HELP OUR MISSION Help with one thing.AMS runs because people decide to take responsibility for one useful piece of the work. You do not need a title, years of experience, or a huge time commitment to help. VOLUNTEER-RUN A little help can go a long way.The most useful volunteer is not necessarily the person who can do everything. It is the person who agrees to do one thing and follows through. That might mean helping check people in at a foray, sharing photographs, teaching something you know, finding a location, carrying supplies, or helping organize one event. Some people eventually become foray leaders, committee members, or board members. Most begin much smaller. SIX USEFUL PLACES TO START Pick the kind of help that fits you.These are examples, not permanent job openings. What AMS needs changes with the season, the event, and the people already involved. IN THE WOODS Lead or co-lead a foray.Know a productive place to explore? Comfortable keeping a group together or helping people look closely at what they find? Local foray leaders are one of the most important ways AMS expands access around the state. Ask about helping with a foray →AT AN EVENT Help one event run.Check people in, welcome newcomers, carry supplies, help organize a display table, take photographs, answer basic questions, or stay afterward to help clean up. Help with an event →SHARE A SKILL Teach or demonstrate something.Identification, photography, microscopy, cooking, cultivation, art, ecology, collecting, preservation, or another useful skill can become a short program, demonstration, or member resource. Offer a program or demonstration →TELL THE STORY Help with communication or content.Photograph an activity, write a short field report, help document an event, contribute educational material, or help AMS show people what is happening around the state. Help with communication →MAKE SPACE Offer land, a venue, or a connection.Access to good habitat, classrooms, meeting spaces, partner organizations, parks, universities, gardens, and other community resources can make entirely new programs possible. Tell us about a location or partner →SHARE RESOURCES Donate useful supplies.Field equipment, educational materials, microscopy supplies, books, display materials, event equipment, or other useful resources may be able to support AMS programs. Ask whether something would be useful →
NOT AN EXPERT? Good. Most jobs don’t require one.Mushroom knowledge is useful, but reliability, curiosity, local knowledge, organization, and willingness to help are useful too. Someone has to welcome the new person. Someone has to know the trail. Someone has to bring the table, take the photos, organize the sign-in, find the venue, or remember what needs to happen next. If you keep showing up, you will probably learn a lot of mushrooms along the way. Start by coming to an eventHAVE AN IDEA? Start something new.AMS does not need every program to originate with the board. If you see a useful opportunity and are willing to help make it happen, tell us.
LOCAL
Start a county foray.
Help build a recurring local gathering where there is interest, habitat, and someone willing to lead. FAMILY Create a family activity.Develop something approachable for children, families, schools, or new mushroom learners. FOOD Build a cooking or wild-food program.Share preparation techniques, culinary knowledge, or other responsible wild-food education. CREATE Bring in art or photography.Exhibits, walks, workshops, documentation projects, and creative programs all have a place here. SCIENCE Build a citizen-science project.Help document Alabama fungi, fill geographic gaps, investigate a group, or contribute to the collections. SOMETHING ELSE Surprise us.If the idea helps people learn fungi, build community, or strengthen AMS, we want to hear it. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUILD IT ALONE AMS can provide the structure.A volunteer with a useful idea should not also have to invent an organization from scratch. Depending on the activity, AMS can help connect the pieces.
Event structure & registration
We can help turn an idea into an AMS event and use the society's existing registration infrastructure.
Promotion
AMS can help get the opportunity in front of members, subscribers, and the broader mushroom community.
Permissions & logistics
We can help think through access, location, scheduling, registration, and other practical pieces.
People
You may not be the only person interested. AMS can help connect volunteers, collaborators, speakers, and participants around a good idea. NOT SURE WHERE YOU FIT? Tell us what you would actually enjoy doing.You do not need to choose a formal role. Tell us what interests you, where you are in Alabama, and how much involvement sounds realistic. We can start there. THE EASIEST FIRST STEP Show up.Come to a foray, meet the people doing the work, and see what AMS actually looks like in the field. The next useful thing usually becomes obvious from there. |
