Community Garden Volunteer
Purpose:
Volunteer at Paradise Parking Plots Community Garden to support essential maintenance tasks that keep our shared space healthy, safe, and vibrant! Paradise Parking Plots is a 2-acre community garden that provides space for refugee, immigrant, and Kent resident gardeners to grow cultural foods and reconnect with the soil.
Our shared spaces—such as our food forest, rain gardens, pollinator berms, and restoration areas—need a lot of love and attention to stay healthy and beautiful. Volunteers help ensure this shared site remains maintained and safe so gardeners can continue to grow and nature can continue to thrive.
Responsibilities:
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Weeding and mulching our food forest, pollinator berm, rain gardens, and restoration areas
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Supporting larger volunteer events
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Sharing gardening tips and expertise with refugee and immigrant gardeners
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Assisting gardeners with their plot upkeep as needed or requested
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Helping acquire materials to support community garden functions, such as seeds, plant starts, or potting soil
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Supporting the Community Garden Coordinator by ensuring water needs are met throughout the garden, including filling cisterns and turning irrigation systems on/off
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Assisting with special construction projects as needed
Ways to Volunteer:
Individual Volunteering:
Do you have weekly or biweekly availability to consistently help out at our Community Garden? We’d love to have you volunteer regularly! Consistent, returning volunteers can be trained to manage more complex tasks like weeding our food forest, controlling pests and diseases, managing our mason bees, assisting with gardener classes, and much more.
Begin the first step of onboarding by completing a volunteer application. Please reach out to the Community Garden Coordinator with any questions about the opportunity.
Group Volunteering:
Check out the World Relief Western Washington “Events” page to see the next scheduled group volunteer event in the garden. If no events are currently posted, please reach out to the Community Garden Coordinator for information about the next planned group event.
Special Group Volunteering:
Do you have a work, community, or faith group that you’d like to bring out for a special volunteer event in the garden? We are able to accommodate most events during the week (Mon–Fri, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.) and can host a limited number of Saturday events throughout the year. Please fill out your group’s information and interest in this short form, and our Volunteer Coordinator will follow up with you within a week.
Requirements:
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Able to carry out various physical tasks such as weeding, mulching, and pushing wheelbarrows. Some task accommodations can be made for those with physical limitations with prior notice.
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Comfortable interacting cross-culturally and with individuals who may not have English as their first language
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Plant, botany, or landscaping knowledge is a plus but not required
Upcoming Events
Community Garden Expansion Work Day
Join us in expanding our community garden to grow more food and support future farmers. Volunteers will help build new garden plots that increase food access for community members and serve as hands-on training space for PNW climate-resilient growing techniques.
When: Saturday, February 7th
Where: Paradise Parking Plots Community Garden
930 E James St, Kent, WA 98031
MLK Day of Service
Join us for our annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in partnership with United Way of King County. Together, we'll honor Dr. King's legacy of civic engagement and social empowerment.
When: Monday, January 19th
Where: Paradise Parking Plots Community Garden
930 E James St, Kent, WA 98031
Spring Garden Kickoff Workday
Join us on as we wake up our community garden and prepare for the 2026 growing season. We’ll be focused on finishing up our garden bed expansion by lining plots with concrete blocks and filling them with soil. Come prepared for hearty work!
When: Saturday, March 14th
Where: Paradise Parking Plots Community Garden
930 E James St, Kent, WA 98031