How Can You Help Preserve Land for Life? Become a Volunteer!

Through the contributions of many volunteers, the programs TLC is able to offer and the impact it has had on the landscape has grown dramatically. Volunteers certainly make a difference! There are several opportunities for you to get involved, both indoors and outdoors.  Read the brief descriptions of the most common volunteer needs below, then complete the Volunteer Profile Form found at the bottom of this page.  You will be notified as opportunities related to your skills and interests come up. We would love to have you become part of this great community of dedicated – and friendly – volunteers!

Habitat Restoration Workdays

Volunteer Workdays take place most Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays. No experience is necessary, and tools and refreshments are provided. Volunteers should dress in long pants and sturdy shoes. Activities will focus on eradicating invasive species from natural areas. All year long volunteers cut brush such as buckthorn, honeysuckle, and small willows with both chainsaws and hand loppers. Volunteers can either cut or help build and burn brush piles. In spring, volunteers can pull garlic mustard by hand, and in the fall, volunteers gather seed and acorns to be used for future resstoration projects.  Visit the calendar of events to see upcoming workdays. Sign up to volunteer here.

Planting Oaks

Help reforest McHenry County! TLC works with municipalities, schools, churches, students and volunteers to promote the next generation of oaks. McHenry County used to have an abundance of oaks, but very few baby oaks are germinating and surviving to adulthood. Planting and caring for them gives them a much needed head start. Oak plantings take place in the spring and the fall, and involve digging holes, planting, mulching, setting up protective cages and watering. You can sign up to volunteer here.

Office Support

We occasionally need volunteers during business hours to help with mailings or prepare for events.  If you like to sit around a table doing simple tasks, while also solving all the world’s problems, this is a perfect fit. It’s a great opportunity to be able to help out while conversing with other like-minded people! Sign up here.

Special Events

Do you enjoy planning or helping out at events?  TLC’s fall fundraiser –Art of the Land– involves planning and coordinating from spring until the two-day event in November.  The result brings together talented artists, photographers, sponsors, performers and members for a spectacular event to raise funds that help TLC fulfill its mission.

Be sure to indicate on the Volunteer Profile form  your interest in Special Events.