Volunteer With FDC, Win a Free Winter Share!

Every member of the FDC is expected to contribute two hours of volunteer time to the Coop. We count on the assistance of our members to help us keep costs down, but perhaps even more importantly, when you volunteer, you help create the FDC community, meet new people and catch up with old friends, and share your ideas and passions.

Only about half of all our members ever fulfill this commitment. To reward those who do help keep our Coop running, everyone who fulfills their two-hour volunteer commitment will be entered in a drawing to win a winter share. Volunteer for four hours, get two entries – the more time you give, the more likely you are to win!
There are many different ways to volunteer. Here is a rundown.

 

Depot Assistance

Serving about 130 members streaming through each depot on each pick-up day takes a lot of produce, and a lot of organization! Depot volunteers are crucial to the depot running smoothly each week— extra eyes and hands are always welcome! Depending upon the shift you choose, tasks include setting up or breaking down the tents and tables, unloading produce boxes from the truck, replenishing produce, answering questions members have regarding the take, weighing their shares, recipes, etc. Volunteering at the depot also gives you the opportunity to meet and talk with other members, and perhaps share some of your favorite ways to use the FDC bounty! As an added bonus, if you take the depot late shift, you might just wind up taking home some extra produce. Volunteer sign-up sheets are available at the sign-in table each week, or contact your depot coordinator.

Serve on the board

Our volunteer board meets monthly to make decisions about important FDC issues, oversee our finances, bylaws and staffing. Scroll down and fill out our email form below for details.

Submit an article or photography to the newsletter

We want to fill the newsletter with the writings and photography (and art, if that’s your thing) of our member community. Wax poetic about your favorite veggie, tell us about your volunteer work, send along a photo, recipe and story about your favorite dish, or anything else that strikes your fancy – fun road trips, favorite local eats, opinions on food-related issues, cookbooks, movies, community events and of course, recipes! Or take pictures at the depots or of your veggies and send them along. Contact Jeanne Coffey, newsletter editor, newsletter(at)farmdirectcoop(dot)org.

Plan an FDC outing

If you’re up for putting together a picnic, volunteer outing or other fun activity, we would love it! Talk to your depot coordinator or drop them an email to share your ideas.

Staff the FDC table at a local event

FDC tries to participate in several community fairs throughout the year. Meet people in your community and share your passion for the FDC by helping to staff a table. Watch the newsletter for upcoming opportunities.

Deliver Produce to Food Pantries

Each week, uncollected produce is delivered to local food pantries and soup kitchens at the close of depot hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to help those less fortunate. If you have some time around 7 p.m., when the depots close, occasionally or on a regular basis, please see your depot coordinator.

Deliver Shares to Members

Each week your deport coordinator will have shares that need to be delivered to member's homes. Some members opt to have their shares delivered every week, while others just call when they are unable to pick up on a specific day. A good way to meet your volunteer committment either ask each week if there is a delivery in your neighborhood, or choose one of the regular home delivery shares and take it each week. Talk to your depot coordinator for details.

Ride with our drivers

Our regular drivers could always use a hand collecting produce each week. This full-day commitment takes you on a whirlwind trip out to our farms, helping to load the produce onto our truck, then split it up for delivery to the depots. For details or to sign up, scroll down to email us.

Depot Diggers

Each year we like to send a crew to our depot sites to prune, trim, plant, pick-up, and generally improve the appearance of our depot spaces. We like to be stewards of the land we are graciously allowed to use each year. Perhaps a depot clean up would be right up your alley. Talk to your depot coordinator to see what needs doing.

Food or Craft Demo

Do you know just what to do with kale or the salad turnips? Running a food demo at the depot is a great way to showcase your talent for cooking and to meet the other members at your location. Or offer a session on pickling, fiber arts, or flower pounding at your home for a small number of members. What's your passion? Talk to your depot coordinator or email them to arrange a demo. 

Build out the Veggie Database

Work with us to build out a "veggie database" to help FDC members learn, cook, and love all the incredible things you get through the FDC. You can see the first draft here, help us upload more photos, better descriptions, links to other websites and more recipes.

Add recipes to our blog

Computer savvy? Why not comb through back issues of our newsletter, and dig out and edit recipes for posting to the recipe blog? Contact Jeanne Coffey, newsletter(at)farmdirectcoop(dot)org for details.  

Other ideas? Do you have a skill you think the FDC could use? Email us below – we could be waiting for you!