Mango Melee is scheduled for Sunday, July 7. This is the major yearly fundraising event for the St. George Village Botanical Garden (SGVBG). Recent heavy rains have caused overgrowth of vegetation throughout the garden. Volunteers are badly needed to get the grounds ready.
“Volunteers are truly the lifeblood of the garden, and without them, it would be very difficult. They bring incredible value to the organization,” Executive Director Sarah Brady said.
The next group volunteer days will take place on Friday, June 21, and Saturday, June 22, from 9 a.m. to noon. The focus on these days will be preparing the grounds for the 28th annual Mango Melee event. Participants for these two days and for Mango Melee itself should email info@thegardenstcroix.org to sign up.
Volunteer coordinator Mary Ann Mahoney, a volunteer herself, is always looking for people to assist with garden events throughout the year, including Mango Melee and Christmas Spoken Here. She said, “This has been a great opportunity for me to be more active in the St. Croix community and helping the garden identify people who are able to assist in various aspects of the day-to-day operations and their fundraising with community events.”
“Regular clean-up, maintenance, and beautification of the grounds is done with the help of consistent volunteer commitment. Being part of the Island Networks cruise ship tour schedule, the Garden has a local group of volunteers that assist with giving guided tours on cruise ship days as well as on case-by-case appointments,” Brady said.
SGVBG, founded in 1972, is a non-profit organization on 16 lush acres planted with over 1,000 Caribbean and pan-tropical plants and trees. Ruins and repurposed buildings of an 18th-century Danish colonial sugarcane plantation provide historical context. The garden is open daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except on Christmas. It operates with a small staff and relies heavily on volunteers, school groups, and the public to support and enhance the garden, its structures, and community activities
