Frequently Asked Questions

Friends of Trees currently hosts events in the Vancouver-metro, Portland-metro, Salem, and Eugene-Springfield regions. If you are looking to plant in Eugene-Springfield, check out the Eugene Friends of Trees page.

To stay in touch, your best bet is to follow us on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter pages (@friendsoftrees). To volunteer, check out the online calendar, learn more about our volunteer roles and our programs.  You can also view the latest version of our email newsletter, TreeMail.  Last but not least, our Volunteer & Outreach staff are always here for you: volunteer@friendsoftrees.org; 503-595-0213.

Registration in advance is strongly encouraged. Please check the online calendar to ensure that the event is not already full. If an event is full and closed, we really hope that you can consider attending a different event that needs your help! 

To sign up for an event in advance, please click on the event of your choice in the online calendar and fill out the registration form linked inside the event. We recommend you check the calendar a few weeks before you wish to volunteer because many of our events do fill up! 

To sign up for a training: If you are interested in training for a role, check out the How to Volunteer page with all of our available roles. Select the role you’re interested in and you’ll be led to a page with more details on the role and upcoming trainings.

Yes–we love groups! Please learn more on our Group Registration page.

We are excited to work with groups of almost any size!  We commonly work with groups of 5-15 people, and can also accommodate groups of 15-30 people at many events.  **If your group is 30+, please reach out directly to our Volunteer & Outreach Program so we can work together to find the event that’s the best fit for your interests and what we have available.

If you would prefer a private event for your company or group, we can create a private weekday or weekend event for a small cost.  Please see our Private Events page.

Possibly. This depends on the size of your group and the type of event you’ll be volunteering at. 

• To stay together we recommend our Green Space program events where we’re planting in a park or natural area.  We can often keep groups of up to 15 people together on one planting crew.
• If you’re willing to be split up, you’re a good fit for either of our planting programs: Green Space and Neighborhood Trees.  Please know that for neighborhood plantings we ask groups to split up into smaller teams of 3-5 people each. This ensures a high quality experience while volunteering and contributes to all the trees getting planted.
• When you look at our online calendar, Green Space events are green, Neighborhood Trees events are purple.

Yes! In order to participate, all youth under age 18 must bring a youth waiver signed by their parent or guardian to the event. Please note that youth will not be able to plant, weed, or mulch if they don’t have a signed waiver. 

Download our youth waiver and bring it to the event signed by the youth’s parent or legal guardian. We’ll ask for it at the registration table at the start of the event!  We’ll also have copies available at the event.

Yes! Over time we have received feedback from parents that our events are best suited for ages 6+.  We encourage building tree and community stewardship young and hope you and your family consider participating!

Younger than 6? Given the physical nature of the work and the weather conditions, our events can be challenging for children younger than 6 and the adults who look after them. **If you are planting a Gift Tree with us and would like to bring a younger child, please email or call (503-595-0213) our Volunteer & Outreach team for additional support. These are not hard and fast rules, just guidelines based on feedback from folks who have been in your shoes before.

Ages 6+: Our Green Space plantings are generally great for planters 6 years old and older. These events take place in a single location and are focused on smaller-stock trees and shrubs which are easier to plant for smaller-bodied volunteers.

Ages 10+: For Neighborhood Trees events we are planting along neighborhood streets, moving to multiple locations throughout a given area, and planting 8-10′ large-stock trees. Youth under 10 (and the adults looking after them) may find these events challenging.

Youth under 15: We kindly request a parent or guardian is in attendance.  For elementary-aged youth, we request a ratio of 1 adult for every 5 youth.  For older youth, 1 adult for every 10 youth is super.

Youth 15+: 15 and older are welcome without an adult as long as they are comfortable interacting with other adults and youth and can follow planting instructions.

Some sites are wheelchair accessible, but not all of them. Accommodations for volunteers with limited vision and/or who are hard of hearing can also be coordinated. To learn more about accessibility at our events, please visit our Accessible Volunteer Opportunities page or contact our Volunteer & Outreach staff.

No, Friends of Trees provides gloves to wear and tools to use for the duration of the event. If you feel more comfortable wearing your own gloves, please feel free to bring them! Friends of Trees is not responsible for any misplaced personal items during our events.

