Below are some ways you can get involved in enhancing sustainability, resilience, and carbon neutrality in our community. Check back often as new opportunities continually emerge.
10,000 Trees Initiative
We are currently recruiting volunteers to help run our FreeTree Giveaway events and/or plant trees at our Community Tree Planting events. If you are interested in volunteering, please email Sean Reynolds at [email protected].org and indicate which events you are interested in helping with. Please keep in mind that the Community Tree Planting events are labor-intensive and will require digging and heavy lifting. Learn more about the 10,000 Trees Initiative here.
Bandemer Park Workdays
OSI has adopted Bandemer Park and holds a monthly workday there with GIVE365 (on the third Tuesday of each month, except December-February). If you are interested in volunteering to help maintain Bandemer Park with OSI (by picking up trash, removing invasives, clearing brush from trails, etc.), please email Melissa Schacht at [email protected].
Neighborhood Grants
The Sustaining Ann Arbor Together (SA2T) grant program provides small grants (on average $10,000) to residents, schools, local nonprofits, and local businesses to advance sustainability-related activities in Ann Arbor’s right of way (i.e., streets, sidewalks, parks, etc.). The program has $100,000 to award annually on a competitive basis. Grants are reviewed on a rolling basis with feedback provided to help strengthen applications. Learn more on the Sustaining Ann Arbor Together grant page.
A2ZERO Ambassadors
The A2ZERO Ambassador Program provides an opportunity for interested individuals to dive deeply into pathways for advancing local sustainability, resilience, and carbon neutrality. The A2ZERO Ambassador program is a 12-week training program that brings together 15-20 community members to explore multiple aspects of what it takes to truly become a sustainable and carbon neutral community. Ambassadors will leave the training with the knowledge, tools, and resources to discuss climate change and specific actions they and their neighbors can begin implementing to advance carbon neutrality. A2ZERO Ambassadors will learn about:
- Equity and environmental justice
- Community sustainability, climate change, and climate action
- Energy efficiency, beneficial electrification, and renewable energy
- Water efficiency, water quality, stormwater, and our watershed
- Transportation and our choices about moving around our community.
- How to get to a circular economy: waste reduction, composting, recycling, sustainable purchasing, and material reuse
- Local food: how to grow it, eat it, and find it
- Personal and community resilience and emergency preparedness
- Tying it all together: A2ZERO and You
A2ZERO Ambassadors agree to volunteer for at least 20 hours to inspire change in our community. You can do this by staffing information booths at community events, festivals, and farmers markets, or help with projects like fix-it clinics, event sustainability, and improving recycling at your place of work, school, or worship. Email Bryce Frohlich to learn more or get engaged. Apply here!
Parks and Recreation Volunteer Opportunities
Did you know there are more than 163 parks in Ann Arbor? That's a lot of parks! GIVE 365 is the Parks and Recreation Volunteer and Outreach Program. This program works with volunteers to make improvements and enhancements to the Ann Arbor Parks system, including recreation facilities and special events. In addition, the Natural Area Preservation team takes care of the natural areas in our parks and hosts volunteer opportunities in these natural areas. Sign up to volunteer with GIVE 365 by emailing [email protected].
