Volunteer Opportunities
Join Us!
Welcome! TOGA is always looking for volunteers, like you! Volunteers are essential to most everything we do - TOGA is grassroots, and even our board is all-volunteer. We are working to make volunteering for TOGA even better, and now have a volunteer coordinator, Laurie Slone lslone@togaboard.org. Right now there are three main areas we need help.
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TOGA continues to teach new oyster gardeners the skills and information they need to be successful: OYS 101 Basic Oyster Gardening classes are being offered this year all over the Tidewater area, by Master Oyster Gardener, Richard Siciliano, yet to keep this up, we need help. TOGA will be providing train-the-trainers type sessions to get volunteers up to speed for OYS 101 and other educational events.
Educational Events
TOGA has a presence at events and conducts educational sessions to involve and inform the public on the benefits of oysters - to the environment and saving our treasured Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Enthusiastic about oyster gardening? You can help!
Float and Spat Sales: Spring & Fall
These are our 2 major fundraising events - supplying floats, cages, bags, rope, and baby oysters (aka spat) to people to put into the Bay area. It is also a time to get together to socialize and meet other members, oyster enthusiasts like you! Buy TOGA t-shirts, hats and more. Come meet us! We need volunteers to set up and take down at these events, to chat with attendees, and run the TOGA store as well as 'run' floats and supplies to purchasers vehicles!
Please email lslone@togaboard.org if you, or someone you know is interested in helping TOGA and the Bay by volunteering.
We also always appreciate and welcome any donations:
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Join TOGA and consider your annual family membership of $25 a tax-deductible donation.
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Give a tax-deductible donation to TOGA Donations help fund the TOGA Fellowship to fund graduate student research at VIMS (Virginia Institute of Marine Science), and to help save the Bay, one oyster at a time.
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Hope to hear from you,
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Laurie Slone, lslone@togaboard.org
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Volunteer Coordinator, TOGA
Please contact us to volunteer or ask ask about our current volunteer needs.
Our current Events Schedule- You may contact the event coordinator with the contact info provided.
Float Building- We have a small group of regular float builders, but we need more. For several years, we have been building over 300 floats and devices per year. We usually do this work in the fall and spring, just before the floats sales. Thankfully, TOGA members support our efforts by buying the floats, allowing us to use the revenue to support our TOGA/VIMS Student Fellowship Endowment and other worthwhile projects. The regulars will happily show you how we do it. Volunteer and make new friends! Contact us, or contact Vic Spain directly at vicspain@togaboard.org.
Other ways to get started:
Talk with a Board Member or a Master Oyster Gardener at any TOGA Event, Oyster Gardening 101 course, the Annual Meeting, the Appreciation Party, the float sales, etc.
