Volunteer Newsletter: April 2024

Monthly updates for Gardens of Golden Gate Park Volunteers

Dear Volunteers,

Gala for the Gardens is on Saturday, May 18 from 11am-2pm in the Celebration Garden at San Francisco Botanical Garden. This annual fundraiser supports plant conservation and collections, lifelong learning and engagement opportunities, and making the Gardens accessible to everyone. We will be honoring retired board member and Curator of Botany Emeritus at California Academy of Sciences Dr. Frank Almeda and the Friends of the Japanese Tea Garden, of which board member Lucy Fisher is a dedicated volunteer. I hope you will be able to join us to celebrate this wonderful occasion and our Gardens by either attending the event or volunteering with us on May 18.

As we welcome spring, the Gardens have shifted into spring hours. Japanese Tea Garden last entry is now 5:30pm, closing at 6pm. Last entry at the Botanical Garden is now 6pm, closing at 7pm. Conservatory hours remain the same and are from 10am-4:30pm daily with last entry at 4pm (closed every Wednesday for maintenance). More information on admission and hours can be found here.

Teen Volunteer Service Learning SaturdaySaturday, April 13, 10am-1pmChildren's Garden, Botanical Garden

Join our education team at San Francisco Botanical Garden to learn about plants while helping with hands-on gardening projects in the Children’s Garden to help steward this local treasure.

Volunteers as young as 14 can join this event and volunteers 15 and older may join without a parent or guardian.

Register here for April 13 >>

Growing Cannabis in Your GardenSaturday, April 13Bookstore & Plant Shop, Botanical Garden

Volunteer to help with this workshop led by Emily Gogol PhD and Penny Barthel featuring the book by Penny, The Cannabis Gardener. Volunteers will help welcome visitors and with event set-up and breakdown.

Register here >>

Bean SproutsVariedChildren's Garden, Botanical Garden

Help the Children's Garden education team welcome families for their regularly scheduled Bean Sprouts Family Days on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays - along with their April spring break week extended hours. Whether you're a seasoned volunteer or newly joining the Gardens, you're welcome to register for this assignment.

Register here >>

Botanical Garden Horticultural OpportunitiesSan Francisco Botanical Garden

Help the horticultural team as they maintain our collection at the Botanical Garden in one of the following ways:

Gala for the GardensSaturday, May 18Celebration Garden, Botanical Garden

Join us for the Gardens of Golden Gate Parks' signature fundraising event of the year on May 18, 2024. Alexis Madrigal, co-host of KQED's Forum, will serve as emcee for an afternoon when we celebrate all that we love about the Gardens and honor Dr. Frank Almeda and the Friends of the Japanese Tea Garden. Learn more about our speaker and honorees here.

Register here >>

Gamelan in the GardenSaturday, June 8San Francisco Botanical Garden

We are excited to welcome Gamelan Sekar Jaya back to the Gardens this June. There will be performances by their jegog, gong kebyar, and dance ensembles at the Great Meadow and Celebration Garden. We can use your support with greeting, wayfinding, and event assistance.

Register here >>

Photo and writing contributed by Viviana Velasco, Volunteer Program Intern

This month we're excited to introduce you to Gabe and Maggie, between the two of them, they offer over two-decades of experience at the Botanical Garden! Gabriel began volunteering six years ago and Maggie, fifteen years ago. Gabriel used to volunteer as a tutor, and Maggie is a retired physical therapist, so neither of them had a background with plants yet were quickly intrigued when they first entered the Gardens, and when they saw that the Gardens needed volunteers, they decided to join.

Shortly after meeting one day during a shift, their bond quickly formed, and has been growing strong since then. You can often find them picking up roving assignments together at the Botanical Garden, helping visitors find their way along our meandering paths, and sharing opportunities to look and listen a little closer to the world around them.

According to Maggie and Gabe, what makes it special to volunteer here is the people you are surrounded with, because they make great company. Visitors arrive from all over the world, not just from the city, filled with questions. Both Maggie and Gabe are happy and eager to answer everyone’s questions, because they lead to memorable conversations. Even if it is just to answer where the bathrooms are!

Their experience illuminates the beautiful friendships that can be created volunteering here at the Gardens, thank you Maggie and Gabriel!

Our newest cohort of interpretive volunteers will start training on Tuesday, April 16. Please welcome them and all of our new spring volunteers as you meet them at the Gardens!

Thank you to all of the volunteers who joined us in the past few weeks to say farewell to Engagement Manager Sarah Sawtelle and Plant Shop Coordinator Diane Glaub. In the upcoming month, we're also preparing for the retirement of Associate Director of Visitor Experience, Karla Schiemann. If you would like to join us in celebrating Karla's contributions at the Gardens, please RSVP for her potluck event here.

