Volunteer
All are welcome to volunteer at Gaining Ground.
We are a volunteer-driven organization that relies on the energy, talent, and enthusiasm of thousands of people. Because of your help, we can grow and donate nutritious local produce to people in need of fresh, healthy food. As a small farm, we simply could not accomplish our mission without your hard work as a field volunteer, or occasionally as an office and special projectsor sugaring volunteer.
“Volunteering at Gaining Ground is a time for me to escape the urban rat race and reconnect with the earth. There is an amazing sense of satisfaction one gets from transforming a field full of weeds to one of neat rows of lettuce or beets. The setting is beautiful and the camaraderie shared with the farmers and the other volunteers is something I always look forward to.”
Karin C.
Farming Volunteer/Flower Garden Volunteer
From April through October, we depend upon thousands of helping hands working outside with us morning and afternoon. Our community of volunteers is broad-based, often including:
- Individuals ages 15 and up
- Families
- Education groups: schools, colleges, alumni/ae
- Religious groups
- Community groups: scouts, camps, senior citizens, civic organizations
- Special needs groups
- Corporate groups
When you arrive, you walk out through the fields to our farm pavilion. You are welcomed and given an introduction to Gaining Ground and our hunger-relief role. Our farmers explain what’s going on at the farm and the tasks they’ve lined up, based on the the skills and abilities of that day’s volunteers. Then, you work alongside our staff—planting, weeding, harvesting, or perhaps seeking out potato beetles. At the end of your visit, our farm staff returns with you to the pavilion to share observations and experiences.
For more details, please review our volunteer guidelines and then sign up to volunteer as a farm volunteer.
Sugaring Volunteer
For a span of about six weeks in February and March, we collect buckets of sap from sugar maple trees in Concord and boil it into syrup, donated at Thanksgiving to families seeking hunger relief. If you are interested in participating, please review our volunteer guidelines and then sign up to volunteer. Space is limited and the schedule is variable.
Office and Special Projects Volunteer
Most of our volunteers work outside, but there are times we welcome help with indoor projects such as mailings, data entry, research, technology and social media support, event organization, etc. If you have skills and talents to share, please contact Program Manager Fan Watkinson to discuss the possibilities.