Since its foundation in 2008 and throughout its many iterations, TSN Spring Challenge has always been a challenge to do more together. This year, we challenge our stewards and our communities to spend a little longer caring for your lands and waters, to donate a little more to our vital cause, or to take that huge first step if you’ve not yet done either. While the 2022 reboot of this program was a massive success, we’ve focused and simplified the effort this year to make it even more inclusive and impactful! Read on for details.
REPORT
The single unit of stewardship effort for TSN Spring Challenge, volunteer or professional, whatever the category, is hours. If you spend 4 hours caring for your garden, removing trash from a local park, or volunteering for a TSN Member Community, that’s 4 hours into the program. If you and three friends do the same work in one hour, that’s (4×1=) 4 total hours also. Easy, right? But here’s the catch: we can only celebrate you if we know what you did and we only know what you did if you report it!
So go out there and care for lands and waters where you live, do that vital work of stewardship, and then before the memory fades, just report it here or with the big button above. And because we’ve seen that reporting your hours early and often motivates your peers, we’re introducing new TSN Spring Challenge Boosts this year to make timely reporting a habit with benefits : )
As in the past, the reporting form will request information on any affiliations you may have so that we can shower attention and praise on those worthy groups from inside and outside TSN’s growing family of Member Communities. As always, we’re excited to make a big deal about the groups that take our “do more” challenge to heart and end up “doing the most” across similar categories from 2022. This year, though, we’re calling these Honors instead of Winners, since some of our participants love the friendly competition thing and others not so much. Whether you report one hour or ten thousand hours, we’re all on the same team and none of us can “win” alone when it comes to stewardship.
DONATE
TSN Spring Challenge is rivaled only by TSN Conference in the incredible amount of internal energy, time, and resources it consumes. Your donations make this deeply impactful program possible, so if you have the means to make a financial gift, please click here or use the big green button above. This year, we’re excited to announce that we’ve secured a 1:1 match for all funds received during the weeks of this program, so please donate now and help us make the absolute most of this awesome opportunity!
Revisit the Kick-off!
In less than 7 minutes, TSN’s Community Coordinator Rob Luzynski will get you completely up to speed on this vital program and how you can be a part of it. Thanks for watching, for participating, and for spreading awareness!
(from TSN Webcast | April 2023)
Help Us Get the Word Out
Is there a bulletin board in your favorite local coffee house where the environmentally-minded gather? Maybe an outdoor enthusiast shop with space in their window? Spring Challenge flyers are available here and we thank you for being such wonderful ambassadors!
TSN Program Resources for Participants
Then and Now
What was once the Garlic Mustard Challenge and then the Spring Invasive Species Challenge bloomed anew as the TSN Spring Challenge in 2022, adding more ways to help so everyone can get outside and get involved during this vital season. While the program has grown in scope to include activities beyond its invasive species tradition, groups focused on that form of stewardship remain warmly welcomed and strongly encouraged to participate. What certainly hasn’t changed is the importance of this program, which since its first iteration in 2008 has pulled together over 25,000 people to create over $7.8 million in workhour value while removing over 2.4 million pounds of invasive plant species from local ecosystems.
In many ways, the spirit of TSN Spring Challenge is the spirit that formed The Stewardship Network itself. There is power in realizing that you are not alone in this work and there is power in showing the world just how much we can accomplish when we join forces. Some participants tell us that this effort helps with their own data management and some leverage the big group number to boost their own outreach efforts. Some have told us they’ve seen great benefits from being featured on TSN’s wide-reaching social channels and some say it just feels good to be part of it all. Whatever sparks your action, we love it and we thank you for your support!
Invasive Species Resources for Participants
Special Thanks!
This year, we are pleased to welcome the Consumers Energy Foundation to TSN Spring Challenge 2023! Their generous grant has enabled us to enhance this vital program and deepen our collective impact in ways both subtle and significant. Thank you, team!
