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the Dunedin Council of Organizations, a
<br />group of representatives from over 70
<br />clubs and associations in the city. The
<br />DCO presentation generated several
<br />projects as well as invitations to speak to
<br />clubs and homeowners associations
<br />meetings around town. Groups like the
<br />Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club, and
<br />garden clubs are always looking for
<br />speakers, and they are precisely the
<br />groups who may have the funds, the
<br />expertise and the labor necessary to make
<br />a volunteer program successful.
<br /> Setting up and establishing a volun-
<br />teer program is a lot easier than manag-
<br />ing it once it is underway. In Dunedin,
<br />we more or less made up the rules as we
<br />went along. Although the volunteer
<br />group for a particular project will have
<br />ideas of its own, those ideas must ulti-
<br />mately fit into your system. It is neces-
<br />sary to provide guidance and leadership
<br />to the group both before and during a
<br />project.
<br /> If the project is landscaping of a park,
<br />a drawing of landscape plan should be
<br />prepared by your organization for vol-
<br />unteers to follow. In Dunedin, such
<br />drawings are reviewed by the personnel
<br />who will ultimately be responsible for
<br />the maintenance of the improvements.
<br />A landscape project which becomes a
<br />weed-infested eyesore in a month or
<br />two, due to unrealisuc maintenance re-
<br />quirements, will quickly discourage fu-
<br />tare participation in the program. We
<br />have found that this review also gains
<br />the support of maintenance personnel,
<br />whose approval gives them a stake in the
<br />continued success of the project.
<br /> After a project has been decided upon
<br />and a date set, good preparation is essen-
<br />tial. In the case of the Kiwanis fitness
<br />trail, many of the components were
<br />precut and drilled for easier assembly in
<br />the field. If the project is landscaping,
<br />all the plants, mulch, hoses, and tools are
<br />assembled and loaded into a truck and
<br />trailer by Parks Staff for delivery on the
<br />day of the project. As a rule, the volun-
<br />teer group will want to do its project on
<br />a Saturday, and volunteers do not like to
<br />stay and work for more than about six
<br />hours. This makes preplanning and or-
<br />ganization very important to ensure that
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<br />the project gets done and that the group
<br />maintains its enthusiasm. All tools and
<br />materials should be on site and ready to
<br />use when the volunteer group arrives.
<br /> Recognition of the group is also quite
<br />important. We usually take two cam-
<br />eras to each project: one with black and
<br />white print film and one for color slides.
<br />The black and white prints are made
<br />available to newspapers along with press
<br />releases about the project. Pubic recog-
<br />nition not only rewards the participating
<br />group, it also encourages other groups to
<br />get involved in the volunteer program.
<br />The slides are used for "before and after"
<br />segments in the slide show which is
<br />presented to still more clubs and asso-
<br />ciations. A before-and-after shot of a
<br />once shabby park or traffic island is a
<br />very effective way to inspire a club or
<br />organization to volunteer for a project of
<br />its own,
<br /> Since the City of Dunedin began ag-
<br />gressively pursuing the use of volunteer
<br />efforts to provide facilities and services
<br />four years ago, we have achieved dozens
<br />of improvements and benefited from
<br />thousands of volunteer hours. We have
<br />also learned several lessons which have
<br />made our program more successful and
<br />can be applied to new programs under-
<br />taken by others. The main thing which
<br />has contributed to the success of our
<br />pro,am is its flexibility. The Adopt-A-
<br />Park program is an example. Many
<br />cities have started such programs and
<br />they usually consist of an agreement by
<br />which an organization may pay for the
<br />maintenance ora city-ownedarea. Based
<br />on my regional observations, it appears
<br />that these programs often are minimally
<br />successful.
<br /> We, on the other hand, gear our projects
<br />to the abilities of the groups. For ex-
<br />ample, the Rotary Club seems to prefer
<br />to contribute funds, but not labor, the
<br />Kiwanis contributes both, and the Boy
<br />Scouts can contribute labor but not
<br />money. We therefore gear each indi-
<br />vidual project to the personality of the
<br />group which is doing it.
<br /> Along these same lines, we have
<br />learned not to overcomplicate the pro-
<br />cess. It seems that many volunteer pro-
<br />grams (especially government-created)
<br />are marvels of complexity, cross-refer-
<br />encing, andlegalese. These characteris-
<br />tics tend to scare away or disgust poten-
<br />tial volunteers. We therefore have tried
<br />to do everything possible to keep the
<br />process simple. This is done by good
<br />planning on the part of the project coor-
<br />d inator an d a willingness to make course
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<br />changes along the way. Planning gives
<br />you a good outline forgetting something
<br />done, but it can't allow for everything
<br />that might come up in the field. An
<br />attitude of flexibility will allow you to
<br />handle unexpected problems and to deal
<br />with the individual personalities of your
<br />volunteer groups. Remember, even a
<br />broad-based prograrn has to succeed one
<br />group at a time.
<br /> In every community, whether that
<br />community is a city, a county, a college
<br />campus, ora county club, therearepeople
<br />who have a need to serve their fellow
<br />human beings. If you want to provide
<br />services and facilities in the face of
<br />budget and manpower constraints, it
<br />becomes your job to find a way to pro-
<br />vide these people with an outlet for that
<br />need. Admittedly, this requires an in-
<br />vestment of time and energy on your
<br />part. You may find yourself attending
<br />more evening meetings and working
<br />more weekends; but, if the management
<br />of parks and grounds is truly the worthy
<br />profession we believe it is, then a few
<br />evenings and weekends may be a small
<br />price to pay to forward its aims and
<br />educate its beneficiaries. !
<br />
<br />12/91 PARK/GROUNDS MANAGEMENT 13
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