Businessolver’s interns have been hard at work in and outside of the office this summer! As an intern you are given the opportunity to be part of the Interns Give Back Project, where everyone is divided into teams and tasked to find an organization they’re passionate about and volunteer with them. The next few posts we take a look at what the 2016 interns did to make a difference in our community! Here's a recap of Team 1's experience:

Team 1, left to right: Zack Zlabis, Madeline Harris, Hannah Leech, Amy Donaghy

"We chose to work with Polk County Conservation (PCC) because our team was interested in conservation, the Green Movement, and working outside. Our interests aligned perfectly with PCC’s mission, “to provide the citizens of Polk County with quality outdoor recreation, conservation education, and long term protection of Polk County’s natural heritage.”

We showed up to the Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt, a PCC nature preserve, on a Wednesday morning dressed in pants, hats, sunscreen, boots, and, of course, our Businessolver t-shirts—ready for whatever work would be thrown our way. Shortly after arriving we were given our task for the day: to harvest spiderwort in the prairie. We harvested spiderwort using the “pick, pick, toss” method in which we kept every two seeds and then tossed the third. By the end of the day we had two extra-large bags full of spiderwort.

Our harvesting efforts were vital for PCC so that they will be able convert the 500 acres of farmland they acquired this year into reconstructed prairie in 2017. Spiderwort seed costs roughly $800.00/lb. due to its status as an endangered species that is native to Iowa’s prairies. The financial burden of buying seed can be easily mitigated through volunteers harvesting the seeds of existing plants. Being able to give back to PCC and aiding in the future of prairies was extremely rewarding for our entire team."