Last month I had the opportunity to volunteer for Second Harvest. As a result, I gained more first-hand knowledge about potato mold than I ever thought possible. That wasn’t exactly a lot, because I had never thought about potato mold at all before that day. I sorted through hundreds of potatoes with a dozen other volunteers to select potatoes that could be given to families in need.
About 10 days ago, I volunteered for SOUL (Save Our Urban Landscapes). This is the group in which Seth Nehrbass got us involved. They plant trees. We were given three days from which to choose. I signed up for Saturday morning, December 18, just south of Pontchartrain Park. I checked the box that said I couldn’t do the planting itself: bad back. But they had other jobs for that I could handle.
There were probably around 40 people there of all ages. There was even a Rotarian from the Mid-city Club.
We broke into smaller groups and were trained. They asked me first to knock on the doors of houses that would have trees planted between their sidewalk and the street. All these folks had received letters telling them what was to happen and when. They were also given the option to opt-out. One of the volunteers brought her seven-year-old son. I didn’t want to be threatening to anyone, so I asked his mother if he could go with me. She said yes, and he said yes. So, Aiden and I knocked on the doors and had some nice conversations with the locals. We reaffirmed that they knew about the planting.
Then, I was asked to tree map. I had no idea what that could be but, you know, “Service above Self, so I said sure. The chief of our krewe pulled out a piece of paper with a QR code on it and said, “Scan it with your phone.” I did and up popped a form which would be filled out for each tree. She then gave me some plastic ties each with its own number and said to type the number of the first tie on the form which I did. She then showed me how to hook the tie onto the tree that was about to be planted. [The trees were all in pots and about five to seven feet tall.]
The form had a drop-down list of trees. I found the one on which I had just put the first plastic tie. It was a Dahoon Holly. I had never heard of a Dahoon Holly, and I suspect I never will again. But it was cool. It was like discovering a new life form.
Then, finally, came the actual mapping. On the form was a satellite map. I typed in the address, and the map zoomed down to the area I was working in. I moved the map so that a crosshatch on the map was directly over where the tree was to be planted. I clicked a marker on the map, and the location was enshrined forever on the SOUL database. The SOUL group will be checking on every tree planted, monitoring its growth, and watering it for the next 12 months.
This was a great volunteer opportunity. Those who were doing the physical labor learned all about the planting of trees. For those of us who knocked on doors, we kept the community informed with friendly faces, young and old. For those who mapped, we picked up a skill we never knew existed and discovered the names of a number of trees that previously had only been the unnoticed background to our daily lives.
All of us learned a great deal about the value of volunteering, and the impact it can make. And we had the opportunity to do a little promotion for Rotary as well.
Thanks to Seth for setting it up and to all of the club members who worked the other days.
-Randall Feldman
