National Volunteer Month and Gardeners with Heart

Submitted by mgwomack on May 5th, 2021

Marisa A Coyne

In April, we celebrated National Volunteer Month, honoring all of the contributions that volunteers make in our communities. All month long, the UC Master Gardener Program will feature stories of exceptional volunteers, or Gardeners with Heart, making a difference in California's community, school, demonstration, and research gardens. While the past program year presented many challenges to program delivery, the surge of interest in gardening has never been higher. The passion and support of UC Master Gardener volunteers have been essential in the program continuing to serve our mission.

A series of four blog posts on the UC Master Gardener Program statewide blog recognizes the work of special volunteers or Gardeners with Heart who used their skills to improve program delivery in 2020. Gardeners with Heart volunteers were nominated by their local county leadership for their stewardship of the UC Master Gardener Program during the pandemic period, their diversity equity and inclusion leadership, and their digital superstardom.

Read about the impactful work of Gardeners with Heart from Amador to Los Angeles here:

The Gardeners with Heart nomination form is still open! Please feel free to nominate a volunteer in your county or program. The Gardener with Heart nomination survey will remain open until May 21, survey link: https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=33125. In addition to the National Volunteer Month blog series, nominees may appear in future blogs, social media posts, our 2019/2020 annual report, virtual celebrations, and more.

Questions? Contact

Marisa Coyne
Volunteer Engagement Coordinator
macoyne@ucanr.edu

Melissa Womack
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
mgwomack@ucanr.edu