Volunteers of America’s Greenwood Food Bank is in urgent need of drivers and delivery assistants to help pick up food donations from local grocery stores. Drivers are needed from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. Delivery Assistants (who ride along with the driver) are needed from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Requirements:

• Ability to lift 50 pounds
• A valid drivers’ license
• Background Check
• A copy of your Driver’s Abstract

Duties include:

• Pick up donations from grocery stores using the food bank vehicle (a Sprinter van)
• Help load and unload truck
• Occasional delivery of pre-packaged food boxes to home delivery clients
• Occasional warehouse help when not needed as a driver’s assistant

The Greenwood Food Bank, inside the Community Resource Center at 9041 Greenwood Ave. N., needs three Lead Volunteers.

Help your community and build leadership skills by joining the Greenwood Food Bank as a Lead Volunteer. The Volunteers of America Greenwood Food Bank is seeking three dedicated volunteers to take on management roles in the organization: a Food Bank Lead Volunteer, to direct food distribution and operation of food bank distribution center; a Warehouse Lead Volunteer, to manage the food bank warehouse and monitor inventory; and a Volunteer Food Bank Coordinator, to supervise the daily operations of the Greenwood Food Bank as a whole. Please contact Volunteers of America at (206) 782-6731 orgreenwoodfoodbank@voaww.org for more information.

More than 50 volunteers with Woodland Park Zoo’s “pond watch” program will fan out at Carkeek Park this Saturday morning to survey amphibian egg masses in ponds and wetlands.

Oregon Spotted Frog. Photo by Dana Payne, Woodland Park Zoo.

The volunteers have already completed special training. They will be armed with hip waders, digital cameras, GPS units, and other monitoring tools.

Eight amphibian species will be monitored under the new regional program: western toad, Northwestern salamander, northern red-legged frog, Pacific tree frog, Oregon spotted frog, rough-skinned newt, long-toed salamander and American bullfrog. This project will provide critical population data, which over the long term can help determine if amphibian declines or fluctuations are occurring.

The ancient class of amphibians includes salamanders, newts, an obscure group of legless creatures known as caecilians and, of course, the icons, frogs and toads. Because their skin is so permeable, amphibians are known as sentinels of the planet, signaling an early warning when something is not right in the environment.

Members of GAIN (Greenwood Aurora Involved Neighbors) were out this morning picking up litter and raking leaves from around trees and storm sewers on Greenwood Avenue from 80th to 95th and on major streets between Greenwood and Aurora.

Left to right, Nathan Hartman, Katie Hartman and Danny Clements pick up litter in front of the Greenwood Library.

Thanks, GAIN volunteers for beautifying the neighborhood! For more information about their cleanups every other month, click here.

City Fruit just sent us an update on their harvesting of extra fruit from neighborhood trees to donate to local food banks and senior centers. This season, volunteers with their Phinney harvest program harvested more than 4,000 pounds of fruit.

Thank you to all the fruit tree owners who donated fruit, and to all the wonderful volunteers who harvested the 4,000 pounds of fruit and took it to food banks, senior centers and low income childcare centers in Phinney and Greenwood.

City Fruit is also holding a canning class at the Greenwood Senior Center from 2:30-5 p.m. on Oct. 11. The cost is $25.

Participants will learn how to make jam using Italian prune plums. Each participant will go home with at least a jar of plum jam prepared during the class. Plums, jars and all other supplies are provided. All proceeds from the entrance fee will go toward funding the future of the Phinney harvest. Please contact Jen Mullen at phinney@cityfruit.org to reserve your spot. We can accommodate a maximum of ten people.