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Rice Street Gardens is looking for new board members

We want the gardens to go on long into the future, both for the gardeners and for the health of the whole nearby community. The notice we are putting out to the community follows:

Rice Street Gardens (RSG) Executive Board Recruiting

RSG is a large community garden near Rice Street and Roselawn Avenue in Maplewood with over 260 family garden plots. The gardens have been in operation since 2016. RSG is a symbol of growth and hope to a broad community. In fact, within walking distance of the gardens, many recent immigrants and other low income families are food insecure, and RSG provides an essential source of nourishment. The gardens provide a way for gardeners to help provide for their families. Especially for elders, it supports both physical and mental health. Rice Street Gardens helps many see the U.S. as a welcoming land with people who care about them.

The existing executive board has several older leaders, and we would like to bring new skills to the team. This has been a volunteer board who make many decisions about the operations at the garden. It is a working board that gathers weekly by zoom to not only develop strategies, but often to personally implement some decisions.
Here are some examples:

  • Organize and manage training for the gardeners each spring

  • Overseeing expenditures and fund raising

  • Resolving problem areas and disputes

  • Meeting the requirements of the land owners, the St. Paul Regional Water Services

  • Planning work days and celebrations

  • Working with builders, city management, and the land owners to implement long range plans for the gardens and potential low income housing to be built on the larger site. The gardens have raised over $800.000 toward this goal.

    The executive board meets weekly from January through October every Monday morning, and there are usually significant issues to be discussed. Any applicant would need to be available for most of these meetings. We are looking for new board members with these skills:

  • A love for gardening, gardeners, and the immigrant population

  • Communication, technical, non-profit management, political, or financial experience.

  • Willingness to work in a collaborative team to proactively get things done.

  • A record of action, accomplishment, creativity, and willingness to work hard.

    It would be nice if the applicant had these skills:

  • Knowledge of the Karen or Nepali communities, who represent over 70 percent of the

    gardeners.

  • A circle of friends and acquaintances who could help when needed, or connections to related

    organizations.

  • A youthful point of view, and the flexibility to make a commitment to stay on the board for at

    least two years.
    Rice Street Gardens has two part-time employees, one our Administrator and another our Garden Manager. The Administrator keeps records of gardener applications and plot assignments. The Garden Manager gets to know all the gardeners by being at the gardens regularly, preventing pilfering, repairing tools, and generally keeping the gardens looking good. There are also many gardeners who help with ongoing tasks at the gardens.

    The executive board membership is unpaid. It’s a volunteer position. However it is a great opportunity for learning management, political, legal, community building, and people skills of great importance in any career and with direct value to many families.

    To apply, send a letter of enquiry to ricestreetgardens@gmail.com

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Help Preserve Rice Street Gardens 

Contact us:

ricestreetgardens@gmail.com
Dana Ferguson 612.481.7299

Garden address:19​​58 Rice Street, Maplewood MN 55113

Mailing address: 145 N. McCarrons Blvd. Roseville MN 55113

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