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Kids Can Grow Mentor Orientation

Kids Can Grow Mentor Orientation

Apr 25, 2024, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm, at Erickson Fields

Photo credit: Joelle Albury

Do you love to garden? Share that passion by volunteering as a mentor for families participating in Kids Can Grow at Erickson Fields. Join us on April 25 for the Kids Can Grow Mentor Orientation from 4:00 to 5:00 PM at MCHT’s Erickson Fields Preserve, 164 West Street in Rockport.

About Kids Can Grow

Since 2009, MCHT has partnered with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension to run a Kids Can Grow program at Erickson Fields Preserve. Through this six-month comprehensive gardening program, youth ages 7 through 12 learn how to grow nutritious vegetables, herbs and beautiful flowers for their families in their own 3 x 5 foot raised-bed gardens at home using intensive square foot gardening techniques. Children participate in a series of “hands on” gardening classes at a central location, and then repeat what they learn at home using materials the local program supplies and home visit help from a volunteer mentor to assist and inspire them.

Kids Can Grow is a feel-good experience for the volunteers who help out and the participants. In a single growing season, people can learn skills and habits that serve them well for life.
— Marina Schauffler, KCG Volunteer Mentor

Important Information

  • Rain location: Aldermere Farm, 20 Russell Ave, Rockport, ME
  • Bring a notepad and pen
  • Complete the Volunteer Application (below)
  • Parking is along the roadside

Questions?

For more information about Kids Can Grow and volunteering, contact Joelle Albury at 207-236-6372 or email .

Register to volunteer below.

Volunteer Application

Volunteer Application

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Please list any important health information (allergies, medical conditions, medications, etc.) that we should know about.
You must be 18 or older to volunteer on your own.

Youth (ages 10 to 17) may volunteer, but must be accompanied by an adult.

Some activities are a better fit for young volunteers than others. After you submit your application, we will contact you to help you select the best activity.

SELECT YOUR VOLUNTEER PROJECT(S) BELOW

We have a growing menu of volunteer opportunities. Check the boxes beside the project(s) that spark your interest! After you submit your application, we will be in touch with more information.

Special Project Workdays

You know the saying "many hands make light work"? Sign up to lend a hand when we have a project that could use "all hands on deck". Projects may include fall raking, seasonal barnyard cleanouts, working up firewood, barn/house painting, invasive plant management workdays, storm cleanup, etc.
Check this box to receive email invitations to these workdays.

Volunteer at a Calf Unveiling Day or Beltie Holiday

Each spring Aldermere Farm presents the new calves during CALF UNVEILING DAY. Visitors are invited to see the newborns and learn more about the farm, land conservation, and agriculture. BELTIE HOLIDAY takes place at Aldermere Farm annually as part of Christmas by the Sea in Camden and Rockport. The public is invited to don their most festive (or ugliest) holiday sweaters and bring a camera to have their photos taken with a Belted Galloway calf.
Check in attendees, share farm history, answer attendees’ questions about the farm and Aldermere herd. (Schedule a shift for one hour or longer on the first Saturday in May, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM)
Check in attendees, take photos, lead craft activities. (Schedule a shift for one hour or longer on the first Saturday in December, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

Volunteer for Family Gardening Workshops at Erickson Fields (May - Oct.)

Do you enjoy gardening? Share that passion by helping grow a community hub for new gardeners. Tend to perennial herbs, flowers, and annual vegetables in raised garden beds; assist with gardening workshops teaching families and youth how to grow their own food; help a community of new gardeners blossom!
Tend to perennial herbs, flowers, and annual vegetables in raised garden beds (Assist throughout the growing season, May-October, on your own schedule. We’ll follow up with you to schedule an orientation.)
Assist with a 90-minute gardening workshop 4-5:30pm on a Wednesday afternoon: May Constructing Raised Beds, June Planting, July Weeds & Bugs, August Harvest

Volunteer for 4-H and Farm Hands at Aldermere Farm (Year-round)

The Aldermere Achievers is MCHT’s 4-H Club (in partnership with Knox-Lincoln Cooperative Extension) for youth ages 12-18, which is mainly a beef club where participants lease a calf, halter train it, and then show it at shows throughout New England. Farm Hands is the premier program for youth ages 10-18 at Aldermere Farm where participants work with the young Belted Galloway calves learning to halter train, groom, and lead them.
Assist with teaching youth (ages 10-18) how to halter train Belted Galloway calves. We will provide training, including mandated reporter training, and require a background check. (School Year schedule: 3:30-5:00 PM, Mondays & Wednesdays | Summer schedule: Mondays & Wednesdays 8:30 AM - 11:00 AM)

Volunteer for the Teen Agriculture Program at Erickson Fields (June - Oct.)

A teen social entrepreneurial program where a work crew of teens grow food to donate to local food pantries (spring, summer, and fall). Volunteers help us increase our production capacity and support for hunger-relief initiatives.
Join this group of volunteers every Tuesday from 9:00 am to noon to harvest, wash, and pack produce for food pantries June - October.
Water, weed, plant, harvest garden beds and build new raised beds. Must be able to work independently. We will contact you to schedule times to volunteer June - October.
Deliver produce from Erickson Fields Preserve to a food pantry on a weekly or monthly basis, June - October. A vehicle and valid drivers license are required.

Volunteer for Trail Maintenance (Year-round)

Regularly walk your favorite trail(s) and remove branches or trash, and report to farm staff any “rule violations.” You make your own schedule!
Foot trail (0.2 miles) through the woods to an overlook of Lily Pond. The trailhead is beside the Chestnut Street sign on Russell Ave in Rockport.
Foot trail (0.4 miles) through the woods to a rocky beach and a view of Rockport Harbor. The trailhead on Calderwood Lane in Rockport across from the Megunticook Golf Club.
A family- and dog-friendly 1.4-mile trail that loops through field and forest and a 0.7-mile trail that spurs off the loop trail and connects to Coastal Mountains Land Trust's trail to Beech Hill Preserve. The trailhead is located at the Erickson Fields Preserve's parking lot.

Volunteer for Gardening & Landscaping (April - Oct.)

You make your own schedule!
Help take care of the many public gardens at Aldermere. Regular maintenance includes weeding, pruning, mulching, occasional planting etc. Adopt a garden for the season and come on your own schedule.
Help us keep the roadside and visitor center lawns trimmed and tidy for visitors through the summer and/or help farm staff stay on top of weedwacking and trimming small branches off fence lines to keep the sections of electric fencing working.
Tell us a little about yourself. Please share any interests, hobbies, skills, and work/volunteer experience you have that relate to the volunteer opportunities that you selected above. What do you hope to get out of volunteering for MCHT?
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