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:

Earth Day 2010 is coming up on April 22, and we hope you’ll join us to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this day of environmental awareness. Here’s how you can get involved:

• Promote recycling and staff food and prize tables at GrowNYC’s GetGreen South Bronx Earth Fest on April 24.

• Staff GrowNYC’s Riverdale YWHA Environmental Fair for children and organize incoming donations for the Stop and Swap on April 25.

• Give city parks and gardens a good spring greening with 5,000 other volunteers on Hands On New York Day on April 24.

We’ve also been doing our part to combat climate change by increasing  volunteer opportunities focusing on the environment, so if you can’t make these events, we have plenty of other projects to choose from.

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.

Spring brings New York Cares gardening projects. Last weekend, 18 volunteers went to Added Value farms, a 2.75 acre urban farm in Red Hook, Brooklyn, that engages local youth to take part in planting, harvesting, and selling the crops they produce.

Weeds completely covered the field, but New York Cares volunteers worked alongside teenagers from the surrounding community to pull every last one, clearing 6,000 square feet in less than three hours. Once we reached that goal, we continued on to weed the entire east side of the farm, way more than the farm had originally planned to do. At the end of the day, we kicked back with some homemade hibiscus tea and surveyed a job well done.

Ready to get your hands in the dirt? Find your gardening project.

The 15th Annual Hands On New York Day was an amazing day. 5,000 caring New Yorkers worked under bright sunshine all day to revitalize over 75 New York City parks, gardens, playgrounds, community centers, and schools. Volunteers also planted 20,000 trees throughout the five boroughs in support of MillionTreesNYC.

Thanks to everyone who participated, New York City’s public spaces are cleaner, greener, and ready for summer!

And thanks to the exceptional fundraising efforts of Hands On New York Day volunteers, we have already raised $130,000, which will help us mobilize 50,000 New York Cares volunteers to keep improving New York City in the coming year. Help us keep this good thing going by making a donation in honor of their work.

At New Vision Garden in Brooklyn, volunteers are painting, rebuilding picnic tables, weeding, and painting to get it ready for the warm summer months ahead!

New York Cares volunteers are planting 20,000 trees around the city in partnership with MillionTrees NYC.

Paul Lawrence of HSBC, Commissioner Benepe, New York Cares Executive Director Gary Bagley, and head of MillionTrees NYC

Planting the ceremonial tree at East River Park in Manhattan

Astoria Park in Queens is now much cleaner thanks to our Hands On New York Day volunteers!

Volunteers cleaning up the shoreline

Under the Triborough Bridge

Team John Jay Scholars is hard at work cleaning up Drew Gardens in the Bronx!

Picking up trash

More trash

Putting out mulch

Team Random Claw and other teams are halfway through getting new murals painted at P.S. 17 Q in Queens!

Getting started

Happy volunteers

Volunteers painting Greece

Team Random Claw