Chattahoochee Nature Center, Inc.

Thank you, Insiten for joining us in the Greenhouse this morning! Volunteers assisted Henning von Schmeling in moving a large quantity of native plants out of the Greenhouse and into a shaded area. These plants were then weeded, fertilized and stepped up to larger containers. After finishing up their volunteer shift in the Greenhouse, these lucky volunteers explored the Chattahoochee Nature Center and stopped by the Butterfly Encounter for a quick visit. Thank you Collin Argo for organizing this group volunteer event for Insiten! Collin is a regular volunteer at CNC and joins us frequently to help with Habitat Restoration projects. We're thrilled that he enjoys volunteering with CNC and that he wanted to share this experience with his co-workers. #Volunteer #BuildCommunity #NotYourTypicalWorkDay

Thank you, IDEXX for sending us another hardworking group of volunteers! Despite the high temperatures today, IDEXX volunteers spent 6 hours alongside our Unity Garden coordinator, Coles Bradley. They helped build a new raised garden bed, and planted and helped maintain existing garden beds. They even had a little fun playing with the water hose to find a little relief from the heat! The goal of our corporate volunteer program is to provide companies with meaningful opportunities to give back to the community while supporting CNC's mission, #ConnectPeopleWithNature. By participating in volunteer projects, corporate teams contribute to the preservation and enhancement of our natural habitats, while also enjoying a rewarding team-building experience. They also get to spend a fun day in nature!   All produce from our Unity Garden is donated to North Fulton Community Charities to help ease food insecurity in our community. Last year CNC produced nearly 10,000 pounds of fresh produce for donation! We count on our corporate partners like IDEXX to hit these impressive numbers. Thank you, Regina Martin for organizing this impactful volunteer day! #NotYourTypicalWorkday #Volunteer #IDEXX

Thank you, UPS for sending us ANOTHER group of energetic volunteers! Today, UPS volunteers started the morning with a Habitat Restoration along our scenic boardwalk where they helped remove Asiatic dayflowers. Unfortunately, nature has a way of happening when you're out in nature and the discovery of a few yellow jacket nests necessitated a change of plans for the morning. Project 2: Volunteers assisted our grounds crew by carrying cut branches from Willeo Road, across campus and up a steep hill to a natural compost area. Project 3: Volunteers assisted with moving mulch and maintaining garden beds in the Unity Garden. We are grateful that this team of UPS volunteers were flexible, fearless and willing to move into a new project every hour they were on the CNC campus! #NotYourTypicalWorkday #Volunteer #UnitedAsOne

Our Mission is to Connect People with Nature. Today, during our monthly volunteer orientation, our newly minted CNC volunteers visited our Butterfly Encounter, walked along our iconic river boardwalk AND encountered one of our Wildlife staff members socializing a Peregrine Falcon. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning in June! Come volunteer with us and fall in love with the beauty of Chattahoochee Nature Center. #Volunteer #GetYourNatureOn

Thank you, Workday for volunteering with us on this hot Friday in June! Even though our local temperature reached 90 degrees, these volunteers braved the heat and helped clear old growth and debris from the area behind the greenhouse. We also had a team of volunteers that helped pot Cherokee Sage, Ohio Spiderwort and Bluestar. A portion of these native plants will be planted on the grounds at Chattahoochee Nature Center while the rest of the plants will be stepped-up and sold in our next native plant sale scheduled for September 27-28. We are grateful for this opportunity to partner with Workday and we hope you enjoyed volunteering with us! While volunteers are on site in the greenhouse area they spend time with our Conservation Horticulturist, Henning von Schmeling, who is a native and rare plant expert. If you would like the opportunity to meet Henning and learn more about native plants, please join us for our upcoming Carnivorous Plant Sale on August 31. #NotYourTypicalWorkday #Volunteer #Workday #PlantNative

