Day 1 of Volunteering
Date: January 7, 2017 Organization: NYC Parks Stewardship Event: MULCHFest! Location: Travers Park (Jackson Height, New York)
Today for the first time in my adult life, I volunteered.
A few days ago I signed up for the event and decided to take a friend along. At 10am the snow was already falling and the news was blaring with winter storm advisories. By the time I got to the park, about 3 inches of snow had accumulated on the ground. I was surprised to see only about 10 people including my friend and I. Only 10 out of 30 people had braved the weather and ventured out into the winter wonderland.
We first introduced ourselves to the wonder team leader Cara who told us that today we would be using wood chips as mulch to nourish the young trees of NYC. We quickly began working with the icy weather against us. We carried large bags of mulch to the young trees all around the park and used brooms to sweep the snow away.
On the other side, people were also bringing their old christmas trees to be chipped. The pine aroma swirling all around the neighborhood and the snow made it feel like Christmas again. At some point, I realized that my hair was frozen and I couldn’t feel my feet-despite the two layers of socks.
I really don’t like the cold, but I was so happy to be outside and to be doing something I love, which is working with the environment. We probably nourished a total of 40 trees before we ran out of mulch. Tomorrow there is another event but sadly, I won’t be able to make it to that one. It was a great day, one that would be hard to forget. I can’t wait for the next MulchFest!
Aneesa
I could not take any pictures because of the heavy snow and my hands were mostly numb. The above picture was taken at MULCHFest! 2013 and does not belong to me.