Volunteer Opportunities:
Corporate/Group Work Days
Gardens

Rose Garden Work Days
Courtyard Garden Work Day
Historic Orchard
Drought Tolerant Garden Workdays

River Clean Ups & Trail Maintenence
Become a River Park or Gardens Docent
Student Interns
Education Volunteers
Special Events
Office Volunteers
Featured Project of the Month

Meet Pat Roesch
In January 2004, Pat attended one of our annual Volunteer Coffees and immediately joined our volunteer group. She is now a regular volunteer at the Heritage Rose Garden every Wednesday. Pat worked in the finance department of Hitachi for 9 years and retired 5 years ago. She came from St. Louis 41 years ago and has been living in Santa Clara for the last 37 years. Pat has been married for 42 years and has two sons and a new grandchild. She enjoys reading historic novels, gardening, biking and has run a few marathons. We really appreciate Pat’s contribution all these years to our organization and to the Heritage Rose Garden.

Corporate/Group Work Days
Working together to make a difference in the community is a great way to build team spirit and demonstrate the values of your organization. Guadalupe River Park & Gardens is a regional park in downtown San Jose that offers unique opportunities for groups looking for team building and community service activities. The Friends of Guadalupe provide coordination and supervision and will work with you to find the right project(s) for your group.

Click Here to View the Corporate Work Day Flyer
(.pdf file, 3.9 MB)

The following are just a few of the corporations that have joined us:

Deloitte, NEC, PG & E, Kaiser Permanente, Ernst & Young, HP, Adobe, Cupertino Electric, Apple, DCP, e-Bay, KPMG, Omron

Gardens
Rose Garden Work Days
The Rose Garden is a collection of more than 4,000 antique and modern roses. Established in 1995 through an extensive community effort, the garden contains more varieties (3,500) than any other rose garden in the western hemisphere. While the City of San Jose supplies materials, it is maintained primarily by volunteers. Projects will vary with the time of the year. Volunteers can learn on how to maintain their own roses or just enjoy helping with the maintenance of this special rose garden. On going volunteer workdays: Every Saturday and Wednesday 9:00 am to noon (8:00am to 11:00am June-September). Special summer evening sessions (June-September) 5:30pm-7:30pm

Courtyard Recycled Water Garden
The Courtyard Garden was one of the first elements of Guadalupe Gardens to be completed. It is a demonstration area showcasing the use of recycled water on a variety of plants. Volunteers assist the City Staff in planting and maintaining the Courtyard Garden. Volunteer workdays: 9:00 am to noon. Special week work hours can also be scheduled.

Taylor Street Rock Garden
The Drought Tolerant Rock Garden on Taylor Street, established in 1992, is a labeled collection of plants and rocks. The Drought Tolerant Garden provides an attractive streetscape and also demonstrates the use of plants and rock to save on precious water resources.

"Yesterday I worked as a supervisor in the Taylor Street Rock Garden. I worked with a group of about 6 or 7 people and boy did it make a difference. In only two and a half hours the area looks so much better. I drive down that road at least once a week and can't wait to get the next section cleaned up. When I got home I was tired and dirty but had the best feeling. The group from Cisco that I worked with was phenomenal. We had a great time working together and are proud of our little rock garden cleanup! Thank you GRPG! I cant' wait for my next volunteer job!"
Kourtney Feinstein
Leaping Designs

Historic Orchard
The Historic Orchard is a 3.3-acre orchard, planted in 1994, to showcase the fruit varieties that once made the Santa Clara Valley famous as “The Valley of Heart’s Delight”. The orchard contains over 250 fruit trees, including cherries, apricots, prunes, apples, and more. Fruit harvested from the orchard is donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara County. Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator to schedule work sessions.

River Clean Ups & Trail Maintenence
At least twice a year the Friends organize river clean-up efforts in the area between Coleman Avenue and HWY 880. This is a great opportunity to meet with friends, co-workers or new friends who share an interest in maintaining the beauty of the river and protecting the natural habitat.

The award-winning 254 acre park, including 2.6 miles of trails, offers visitors an opportunity to explore nature, enjoy the many water features and playground areas, or travel the trails that meander through the park.

Volunteers can help the City of San Jose to maintain the areas of the trail on the 2.6 miles of trail from Hwy. 280 to 880. Projects could include weeding, planting, spread mulch, trimming trees, refurbish park benches, cleaning signs, etc.

Become a River Park or Gardens Docent
Docents are volunteers who have been trained to give interpretive tours of both the Guadalupe River Park and Guadalupe Gardens. Gardens and river docents provide interpretive tours of the River Park and Guadalupe Gardens for the public. Docents bring the Park & Gardens to life through stories, details about history, flora & fauna, and public art, and interaction with the tour attendees. Our docent training program provides all the specific background information a volunteer will need to conduct tours for the public. The Education Coordinator supervises this program and schedules docents to lead public tours.

Student Interns
Interns work in all areas of our operations, including our Education and Volunteer programs as well as event planning.

Having no experience in events and starting my first internship at GRPG, I feel that I have gotten so much more than whan I expected. Working with a small, but fantastic, team was a great experience in itself. Thanks to the staff, I have gained not only event planning experience, but have also learned about the different aspects of the organization. Thank you GRPG for giving me the opportunity!
Thoai-An Le, SJSU

Education Volunteers
Friends of GRPG offer a full calendar of classes and workshops for adults and children. Many of these classes, particularly the ones for children, require volunteers to prepare materials in advance and instructors/assistants to help the education staff deliver the programs. Education volunteers actively participate in all facets of the Friend’s educational activities, including, but not limited to, assistance with after school workshops for children, field trip programs, education booths at festivals, our research library, annual Water Wizard Festival, the compost demonstration site, adult workshops, and preparing material for educational programs.

Special Events
We hold several special events every year including Spring in Guadalupe Gardens (April), Water Wizard Festival (May), Arena Green Adventures (summer), and Pumpkins in the Park (October). Volunteers are recruited to do a variety of tasks for these events including planning, set-up and breakdown, booth staffing, educational activities, and food sales.

"I was quite pleased with my volunteer experience at Pumpkins in the Park this year.  The people there were very welcoming and it gave me what I call "Warm Fuzzies" when I saw little kids with their families picking pumpkins and being happy. The organizers running the show that day were very grateful and amiable, and I would like to thank them."
Anh-Thu Le, Oak Grove High School

Office Volunteers
An abundance of volunteer opportunities exist in our office at the Visitor & Education Center. Activities include clerical work, organizing the library, preparing materials for educational programs, etc. Other tasks can be performed from home. Volunteer efforts in the office allow the Friends’ staff to focus on expanding programs and reaching out even further to the community. Commitment will vary depending on volunteer’s availability. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30am – 5:00 pm.

Featured Project of the Month

Coming soon!