
Must feel comfortable leading a group of elementary students
Must have desire to learn more about nutrition education, especially Garden to Cafeteria
Must work well with others
Has transportation (car or bike)
A typical week could look like:
30 mins- Meeting with supervisor
2 hrs- Helping at garden
2 hours - Teaching nutrition lessons
30 mins- Garden to Cafeteria help (picking tomatoes/lettuce)
15 mins- Communications with supervisor and/or teachers
30 mins- Researching seed saving techniques for next lesson
Please check out Grow La Crosse's website to see if this organization aligns with your interests.
Summer and Fall Marketing Internship Description:
Tasks include:
- Create photo journalism blogs each week for GROW La Crosse
- Create professional social media posts
- To capture images, intern will attend some Grow programs and events
- Help maintain gardens and hoop house
- Highlight and review events
- Connect with community media
- Facilitate vegetables getting from the hoop house to cafeteria (State Road) to summer school when needed
- Help increase the number of blog subscribers
- Assist in the marketing of events
- Help with other tasks as needed
If you are interested and have the time and positive energy to put towards this internship, please send me your resume (or a list of experiences you've had that relate to this experience), a short paragraph about why this is a good fit for you and times throughout the week that you have available to bonnie@growlacrosse.org. Feel free to ask any questions. This is an unpaid position, but a lot of experiences are gained. Also, you may want to check with your university for credit and grant funding opportunities for the internship.