This past month we were excited to welcome our new Plant Propagation Manager Jessica Fernandez. Jessica comes to us from their most recent position as Propagator at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and has experience interning at the Presidio nursery. In the coming months, Jessica will be working to get the propagation program for retail up and running so that we can engage volunteers and provide exclusive plants to sell at the Plant Shop. Please welcome Jessica to the team!

The philanthropy team bid a heartfelt adieu to Philanthropy Manager Leslie Fitzpatrick as she has taken an exciting new role with the UC Davis Development and Alumni Relations team. In addition, Bekah Paige transitioned from her role as Associate Director of Philanthropy to working for the Gardens in a contracted capacity to project manage the Gala for the Gardens. We're grateful for Bekah's dedication to the Gardens and everything she has done to advance our operations and to expand our community of support.

Meet-up: Nature JournalingMonday, April 8, 12-1pmLibrary Terrace, Botanical Garden

All volunteers are invited to an informal meet-up group focused on nature journaling. Bring a notebook and supplies and join fellow volunteers for this volunteer led meet-up group inspired by Wild Wonder Foundation. To help you prepare, download their Quick Start Guide to Natural Journaling zine.

Register here >>

Book Group: The End of Night by Paul Bogard Thursday, April 11, 10am-12pmHelen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture

All Gardens volunteers are invited to our next Book Group event. The next book the group will discuss is The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogard.

Register here >>

Karla's Retirement PotluckTuesday, April 30, 12pm-1pmGarden Club Room, County Fair Building

Join us as we celebrate over a decade of service at the Gardens. Our Associate Director of Visitor Experience will be retiring at the end of this month.

Register here >>

Construction for the Pagoda Landscape Project at the Japanese Tea Garden re-started on March 18. It is anticipated that the work will take approximately 2.5 months to complete, including the Pagoda Plaza, landscape, and new pathways to improve accessibility within the garden. Trees have been moved, the site is being graded, and some of the stones have arrived on site. The next few weeks will involve stone setting, tree planting, and a new walking surface.

Newsweek magazine’s “Best Botanical Garden” Readers’ Choice awards listed San Francisco Botanical Garden as number 7 on their top 10 list! The 10 botanical gardens were selected by expert panelists and contributors and voted on by readers. Read the article here.

We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area (BBBSBA) where Matches can explore the Gardens for free as a fun Match activity! Through this partnership, BBBSBA and the Gardens aim to close the "nature gap" for youth across the Bay Area. Access to the outdoors and nature has myriad benefits for youth, including physical and mental health benefits. Many thanks to board members Cristina Jones and Lisa Serwin for making connections to help create this new partnership and to Director of People & Culture Ahmad Anderson for his leadership in seeing this through.

Program Manager Jenn Tapler led a tour group of youth with KQED while they filmed a special segment for YouTube called "The Field Trip Game." On this show, the host and contestants spin a wheel to explore exciting, youth-friendly destinations in the Bay Area. Once there, the group joins a tour guide to learn more about what makes this location special, inspiring, and fun. The goal is to introduce the audience to new places that they can visit, socialize, create, and learn in—at a time when it's harder to find safe, inclusive spaces for youth. We can't wait to see the final episode once it becomes available.

Nichole and Erick hosted a booth at “Family Fun Night” at the California Academy of Sciences on Friday along with high school intern Kaylyn and College Corps intern Ethan. Visitors enjoyed making finger pollinators, playing a pollinator matching game, and learning about all the great family programs at Gardens of Golden Gate Park. These events are about making science and museums engaging and accessible for all by providing free access for families from specific neighborhoods. The first program targeted the Tenderloin, Chinatown, Sunset, and Mission schools.

This past March, the Gardens were honored to host the inspiring legend Dr. Jane Goodall for a beautiful sunset visit leading up to her 90th birthday on April 3. Learn more about Jane’s amazing work inspiring hope and transforming it into action to fulfill a vision of science-based, community-led conservation as well as more ways to celebrate her 90th birthday at the Jane Goodall Institute. See more here.

Thank you to everyone who joined our Volunteer Spring Potluck Cupcakes vs. Muffins. It was wonderful to see so many volunteer and staff gathering around this hot topic throughout the hour. If you have some ideas for our next iteration, please let Whitney and me know.

As we wrap up April updates, I have some personal news to share. My family and I are expecting a new addition to our family this summer. I anticipate that my leave will begin in mid-June and I plan to return before the end of the year. The team and I are still in the process of finalizing the details for my coverage while I'm on leave and I'll share more in our upcoming newsletter.

I hope to see you at the Gardens soon.

Best wishes,

Crystal

Crystal Lee Stone | Volunteer Program Manager

Gardens of Golden Gate Park

(415) 661-1316 Ext. 400

clstone@gggp.org

P.S. Did you miss an update? Catch up by viewing past newsletters.