For Individual Volunteers, NOT Groups

Harvest and transplant bamboo for red pandas, sheep, donkeys & goats in the Children's Zoo

Two PMD volunteers pose with the bamboo clump that they painstakingly dug out of the grove in the background in order to transplant it into the Red Pandas exhibit in the Children's Zoo at the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester in 2023.

WHEN

  • Sunday 10/06/2024, 9:30am-1:30pm
  • Rain or shine.
  • Sign up by 9/29/2024

    Join the Backup List if you can reserve this day/time.

WHAT

OUTDOOR PMD COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITY to help animals through horticulture work

To ensure a sustainable, accessible, and affordable food supply for the red pandas and for animal enrichment, we must harvest healthy clumps to replace stripped bamboo plants in the Red Panda exhibit in the Children's Zoo, plus cut/organize browse for sheep, donkeys, and goats and clean (organize & dust) the barn.

Participation is required for the entire project time span, 9:30-1:30, rain or shine, with frequent water and rest breaks.

Includes free admission (usually $21.95/adult) option to spend up to 2.5 hours exploring the zoo, 1:30-4pm, following all zoo policies.

WHERE

Franklin Park Zoo, Boston

Note: PMD only shares specific directions, maps, and other details with registered volunteers since we cannot accommodate any walk-ins, i.e., unregistered volunteers simply showing up.

WHY

The Franklin Park Zoo is a community resource and recreation center managed by the nonprofit Zoo New England. The Zoo is seriously under-staffed and under-funded, so needs help. PMD volunteers have assisted the Zoo annually since 1993.

 

HOW

To participate, register yourself by 9/29 at http://www.pmd.org/s/100624.htm Individuals may only sign up themselves (and may not reserve spaces for others).

PMD canNOT accept any UNregistered, walk-in volunteers.

When this popular project reaches maximum capacity, then interested volunteers can join the backup list, since we anticipate (and promote) cancellations in case of illness and covid-19 exposures.

All volunteers must print and sign a zoo waiver-photo release form that one can review when registering.

For volunteers ages 12-17, a parent/guardian must also co-sign printouts of PMD's waiver/release,
and for volunteers ages 12-15, a parent/guardian must also register individually by 9/29 and participate fully with the minor.


Call PMD if you cannot register online using qualtrics.
CALL THE PMD OFFICE at (*82) 1-781-963-0373 so that we can help you AND troubleshoot the problem so that other potential volunteers will not face the same problem. Thanks!

After you register successfully, you will see a confirmation screen and receive a confirmation email message, so be sure to save the date and times on your calendars AND add [email protected] to your address/white/allow list.
Then a few days before this project PMD will email specific details in a PDF, including directions to the project site by public transit and by car, what to wear/expect, checklist, map, and form(s) to print, sign, and submit at at check-in on 10/6 -- Volunteers age 18+ provide their PMD consent when registering online, to minimize paper/printing/contact, but the zoo still requires signed, paper forms, and parents/guardians must print and sign both forms for minors who volunteer.

 

WHO

Volunteers must be age 14* or older, healthy, be able to lift 25 lbs unassisted, and work while standing during this whole project.

Volunteers must wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes as well as bring their own water bottles.

This is a fragrance-free PMD project, meaning that participants must not wear perfume or cologne, or scented skin, hair, facial, body, or clothing/laundry products.

*Volunteers age 14-15 must be accompanied by an individually registered, fully participating adult age 18+.
A parent/guardian must co-sign all of the forms of any volunteer under 18, which must be submitted when checking in upon arrival for this project.

For 31+ years, public charity People Making a Difference (PMD) has promoted informed and responsible volunteerism by involving people in tangible work that meets local needs and by assisting companies in building successful community involvement programs that:
  • Produce appreciable results while conserving recipients' limited resources.
  • Educate volunteers about broader issues.
  • Bring people together to make a difference.

 

"The one process now going on that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive."
-E.O. Wilson

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