About the CAC Member and Site (2016-2017):

Kelley Yang served at Baltimore Orchard Project (BOP), an organization that strengthens communities through planting and cultivating orchards, teaching citizens to be long-term stewards, and sharing the harvest among community members. During this last year, Kelley was in charge of infusing environmental education workshops and programs with art-making activities and experiences. Over time, BOP has observed that art-making processes in their orchards help community members in Baltimore City take more ownership on the orchards.

"Don't Let the Rain Get You Down"

April showers bring May flowers...and fruits. The warm months have begun! This has meant lots of outdoor activities and volunteer events happening with Baltimore Orchard Project. Special activities for Earth Day have been in the works for a while now. There were several ups and downs during the planning process, but I learned a lot about event organizing by the end of it all.

Originally, I was not in charge of the art projects for the Earth Day celebrations, but I was on a larger team that was planning all the day's activities. We decided to create "stepping stones" - something that was functional and could look nice under the sun.

About a month before the event, Jenny, our CivicWorks' Volunteer Coordinator, notified me that I was going to be in charge of this art project. That meant: finding supplies, creating the demo, and facilitating the project. However, with a small budget, finding the supplies was tough. The CivicWorks' team were lifesavers. I got to work closely with the Community Lots crew during this experience. They supported the event a lot, and even though things got messy on the day of the event, we all pulled through in the end.

We had rainy April weather on the volunteer day. But, nothing could bother us! We actually had a larger turnout of volunteers than expected. However, that meant a lack of molds to create our "stepping stones." In the middle of the event I had to think quickly on my feet, and figure out what else we could use as molds. I figured out how to make the molds with some leftover planter pots. The families and other volunteers barely noticed the moments I had to run out. And of course, the Community Lot team really helped out during those busy moments.

Was it a perfect day? No, but I realize now how much strength there is in flexibility and delegation of tasks. There were moments when I thought that this whole project was going to end terribly and that it wouldn't even happen to begin with. In the end, we have some beautiful stepping stones for the Hilltop orchard site where the event took place. After this, I have more confidence that even though things will most likely never go exactly as planned, a strong team behind you will always have your back.