Here’s a great example of small changes making a big difference!

Since May, a group of New York Cares volunteers have been visiting F·E·G·S Health and Human Services System once a month to rejuvenate and refresh the service center. Our volunteers have worked to create a green garden from scratch.

However, this garden does more than just beautify the area. New York Cares is expanding to work with the F·E·G·S residents in a horticultural therapy program, where volunteers act as mentors to the residents and learn new gardening skills. Check it out:

We can’t believe it’s already our fifth year planning the annual L’Oréal USA Volunteer Day! Yesterday New York Cares had the honor of hosting 18 different projects for the enthusiastic bunch of over 500 L’Oreal volunteers.

The volunteers and New York Cares staff did everything from visiting nursing homes to walking dogs to revitalizing community gardens. We made an impact all across the city, and it was a blast for everyone involved.

On our visit to Kateri Residence, the seniors took a moment to profoundly thank those who had taken time to visit them and take them for outings. For some of the residents, it was the first time they had gone outside in months. It’s days like this where we can clearly see how deep our impact is (and can be) on the community, and it only took a few hours!

Here’s to L’Oréal and their wonderful employees for their contributions! Click here to see more great photos from our various projects!

The 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service is coming up on June 28-30 in New York City, and we’re planning a week of volunteer opportunities for anyone who wants to revitalize the city.

We’ll be building garden beds, restoring picnic tables and pavilions, planting flowers, weeding, and pruning at six community spaces in Brooklyn and Manhattan on the weekend of June 26 – 27. Sign up now to volunteer, and check out some “before” photos of Euclid Garden, where we’ll be transforming an empty lot into a new garden space.

The weather forecast couldn’t be better for outdoor projects this weekend. Catch some sun and unwind from the work week on a gardening or painting project in special need of volunteers:

• Garden at Added Value Farms (Brooklyn)
• Spruce Up New Vision Garden (Brooklyn)
• Paint a Fence at Horseshoe Playground (Bronx)
• Paint at Safe Horizon (Queens)

Volunteers digging a new pathway through Hands and Heart Garden in East New York, Brooklyn, under a gorgeous blue sky in preparation for the summer’s crops.

With public services that are already strapped for resources facing even more budget cuts this year, the work that volunteers will do on Hands On New York Day is crucial to keeping our city’s public spaces clean and green.

This incredible day of service is also a critical fundraiser that enables New York Cares to put volunteers to work all year long at struggling city agencies, community centers, and public schools.

Take the $150 Challenge and help us reach our goal. If all Hands On New York Day volunteers raise $150 in honor of their service, New York Cares could provide $4.5 million in service to the community. Set your goal even higher and join the Team Green fundraising club.

There’s still time to register for Hands On New York Day, but even if you can’t attend the event, you can make a big impact by fundraising as a Virtual Volunteer or making a donation. Learn more about what we can accomplish with your donations.

New York City doesn’t usually bring waterfalls to mind, but Seton Falls Park in the Bronx is home to a beautiful creek and waterfall that 100 volunteers will get ready for spring on Hands On New York Day. Check out some photos of the sites we’ve been visiting for the last couple of weeks in preparation.

We’ll be sending adventurous volunteers to the far reaches of Staten Island to clean up land for a new park development (pictured above), and volunteers will be working at community gardens all across the city — from Poppa and Momma Jones Garden in East New York to Jenny’s Garden in Washington Heights — to paint benches and picnic tables, clean away winter debris, weed, mulch, and more.

Sign up now to volunteer on Hands On New York Day and explore parts of the city you’ve never seen. You may find yourself removing invasive and exotic species along the shoreline of the pond in Morningside Park!

Volunteer to give New York City a good spring greening and raise critical funds for New York Cares.

Join 5,000 volunteers to revitalize our city’s parks, gardens, playgrounds, community centers, and other public spaces, making them cleaner, greener, and ready for summer.

Hands On New York Day is an incredible day of service and a critical fundraiser for New York Cares. The money you raise will support 11,000 volunteer projects at New York Cares each year. Learn how you can get involved with this serve-a-thon www.handsonnewyorkday.org.

Give New York City a good spring greening on Hands On New York Day: Saturday, April 24.

On our annual spring day of service, you’ll join friends, family, or coworkers to revitalize New York City parks, gardens, and public spaces and fundraise for New York Cares’ year-round programs. This event is generously sponsored by HSBC Bank.

Check back soon for more information – registration begins February 17. Find out more.

For their last project of the school year, the children and volunteers at P.S. 297 K took a break from their usual Sports Explorers program to revitalize one of their local community gardens. The kids had a blast beautifying Patrick J. Van Doren Pocket Park, especially painting new signs for the garden.

Can you think of more fun crossover projects like this that we could try? Post your suggestions here as a comment.