Needs From: United Way of Rhode Island

Want to get your hands dirty, visit local farms, and support local communities facing food insecurity? Volunteer with us!

Hope's Harvest runs multiple 2-hour-long gleaning trips each week throughout the growing season in summer and fall at farms in RI and Southeastern MA. Each gleaning trip begins with an orientation and a harvesting demonstration for the crop(s) we are harvesting that day. Volunteers help us harvest, sort, and pack the gleaned produce for distribution.

Gleaning with us offers volunteers the opportunity to spend time outside on local farms with other volunteers and learn about local food systems while also giving back to their communities.

Register to Volunteer

Volunteers register on our website and can find volunteer opportunities for the upcoming week in our volunteer newsletter, which gets sent out every Saturday morning. There is no obligation to sign up for specific trips, and no previous training or skills are required to participate. You choose what date, time, and location works best for you.

About Hope's Harvest

Hope's Harvest, a program of Farm Fresh RI, mobilizes volunteers to rescue surplus food from local farms that would otherwise have gone to waste and distribute it to hunger relief agencies across Rhode Island. This practice, known as "gleaning," reduces food waste on farms, improves food security in our local communities, provides economic opportunities for local farmers through contracting and surplus purchasing, and improves community resilience by increasing the amount of locally grown produce consumed in RI.

Hope’s Harvest RI partners with farmers and food pantries to ensure that our friends and neighbors in need have access to fresh, nutritious fruits and vegetables and our volunteers get their hands dirty making a tangible, positive difference for their communities. 

 

Get connected: www.facebook.com/hopesharvest and www.instagram.com/hopesharvestri 

Email volunteer@farmfreshri.org if interested, to learn more, or with any questions. 

HARVEST KITCHEN

The Harvest Kitchen project is Farm Fresh Rhode Island’s food-industry training program for youth ages 16–19 from DCYF’s Juvenile Corrections Services. Our trainees work to create a line of high-quality preserved foods using ingredients sourced from local farms and sell those goods at farmers markets—while building a stable foundation to maintain employment beyond their time in the program.

Harvest Kitchen is part of Farm Fresh RI’s initiative to increase the variety of value-added local farm products available, and part of our mission to create a community based food system. Harvest Kitchen focuses on offering opportunities for youth to understand how their activities connect to the food system, and the local food movement at large, while gaining the necessary skills and experience to pursue their personal and professional goals.

HARVEST KITCHEN VOLUNTEERING

willing to work in a busy kitchen environment with some food safety knowledge eager to support trainees with a friendly and welcoming attitude Weekday mornings, 10am - 1pm Weekday afternoons, 3pm - 6pm Food safety training & a BCI check ($5 at the Attorney General's Office) is required for all volunteers interested in working in the Harvest Kitchen Program.

Apply here! Email alison@farmfreshri.org if interested, to learn more, or with any questions. 

Email volunteer@farmfreshri.org if interested, to learn more, or with any questions. 

MARKET MOBILE

Market Mobile (MM) is a unique food distribution service that connects hundreds of Rhode Island and Massachusetts area restaurants, institutions, buying clubs, small grocery stores, food pantries, and co-ops directly to local farmers and producers through one simple ordering form. By streamlining the local food supply chain, MM is working to increase economic opportunity for farmers and producers in the region while getting fresh, local foods into our restaurants, schools, colleges, and food stores. The transparent nature of MM’s operations allows farmers and producers to maintain their identity and gives customers the opportunity to know exactly who and where their food is coming from.

PACKLINE VOLUNTEERING

For early risers and team players Help pack up local veggies ordered from local farms for local restaurants, schools, and cafeterias Learn what’s in season and be active in the AM Tuesdays, 6:00 am - 8:00 am Thursdays, 5:15 am - 10:00 am Brief half-hour training provided and required before first packline

Apply here! Email alison@farmfreshri.org if interested, to learn more, or with any questions.