After a series of unfortunate events, the Vicksburg National Military Park has to cancel the previously scheduled “Weed Warriors” Invasive Species Removal Volunteer Project.

The project, originally planned for Dec. 3, was postponed last Friday because of the cold rain slated to hit Vicksburg during the day.

After being rescheduled for this Saturday, the project has now been canceled altogether because the AmeriCorps River 5 Team set to lead the project has been reassigned to aid victims of the forest fire in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Without the AmeriCorps crew, the volunteer weed-picking project will not be possible.

“Our AmeriCorps crew got reassigned to Gatlinburg, Tenn. to help in the aftermath of the fires. Since they’re gone we’re not going to have enough staff to run the project on such short notice, but hopefully we’ll get to do another one in the future,” said Molly Cadwell, park volunteer coordinator.

Cadwell originally made the call to postpone the project Friday afternoon and notified all volunteers of the change in plans through phone calls, emails and social media.

“We really held out and hoped that it wouldn’t look so bad, but I’m glad we did postpone it because it rained all morning,” Cadwell said. “We want everybody to be safe, and if it’s too muddy out there, then that’s not safe.”

The AmeriCorps crew spent about two weeks of their scheduled four-week appointment at the park and in that time contributed 4,800 hours of service in the Vicksburg community through the park and other organizations like the Child and Parent Center and the Salvation Army. Much of their time in the park was spent removing an invasive plant species called privet, which is what the volunteers would have done with the AmeriCorps members had the volunteer day not been canceled.

“The park as a whole is very thankful for AmeriCorps River 5 Team, what they contributed to the park, and the important work they’re doing in Tennessee,” Cadwell said.

The group was scheduled to work on multiple projects at the military park like removing invasive species, restoring tablets and marking boundaries for two more weeks before they were notified they would be sent to Tennessee.

“The devastating fires in Gatlinburg, Tenn. and the Great Smokey Mountains are a much more urgent concern and the crew has been reassigned. While this means we will have to cancel our event, the crew will now be doing important and necessary work for those in urgent need,” Cadwell said.

The team is scheduled to be in Gatlinburg through Dec. 19, but their stay could be extended to assist with the distribution of food and water at evacuation shelters as well as other tasks yet to be determined, Cadwell said. The River 5 Team is just one of two other AmeriCorps groups from Vicksburg that will assist in Gatlinburg.

“We’re sad that it is canceled, but it is for a very good reason. We hope that we can work with another crew, or this crew even, again, and do a similar sort of event. We really appreciate all of the volunteers who signed up to come help out.”

Anyone interested in volunteering can still contact Cadwell to be added to her contact list and will be notified about future volunteer days by emailing her at molly_cadwell@partner.nps.gov or calling 601-629-8133.

“Hopefully we can do another similar event in the future if it doesn’t get too cold out,” she said.