Thank you Mercedes-Benz USA for sending us ANOTHER group of volunteers this week! Today, MBUSA volunteers worked with our Horticulture team on a Greenhouse project. The project involved breaking apart old planting beds and clearing debris from a large area behind the greenhouse. The goal of this project was to create more space in the greenhouse area to expand our inventory of native plants. The Chattahoochee Nature Center strives to educate the public on the importance of native plants to our local ecosystem. Our Conservation Horticulturist Henning von Schmeling is a respected expert in the field of plant conservation across the Southeast. We promote the use of native plants in our community through education and by hosting two native plant sales each year, as well as offering native pollinator plants for sale as part of our summer Butterfly Encounter. We truly appreciate MBUSA and your continued support of Chattahoochee Nature Center and our mission to #ConnectPeopleWithNature. #DrivingYourFuture #Volunteer #NotYourTypicalWorkday

Thank you UPS for volunteering with us today! The majority of your team worked in the Unity Garden alongside our garden coordinator, Coles Bradley. UPS volunteers planted zucchini, helped dig trenches to create new planting beds, and helped with weeding and maintenance of existing planting beds. All produce from our Unity Garden is donated to North Fulton Community Charities to help ease food insecurity in our community. A second group of UPS volunteers helped move teak memorial benches up the CNC mural stairs and across campus to return them to their places of honor. These industrious volunteers also applied a second coat of teak oil to help protect these legacy benches from the elements. As a nonprofit, we rely on our corporate volunteers to help with numerous projects across CNC grounds. We are grateful for your continued support and we hope your team enjoyed their day out in nature! #UnitedAsOne #NotYourTypicalWorkday #Volunteer

Yes, as a matter of fact, we do have a tractor! Thank you, Mercedes-Benz USA for volunteering with us today! MBUSA volunteers from the IT department spent the morning with our operations team working on our upper road to expand parking areas for CNC staff. This project included leveling four different areas, spreading gravel, (driving a tractor) and drilling 4x4s to create curbs for the new parking spots. We had another group of volunteers working in the Greenhouse helping clean up Pitcher Plants that will be featured in our August 31 Carnivorous Plant Sale. MBUSA is #DrivingYourFuture by creating a corporate culture that continues to value community and volunteerism. We are grateful to all of the volunteers who came out today to help finish this project. #NotYourTypicalWorkday #GetYourNatureOn #Volunteer

Thank you, The Coca-Cola Company for sending us such a wonderful group of hardworking volunteers! Today, Coca-Cola volunteers from the Marketing Operations and Capabilities division spent the day restoring teak Memorial Benches that have been donated to CNC over the years to pay tribute to a friend or loved one. Years of exposure to the elements started to diminish the beauty of these special benches. First, Coca-Cola volunteers scrubbed and sanded the benches to remove lichen that had started to build up, then the benches were sprayed with a teak brightener, and finished with a special teak oil to restore the natural beauty of the wood. Thank you John Pinkard and Sarah Jane Miles for facilitating this volunteer event with Coca-Cola! Thank you David Miles for leading this project and making sure that everyone had a good time on their volunteer day with Chattahoochee Nature Center. #NotYourTypicalWorkday #Volunteerism #RealMagic

Thank you, Sterling Seacrest Pritchard for sending us a large group of energetic volunteers! Today SSP volunteers worked alongside our operations staff to complete several important tasks. 1. We had one group using power saws to cut old stages into small enough pieces for us to recycle. 2. We had a group in the greenhouse area helping with scraping and weeding as well as potting plants. 3. We had a group helping dig post holes near the river to secure a new docking system that will allow guests to access the river by canoe without slipping on the bank. 4. We had a group help us carry benches down to the pavilion, clear out and clean a storage area, AND build a stage for our first night of Sunset Sips this coming Thursday Night. (Join us to see Darby Wilcox live!) Our operations team maintains CNC facilities and manages the grounds work with only 4 staff members. They are an invisible force working behind the scenes to help keep every area of the Chattahoochee Nature Center functioning and looking beautiful. Most CNC visitors don't know they exist. We truly appreciate Sterling Seacrest Pritchard volunteers for their willingness to take on EVERY SINGLE task on our operation's check list! We cannot do this work without the help of our volunteers, and we truly appreciate you! #NotYourTypicalWorkday #SSPCares #Volunteerism