Corporate Service Day

Let Further Along coordinate, manage and partner with you and your team for a fun, educational and challenging day of service and team building! 

We work closely with our volunteer groups to ensure that they have a great experience and understand the importance of the work they complete and its lasting impact. After an orientation on the challenge the volunteers are helping to solve safety and instructions - we break our volunteers into teams of two and get to work! Further Along provides all transportation to the work site in our Merry Green Marvel excursion bus where the team bonding begins! We also provide all the tools, guidance, lunch/beverages and support needed. 

Your Team will make a difference for the future of our region and community and they’ll feel the ‘good’ tired from working hard doing important work and enjoying the unique bond with their teammates that only service work can create.  

We also offer a post service celebration enjoying authentic Cajun cooking and beverages to cap off your day of service before heading home! 

Contact us at info@further-along.org and see our FAQ below.

Further Along/Louisiana Corporate Service Day FAQ

What are the Further Along Louisiana Service Projects? 

The Louisiana Service Projects/Volunteer Center along with the The Merry Green Marvel and Sitting Pretty Farm and the Louisiana Swamp Camp, are the community outreach programs for our 501c3 non-profit, Further Along.  

When do the service projects take place? 

Generally, the best months for a Further Along Corporate Service Day are December, January, March and April (with some limited dates in November). These are the best times of year for planting cypress trees (the main species that we are planting to aid in the recovery of the wetlands - we also plant tupelo trees and bulrush grasses). 

March is our busiest time of year with many colleges and universities coming during spring break to support our restoration efforts. 

What kind of work can we expect to do? 

Volunteers will assist in loading and unloading of materials, tools and trees/grasses to be planted onto the transport boats (we will take a short boat ride to the planting areas). Each volunteer will be paired up with a partner to plant trees in carefully selected areas of the swamp and wetlands as well as affixing a protective sleeve around each sapling (these are virtually important to prevent nutria and other rodents from damaging the young trees).  

We will then load any equipment and remaining materials back onto the boats and unload on land. 

What might we learn during our Day of Service?   

We believe the community members and leaders we interact with tell great stories that speak to the grit and resilience of the culture. We also (schedules permitting) bring in local environmental experts from Southeastern University to answer questions and give more context to the work the volunteers complete. 

Our goal is to have our volunteers come away from their Day of Service with a sense of accomplishment that they are part of the solution to the critically important issues of land loss and wetland degradation. We hope that they will understand the importance of the wetlands they are helping to restore, that they are a part of a legacy of impact that will go on long after their service and a feeling of having worked hard and built camaraderie and connection with their teammates and the environment they worked to restore. 

What if our team doesn’t have at least 15 volunteers?  

We want to support you reaching your target number of team members and being able to join us in the Bayou! If you can't get to 15 participants, we can craft the Day of Service to ensure your volunteers have a great experience. We do request that at least 10 volunteers are recruited to ensure the volunteers realize a legitimate goal and sense of accomplishment during their Day of Service. 

Do you provide transportation to and from the service site?   

Yes. As part of your Corporate Sponsorship, Further Along provides the option to pick up your volunteers at a designated location in our service excursion bus, the Merry Green Marvel. We can drive all volunteers and materials to the service site launch and return all volunteers to the original pick up location. You can also choose to meet us at the designated launch point near the work site (we encourage carpooling as parking spots at the service meet up site can be limited).

Are there ways we can support Further Along besides Corporate Sponsorship and volunteering?  

Yes!  We of course love it when you show up with a heart dedicated to service, bringing your own version of joy and humor to energize your team’s spirit! This is an incredible blessing to all of us. 

We also are very grateful for - and encourage - social media posts, follows and emailing us written testimonials from team members that we can use on our site and in marketing materials. We also would love having your volunteers sign up for our newsletters to keep up to date on our organization’s progress and impact and possibly support us with individual contributions during our year end fundraising campaign. 

And of course, if you have a great experience, we love you spreading the good word with other colleagues and companies and vendors that you may interact with. 

How much does the Further Along staff get involved with volunteer teams? 