During planting season (October-April), waterproof outerwear is ideal. For safety reasons, we require volunteers to wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes or boots–tall rubber boots work great! Multiple warm layers underneath a rain-ready layer can help to keep you comfortable throughout the day. 

Our events involve digging in dirt, handling woody mulch, and, sometimes, removing thorny introduced, weedy species. So you can be comfortable with these activities, please wear long-sleeves and clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.

For Tree Care events (April-May), we still require closed-toe, sturdy shoes or boots for safety reasons. No sandals of any kind, please! And, while the weather may be warmer, we still encourage long-sleeved shirts to protect your skin from slivers in the woody mulch or thorns in some of the weedy species.

In almost all cases, we do not allow dogs at Friends of Trees events.  It’s difficult to know if a volunteer coming to an event have a dog allergy or a fear of dogs.  We’ve committed to making our events as safe and inclusive (to humans) as possible, so unfortunately we need to say ‘no’ to our canine friends.  In addition, some of our planting sites such as national wildlife refuges, have deemed dogs disruptive to sensitive fish/wildlife habitat and we honor their rules.

One exception to our no-dog policy applies to events at the Sandy River Delta in Troutdale, OR (map).  This site also serves as a dog park, and your canine pals are welcome to accompany you on-leash!

We are very willing to discuss service animals on a case-by-case basis. If you have a service animal and would like to attend an event, please contact the Volunteer & Outreach program directly at 503-595-0213 or volunteer@friendsoftrees.org.

At Friends of Trees, the safety of our volunteers, staff, and project partners is our top priority. If we believe an event needs to be cancelled, we will update the online calendar and share the update via our social media no later than the Friday morning before an event. If you are pre-registered, you will receive an email from us notifying you of the event cancellation. If you check our calendar and it does not indicate your event is cancelled, we are moving forward with getting trees in the ground that day.

While an event may still be moving forward, we understand that each volunteer has a unique set of circumstances. Please make the best decision for your own personal safety AND those around you.  If you are feeling ill, we ask that you sit this event out and return when it is safe to do so. 

Yes, BUT…volunteer or service learning hours can only be verified on-site while you are at the event. We are unable to verify hours in any form (letter, call, email, etc) once the event has concluded. After you are done planting, a Friends of Trees staff member (they’ll be wearing a purple Friends of Trees vest) will be happy to sign something on your behalf. Please make sure to bring the letter, form, or other document that you use to track hours to the planting.

Volunteering with Friends of Trees is an excellent way to fulfill service-learning or volunteer requirements. Our events run from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and occur almost every Saturday, October through April. We hope you will join us to have fun planting trees and completing your hours!

All of our volunteers can expect certain things from their volunteer experience with Friends of Trees. In return, Friends of Trees has certain expectations of every volunteer. Thanks for reading!

Friends of Trees volunteers have the right to:

• • Be provided with a friendly introduction to Friends of Trees, staff members, and area you’ll be working
  • Be provided with a safe working environment
  • Be treated as an individual whose time and input is valued by the organization
  • Participate in a well-defined role with clear expectations
  • Receive training/education for your tasks and be given an explanation of how this work contributes to the larger mission for Friends of Trees
  • Receive feedback about your work and a person who you can direct questions and receive support
  • Be given flexibility to integrate your volunteer schedule into your personal schedule (Note: Some roles are more flexible than others and Friends of Trees will communicate this at the start of engagement)
  • Be given the opportunity for varied experiences (for example: planting, pruning, tree care, office work, etc)
  • Be protected from liability, harassment, discrimination, and other workplace concerns
  • Request a re-evaluation of your role/task if and when you would like to change
  • Learn about Friends of Trees, its mission, and its programs

Volunteers are expected to:

• • Be willing to participate in orientation and training
  • Ask for help when needed
  • Be realistic about their time commitment to the volunteer role
  • Be sincere in their offer of service to Friends of Trees
  • Contact Friends of Trees with any scheduling changes
  • Carry out their work reliably and to the best of their ability
  • Represent Friends of Trees to the best of their abilities when working with the public as a volunteer
  • Uphold Friends of Trees’ commitment to inclusion at every turn (learn about our Equity & Inclusion and anti-oppression expectations)
  • Stay within the bounds of the job description, unless otherwise asked
  • Accept the guidance and decisions of the Friends of Trees staff