Volunteering & Events
Volunteer Events
Since 2008, Friends volunteers have made significant progress in clearing debris and invasive plants and improving trail vegetation. Work on the trail occurs throughout the year. If you are interested in getting involved, you can get on our mailing list by filling out the volunteer interest form. You can also contact us at fochtsteward@gmail.com with specific questions or to request scheduling a nature walk or other event.
With appropriate notice, we are happy to work with large and small groups and can tailor projects that are appropriate for your group.
But that’s not all volunteers can do. We also have a need for expertise in event planning, public communications, graphics, and working with businesses and government entities to facilitate the Trail’s ongoing development.
We also regularly offer nature walks that are open to the public; visit the Nature Walks page to see information about upcoming walks open to the public as well as previous events.
Workdays:
The calendar below shows volunteer workdays scheduled. It is subject to change. While individuals can just show up for any of these workdays, if you wish to be notified of any changes to events, please email fochtsteward@gmail.com to let us know you plan to attend. If you plan to attend as a group, you must let us know so we can plan appropriately. Minors are welcome to attend with a parent or guardian. All participants must fill out the waiver at least once a month--parent or guardian should sign for minors.
It was a chilly April day, but a great crew of buildOn volunteers and leaders from multiple Lower Merion schools came out to help with various chores on the trail. They planted shrubs and grasses, replaced garlic mustard with native plants, moved rocks from the side of the trail. Thanks for all your help!
Thanks Israeli Scouts
This great group of scouts and their chaperones came out to observe Good Deeds Day. It was a beautiful early spring day in March 2021. The scouts did a number of good deeds, including planting meadow mix seeds along a slope in holes made by feeding birds.
Native plant seeds
The scouts also planted seeds collected from trail plants, including Trumpet Creeper, a hummingbird plant, and Blue False Indigo, which is especially sought out by bumble bees. The plants that grow from these seeds will be planted in appropriate locations along the trail--maybe the the scouts next spring!
Photo by Will Stuart, https://www.ecolandscaping.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Campsis-radicans-with-Ruby-throated-Hummingbird_Will_Stuart.jpg
Pollinator plants
Besides planting the seeds, young scouts decorated seed packets for us to use in future seed collections. We hope to provide extra seeds to homeowner neighbors of the trail interested in improving access to food for pollinating insects.
Preparing for plants
Older scouts helped prepare beds that will showcase combinations of native plants chosen for their ability to hold the soil, provide food for wildlife, and provide other environmental benefits. Preparing the beds is difficult because of plastic netting that had to be cut in order to get the plants in.
Enjoying nature
The volunteers also got to see some great spring sights, including skunk cabbage along the stream, sparrows in the winter brush, and native bees working the earliest of the spring blooming flowers. Enjoying the natural world of the trail and learning about ways to improve land stewardship might be the most important Good Deed of all.