We take our job as your hosts seriously!  We are always available to make this a memorable and meaningful service learning experience. That means we want you to have a well organized, efficient, fun and safe Day of Service. Our staff will accompany you to work sites and work alongside you. We’ll welcome you with an opening circle and bid you farewell with a closing circle and always enjoy being a part of any reflection and conversations you may choose to have before the end of the Day of Service. 

The Further Along team combined has over 60 years of teaching and non profit leadership experience that we have a passion to teach and facilitate from. We also recognize the importance of each group having their own space to build their group trust and connection.

And at the conclusion of your Day of Service, Further Along will host a Louisiana Cajun style jambalaya and beverages with some of our Cajun country neighbors to thank you for your generous support and hard work! 

Do you offer any other ways our company can provide service in the community other than wetland restoration? 

Yes! Though wetland restoration is our main mission priority, we value the relationships we have built with other community based organizations. If your group desires a less strenuous project such as serving at a local food bank or other nonprofits, we can craft a Day of Service supporting the local communities in and around the Lake Maurepas/New Orleans area. We view our jobs as extending to you our hospitality to welcome and support your heart of service and can adjust the sponsorship accordingly to cover our costs and support our mission as well as other nonprofits in the community.   

Does Further Along offer any other programs or services related to the wetlands and waterways of Louisiana?

Yes indeed! We offer kayak tours of the Cypress-Tupelo Swamp at Tickfaw State Park for $20/person for groups of up to 8 participants. Here we explore the wonders of the swamp and pay respects to cypress elders aged at 500-1000 years old. The truly are the Sequoias of the South! These excursions can be scheduled for most days of the week throughout the year (with the best months mirroring our project timelines November through April, mostly due to the extreme heat during the summer months). 

What’s a sample itinerary? 

Below we’ve included a sample itinerary below for a Further Along Day of Service.

• 7:00 AM

• Pick up volunteers from a predetermined location (this pick up time may vary by 15-30 minutes depending on pick up location).  

• Further Along provides coffee and snacks to get our engines fueled and ready for service! 

• 8:00 - 9:00 AM 

• Arrive at service launch point, conduct opening welcoming circle and introductions, review the day’s work and schedule, complete detailed safety review and assign work partners.

• Load the transport boats with materials, food/beverages, equipment and launch off to the work sites. 

• 9:30 - 12:00 PM 

• Off load equipment and materials, stage work groups and…get to planting! 

• 12:00 - 12:45  PM 

• Lunch (provided by Further Along)

• Note: The Further Along staff and Volunteer Team Captains will ensure that volunteers take breaks as needed. Your safety and well being are our top priority.  

• 12:45 - 2:00 PM 

• Continue planting. 

• 2:00 PM 

• Begin to wrap up final items to be planted, load up equipment and material.

• Return to the launch site.

• 3:00 - 4:00 PM

• Organize equipment.

• Celebrate Day of Service and enjoy a Cajun Jambalaya and a cold beverage! 

• 4:00 PM

• Reboard the Marvel for travel to volunteer pick up site.

What should I bring?

Here's a packing list for the team members. The key is to prepare for all kinds of weather.  Louisiana can get freezing temps in Winter and Spring as well as pushing into the 90s. Prepare for it all. Look at the forecast just before you leave to get an idea of what to expect - which will help determine which items you need from this list. 

• Water bottle 

• Hooded sweatshirt 

• Warm winter hat

• Sun hat (Super important. The sun cooks uncovered heads!)

• Shorts -  that you don’t mind getting dirty! (We are gonna get dirty, embrace it!) 

• Work pants long preferably light weight that dry out easily

• A pair of warm socks

• Rain boots mid calf 

• Rain jacket and pants (pants not essential) - At times we may work in light rain 

• Sunglasses 

• Work gloves (provided by Further Along)

• Sunscreen 

• First Aid kit (Further Along will have a kit, be we encourage each group to also bring their own) 

• Note: Cell reception at the work sites can be very spotty. Please ensure that you let your colleagues/family members know you’ll be in the Bayou for a Day of Service. We will also  provide you with our contact information as well.