Plant, Learn, Harvest, Celebrate! Join us at an upcoming orchard event.
We invite you to join POP and our community partners in a wide range of events including planting and caring for orchards across the city; tree plantings; workshops and other educational programs about ecological orchard care and related topics; POPHarvest gleaning opportunities; and harvest festivals and other community events! Volunteers of all ages and skill levels are welcome at planting and orchard care events. Please RSVP below in order to receive detailed event directions and updates and so that we know how many volunteers to expect. We also encourage you to join POP’s volunteer email list to receive announcements of new events and opportunities to get involved.
UPDATE 7/28/2021:
Based on updated guidelines for COVID-19 released by the CDC (released 7/27/21), Commonwealth of PA, and City of Philadelphia, POP is updating policies for public events and programs as of July 28, 2021.
CDC guidelines allow fully vaccinated people to resume outdoor activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial regulations, including local business, public transportation, and workplace guidelines. People who have been fully vaccinated are no longer recommended to wear masks outdoors and while indoor mask use is no longer mandated, the spread of more transmissible viral variants is concerning: mask use can limit its further spread. People who are not fully vaccinated should wear masks except when eating and drinking, whether indoors or outdoors. From the Mayo Clinic, whose further guidance you can read here, “Masks should be snug over the nose, mouth and chin, with no gaps. You should feel warm air coming through the front of the mask when you breathe out. You shouldn’t feel air coming out under the edges of the mask.”
Most of POP’s programs and activities take place outdoors, where risk of transmission is low, and vaccination rates continue to increase, but we must all work together to keep members of our community safe. Guidelines state that unvaccinated adults and teens, as well as unvaccinated children older than age 2, should continue to wear a mask and physically distance (6 ft) from others. For any events that may take place indoors, POP will still require all participants (vaccinated or not) to wear a mask. As a reminder, please take precautions by continuing to thoroughly wash your hands or use a hand sanitizer made of at least 60% ethanol after undertaking activities outside of the house.
In July 2021, the CDC added a recommendation for fully vaccinated people who have a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to be tested 3-5 days after exposure, and to wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result. This is due to increasing transmission of the Delta variant. Find a City of Philadelphia testing site online.
Everyone aged 12 and older is now eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19. If you have not yet done so, find out how to get your shot via https://www.vaccines.gov/ — it’s free, safe, and effective. There is also support available for transportation to the vaccine appointment, and childcare during the appointment or recovery. And, the City has a lottery available for all vaccinated adults, with the chance to win up to $50,000!
New educational video content is now available via POP’s YouTube channel, so visit and subscribe today. We also invite you to visit POP’s Resource page and blog for ecological orchard care tips, plant info sheets, school lesson plans, and more. Please take care!
