The Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS SCV) is an all-volunteer organization - our activities depend on our many volunteers. If you are interested in helping, there are many opportunities.  You can work from home or volunteer in a group, take on a weekly or monthly position, or volunteer for a one-time event.  Below is a list of diverse ways to volunteer.

Public Garden work: Volunteer to plant and maintain native plants in parks. This is a great learning opportunity as you get to work with the experts who run these public garden native plant areas. Tasks vary by season. Typical tasks include weeding year-round, watering in the summer and occasional planting in the fall. There will sometimes be other tasks such as moving and spreading mulch. You can sign up to help at the Chapter's Meetup page where our activities are listed. We currently have three projects in San Jose: Lake Cunningham, Kirk and Cataldi Parks.

Prepare weekly emails: We send a summary of upcoming chapter events to CNPS News subscribers. Join the team of detail-oriented people to create weekly emails about our scheduled events.

Library Talk Helpers: We hold talks at libraries in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Several volunteers are needed for each talk to help with setup and check-ins. No experience is necessary. Sign up to help with an upcoming talk.

Find Speakers for Zoom talks: We hold talks on Zoom and in-person on various topics. We need help looking for speakers who are experts in the fields of  plant science, restoration, conservation issues and climate change. Join our quarterly meetings on Zoom where we plan for talks for the upcoming months.

Help with field trips: We host field trips for a variety of reasons, such as introducing newbies to wildflowers, exploring new habitats, or visiting unusual plants. You can help out by volunteering to act as a sweep. The sweep is the last person on the trail in the walk or hike. They assist the trip leader, help ensure that participants enjoy the trip, assist with any issues as needed, sign out early departures and so on.

Conservation/advocacy of native plants: Attend a Conservation Committee meeting to learn where help is needed in our ongoing efforts to protect native plants and habitats. In our committee we talk about rare plants, conservation, legislation, invasive plants, and restoration. If you’re interested in issues in your area, or would just like to learn more, please join us.

Join the Growing Natives Garden Tour committee:  Help with various administrative tasks for our annual garden tour. We are especially seeking assistance with publicity, both print and social media. You are welcome to attend a committee meeting to get acquainted with all we do to find where you would like to contribute.

Assist with volunteer recognition: Help the volunteer recognition coordinator.

Join the Wildflower Ambassadors Program: Members of this group give away packets of free native seeds and resource handouts at events and library talks to encourage people to grow native plants in their gardens. Ambassadors also participate in seed packing parties and field trips to visit public native gardens in order to better understand habitat dynamics. The program is an easy entry point for those who are new to native gardening as they can learn through participation in these activities and from other members who have greater experience.

Assist with outreach events:  Ideal for people who love to talk about native plants.  We are invited to MANY events – become part of the team and help us say “Yes” to attending more outreach events.

Volunteer at an event: We hold one large fall plant sale, a spring Wildflower Show (coming up on April 26th), a spring native plant garden tour, an annual members’ potluck in late fall, and other events throughout the year. We need lots of volunteers for each event. We hold Zoom training as needed for large events.

Take on a leadership position: We can’t do any of our work without leaders, and they are all volunteers that started off new to the organization, just like you. An excellent way to find out more about what the president, treasurer, secretary, and our board do is to attend one of our board meetings. Our Zoom Board meetings are held on typically the third Thursday of the month at 7pm.

We welcome your help to fill these important volunteer roles.  

You can find information about many activities on our website cnps-scv.org. Or for more information on these or other volunteer opportunities, contact Stephen Buckhout, Chair of the Leadership Development Committee, (408) 255-6233 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..