Wonderful Volunteers

At @wildthingscommunity 2025, some of us were very fortunate to attend a session given by @peregrinesilnature. What’s that you say?

Since March 2023, Northeast Illinois has had a new community caring for the land called The Peregrines, a group of (mostly) 20 and 30 somethings that work to save the planet through conserving local biodiversity! The Peregrines walked through what draws them to the work: Not just connecting people to nature, but connecting people to people in nature.

In our community we have been discussing what we want our relationships with our volunteers to look like since the early days. We’ve wondered how to provide space for them to build their own relationship with the land along with boundaries and agreements and what we can offer to them in reciprocity. 

We are not experts at what we do, we are figuring things out as we go and we are proud that there are many things that we learn with and from our volunteers. 

We make it a priority to cook a delicious meal every work day and at midday we all come together to have lunch. We take time to listen to volunteers, they often have great suggestions and even projects they’d like to propose for our community! They have helped us clear several acres of invasive brush, we have built dead hedges together, we have widened paths and trails, we have planted and watered native trees, shrubs, grasses and flowers. And most importantly, we have spent time listening to their stories and taking hikes with them sharing with excitement our dreams and the land we steward together. 

We have begun building long-term relationships with volunteers that have been participating since 2021 and they have become part of our extended community.

As part of our 2025 goals we have added a Volunteer Coordinator at every work day. We also made a zine in 2023 to get feedback from volunteers whenever possible. We wouldn’t be able to do this work without them! And we are planning an appreciation campout + dinner to honor and celebrate them - so if you are a volunteer be on the lookout for the info soon!

Thank you to The Peregrines for giving us ideas and inspiration on how to collaborate better with our volunteers!