August

Deadheading at Dusk – August 8 - Join others in tidying up the garden at the Historic City Cemetery, 1000 Broadway, Sacramento, beginning at 6:30 pm. Volunteers will remove spent blooms from the many rosebushes which encourages repeat blooming of the roses in this historic rose garden. Tools and free training will be provided for these gardening workshops. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call: (916) 264-7839.

Summer Reading Party – On Thursday, August 25^th, from 2:30-5 pm join the Belle Cooledge Library for their Summer Reading party.  At the party staff expects about 150 people to attend. Several ‘art project’ stations will be set up, a face painter and ice cream cones will be available to program participants.   The library will need 4-5 volunteers to help assist at the art/craft tables, help dish out ice cream cones and do general crowd control.  Volunteers who are adventurous people and who love crowds and kids, please contact Randi Kay Stephens at: rstephens@saclibrary.org or (916) 264-5034. Please note that no court mandated service opportunities are available. 

Water Conservation Workshop and Ambassador Training – The City of Sacramento’s Department of Utilities Water Conservation Office will sponsor water conservation workshops. Learn how to save water and money in and around your home at this free workshop. These workshops will also provide training to become a volunteer Water Conservation Ambassador. The workshop will take place on August 27 from 8:30 am to 10:30 am at the Water Conservation Office, 2260 Glen Ellen Circle, Sacramento.   As a Water Conservation Ambassador, you will have an opportunity to help teach the community about water conservation, learn how to assist customers with irrigation and water conservation tools, conduct neighborhood outreach and education, and help the City achieve its Best Management Practices goals and its goal of reducing water consumption by 20% by 2020.   Hours will vary and Ambassadors can sign-up to participate in activities after completing the 2-hour training. Activities average 2-6 hours per week and will be located in the field and in the Water Conservation Office. Volunteers must be a city of Sacramento resident, 18 years of age or older and complete City Volunteer Agreement. For more information on this program, please contact Jessica Hess, Media and Communication Specialist at (916) 808-8260 orjhess@cityofsacramento.org or (916) 808-1400.

Race for the Arts - This annual fundraiser supports many arts groups in the Sacramento area.  Get in on the fun.  Volunteers are needed for Saturday, August 27th beginning at 6:30 am to assist with packet pick up and registration, parking, finish line, course monitor, post race refreshment prep and distribution, fluid station distribution of water to runners and set up.  Minimum age for volunteers is 15.  If you would like to help out at the race in William Land Park, please contact Valorie Schneider at (916) 862-1995 or email: vschneider@saczoo.org

September

Green Thumb? Join in the fun of building new community gardens at Valley Hi Park.   Additional volunteers are welcome to get their hands in the dirt to create these new plots for home grown veggies and more. This effort to green our neighborhoods will take place in September and October. For more information, contact Bill Maynard at: wmaynard@cityofsacramento.org or call (916) 508-6025.

Gold Rush Days September 3-5, 2011 - From friendly greeters to crafty artisans and everything in between, the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation is now accepting applications for more than 200 volunteer positions during Gold Rush Days 2011.  Widely known as Old Sacramento’s annual heritage celebration scheduled each year over Labor Day weekend (September 3-5), Gold Rush Days 2011 is free to the public and produced by the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation, the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, the City of Sacramento and California State Parks.   Volunteers are sought to help with the event information booth, first-aid station, security booth and children’s activities. Some, but not all, positions require period attire, which will be provided.  To apply please visit: http://www.sacramentogoldrushdays.com/volunteer/ or call: (916) 808-7059.(Note deadline for applications has been extended.)

Shepard Garden and Art Center Adopt-a-Park Clean-up: – Calling all volunteers for Saturday, September 10^th – the Shepard Garden and Art Center needs help completing the refurbishing of the jogging/walking track. Volunteers will be raking and spreading decomposed granite to fill in holes and build a better surface. If you can help, please wear close toed shoes; bring gloves and a hard rake if you have one.   Volunteers will gather at 9 am. Stay as long as you can - we'll end at noon.  If you are interested in volunteering or would like more information on how to help, go to http://www.friendsofeastsacramento.org/ or email friendsofeastsac@aol.com or call (916) 452-8011.

Sacramento CERT Training – The Fall Basic CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Academy training will start September 12, 2011, and will run Monday evenings from 6-9 pm until October at 5770 Freeport Boulevard, Sacramento. CERT training is provided to the public at no cost. The funding for the training is through grants that the Fire Department receives from the Department of Homeland Security.  The basic course (Level 1) is one night a week for 8 weeks.  The classes are taught by instructors from the Fire Department and CERT members who have been trained as instructors. The basic course covers 1) Introduction to Disaster Awareness; 2) Fire Safety Techniques; 3) Disaster Medical (2 weeks); 4) Light Search and Rescue Operations; 5) Team Organization and Management (uses the ICS format) which includes sizing up the problem and disaster psychology; 6) Terrorism - what it is, what kind of weapons they are, B-NICE indicators and CERT protocols for terrorist incidents.  The final review is a drill which teams up the class into groups and goes through a disaster drill. Application deadline is August 20^th. To apply, please visit: http://www.sacramentocert.net/files/CERT_Application_Rev.pdf

Tahoe Park Adopt-a-Park Day - On Saturday, September 17th,  the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association will be hosting a Park Clean-Up Day from 8:30 to 11:00 am.  Can you spare a few hours to ensure that our community’s greatest asset remains beautiful?  If you can stop by for 30 minutes, or the whole morning, all help is greatly appreciated.  We will provide the tools, the coffee and juice, and the fun.  We just need the bodies, and that’s where you come in.  You are the most important part of our events, and we can't do it without you. We've also got some great raffle prizes for our volunteers, but you've got to show up to win! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Isaac Gonzalez at 916-613-3940 or email:  isaacTPNA@gmail.com. For more information, please visit:  www.tahoe-park.org