VOLUNTEER
Make an Impact with Us
Volunteers play an integral part in our mission to grow the local food system. Thank you for your interest in getting involved! Available opportunities vary depending on the season and our current programming. We generally have year-round volunteer opportunities, with greater needs and more types of opportunities to participate available spring through fall. Scroll down the page for examples of the programs where volunteers can make an impact, followed by frequently asked questions and answers.
Get started below by completing our online orientation in 3 short steps:
1) Watch a short orientation video about Farm Fresh RI
2) Review and approve a few waivers
3) Complete our volunteer registration form
If you're interested in volunteering with Hope’s Harvest, our gleaning team requests that you take this moment to complete a few additional materials to onboard you as a gleaner for the 2024 harvest season:
4) Watch the Hope's Harvest orientation video
5) Approve the gleaning-specific volunteer agreement
By registering as a volunteer, you're signing up to receive weekly emails from us letting you know about volunteer opportunities and other ways to get involved. You can also sign up for the "Dig In" newsletter here.
3) Complete Volunteer Registration Form
Complete the below form — making sure to scroll down and click “Submit" to complete it. Please note: if you have completed this form in the past, you do NOT need to complete all of the fields — only your first name, last name, email address, and checkboxes for waivers are required. If any of your information has changed, entering it here will update your contact in our system.
For Hope's Harvest volunteers: There are two more short steps after registration before you'll be officially signed up with us for 2024. We ask that before you click “Submit” on the volunteer registration form, please scroll down to watch the Hope’s Harvest program orientation video and read the gleaning-specific volunteer agreement. Once you have reviewed these materials, you are free to scroll back up, check the boxes confirming you have done this, and submit your registration. Thank you very much!
Only volunteers who have completed this process will be able to sign up for volunteer opportunities this season. Feel free to contact us at volunteer@farmfreshri.org with questions. Hope to see you soon!
Hope's Harvest
As an efficient and effective solution to the twin challenges of food waste and hungry people, farm-based food recovery (also known as “gleaning”) strengthens our local food system and makes our communities less dependent on commodity food shipped from thousands of miles away instead of what’s in our own backyard. Make a difference in your community by picking fresh fruits and vegetables for your friends and neighbors in need. Learn more.
Market Mobile
Support the local supply chain by volunteering with our transparent local food distribution service, which increases sales for local growers and provides wholesale, home, and SNAP shoppers with a system for buying local food directly from the source. Learn more.
Bonus Bucks
Provide administrative support for our nutrition incentives program, which doubles the spending power of low income, low access shoppers at the farmers market by providing a dollar-for-dollar match on SNAP benefits. Learn more.
Photography & Videography
Take pictures or short videos of our farmers markets, program operations, farm and food vendors, and more. They may be used on our website, social media, or other materials (with your credit/tag).
Harvest Kitchen
Make a difference in the life of an underserved teen. Volunteers help in our Harvest Kitchen production kitchen, where staff and trainees turn local produce into value-added products, while pursuing impactful relationships with our youth trainees preparing for the workforce. Learn more.
Farmers Markets
Play an important role at our farmers markets by providing assistance to both customers and vendors. Help may be needed at our many summer outdoor farmers markets in low-access neighborhoods in RI as well as at our wintertime farmers market in Providence. Learn more.
Community Education
Assist our Community Education team in offering cooking demonstrations and local food tastings at schools (preschool to grade-12), senior centers, and hospital cafeterias. Learn more.
Community Outreach
Help spread the word about our farmers markets, local food events, and community education programs in neighborhoods near you by distributing flyers and other outreach materials.