MLK Day of Service

Through the collaboration of local faith and civic groups, the Family Promise of Gainesville’s mission is to provide families experiencing homelessness with compassionate care that includes case management, education, housing, meals, and transportation until they can transition to a home of their own. Volunteers will assist with organizing our storage unit to ensure that families get the furniture and supplies they need when they move into housing.

Grace Grow’s mission is to empower people who are experiencing homelessness and food insecurity through horticulture. Volunteers will assist with building a new raised garden bed for the horticultural therapy program. Volunteers will also help with planting seeds and seedlings for the program.

Grace Marketplace’s Mission is simple: to end homelessness. We achieve that goal by removing the typical barriers that keep people from getting help and providing them with safe shelter, effective services, and permanent housing solutions. Participants can expect to help prepare and serve a meal for guests of GRACE, sort and organize donations, and various other tasks.

Grow Hub is a beautiful and safe place where adults of all abilities can find meaningful work. Grow Hub’s collaborative community programs and partnerships provide cultivating and empowering education, training, and job opportunities for disabled adults to improve sustainable living. Volunteers will create a food and herbs garden for workers with disabilities to have access to free fresh produce as well as beautification projects on site. Volunteers will be working outdoors, and masks are required. All equipment will be sanitized prior to service.

Keep Alachua County Beautiful is committed to creating a Florida where every community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live. Volunteers will beautify the community during this service activity to help keep our paradise litter-free.

The UF Native Plant Nursery is affiliated with the Natural Areas Teaching Laboratory at the University of Florida. The Nursery works to produce native plants for research, teaching, and restoration projects for the university. Volunteers will assist the Nursery by helping pot native plants into larger pots and seeding new trays of native plants.

The Natural Area Teaching Lab (NATL) is a 60-acre conservation area located on the southwestern corner of the University of Florida Gainesville campus. The mission of NATL is to help teach students and the public about ecology, biodiversity, and conservation. Volunteers will assist the NATL Operations Team in various tasks to help maintain the area. Examples of such tasks include: helping remove invasive plants, pulling/trimming vines growing over fences and trails, helping remove trash from the area, and helping us prepare sites for future restoration projects (e.g., planting native plants).”