March 1, 2024 | Volunteering

Greetings, Volunteers!

Happy March! Can you believe it's almost Spring? Hearing the birds chirping is making me so excited for warmer weather. As we all come out of our winter hibernation, volunteering is a great activity.

To sign up for an event this month and receive a month of free Garbage to Garden service, RSVP by email and we will help answer any questions you may have. Then simply send confirmation of your volunteer hours to volunteer@garbagetogarden.org to receive credit.

Happy Composting,

Volunteer for the Somerville Community Growing Center's Maple Syrup Project! 

Tasks range from preparing the Center before the event (date TBD), day of fire-tending or educational activity support for both the Educational Boil (Friday, March 1) and the Public Boil (Saturday, March 2). The two Boil dates start the fire around 7:30am and wrap up around 6pm. For more background information, check out the Maple Project, on our website. Pre-registration required; fill out this form or contact Connor at crohwer@hds.harvard.edu. 

Shepard's Kitchen Food Pantry is looking for volunteers in Somerville! To learn more information or sign up, email Lucinda!

The Mystic River Watershed Association is working towards a healthy, vibrant, and resilient Mystic River watershed. In the spring, summer, and fall, they will need volunteer help to monitor river herring, remove trash and invasive species, plant trees, de-pave driveways, and more. Sign up for their monthly eNewsletter to be notified of volunteer opportunities and other ways to get involved. 

They need help rescuing food from a Panera Bread in Seekonk on the below schedule weekly. The time provided is the window when the volunteer can get there for the event. 

Sunday from 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM EST
Wednesday from 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM EST
Thursday from 8:15 AM - 9:00 AM EST
Friday from 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM EST
Saturday from 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM EST

In general they're always looking for additional volunteers to help them pick up food donations and deliver them to their nonprofit recipient partners serving individuals and families experiencing food insecurity. They have events seven days a week morning, afternoon, and evening. 

Sign up here, then email volunteer@garbagetogarden.org to receive credit. 

The Somerville Winter Farmers Market is open every Saturday until 4/6/23. They have the following opportunities available!

Volunteer 1: 8:00 am - 9:00 am - help with vendor and unloading traffic
Volunteer 2: 8:15 am-9:30 am - help with vendor and market set up and traffic
Volunteer 3: 8:15 am-9:30 am - help with vendor and market set up and traffic
Volunteer 4: 9-1:30 pm - Downstairs counter/floater
Volunteer 5: 9-1:30 pm - Downstairs counter/floater
Volunteer 6: 9:15 am-1:30 pm - SNAP booth questions, merch
Volunteer 7: 9:15 am-12:00 pm - 2nd SNAP booth 
Volunteer 8: Photographer/social media
Volunteer 8: Photographer/social media
Volunteer 9: 1:30-2:00 pm cleanup
Volunteer 10: 1:30-2:00 pm cleanup
Volunteer 11: 1:00-2:00 pm help with vendor and loading traffic
Volunteer 12: 1:30 pm take donated produce to Somerville community fridge(s), car required
Volunteer 13: 9:30-1:30 pm Mandarin Interpreter

Sign up here & then email volunteer@garbagetogarden.org to receive credit!

Second Chances serves clients who are sheltered or homeless in the Somerville and Cambridge areas by providing free, empowering clothing. They thrive with the help of motivated, dependable volunteers and those committed to helping those in need.
There are many ongoing volunteer opportunities at Second Chances, which may include:

-Host an online fundraiser

-Picking up clothes for donations

-Hosting a clothing drive

Food Link is a community organization that envisions a world in which everyone has
abundant nourishing food and a food system in which no edible food goes to waste. Every day we rescue 3,000+ lbs of surplus fresh food that would otherwise be wasted and deliver it to community organizations serving people in need. We invite you to join us.

Volunteer shifts are available 7 days a week. You can make a regular commitment to a weekly
or biweekly time slot and/or be on our fill-in list to help out with shifts as they work for you.

Grocery Store (Age requirement: 16+. Sorter-Drivers must have a valid driver’s license and access to a vehicle)
● Sorter-Packer: Groups of 2-5 volunteers meet at the loading dock of a grocery store to sort/pack rescued food.
● Sorter-Driver: Same as above. When sorting is complete, load boxes of food into your
personal vehicle for transport to a recipient agency or back to the Food Link Hub.

Pickups/Deliveries (Age Requirement: Drivers must be 16+, have a valid driver’s license, and access to a vehicle. Passengers of any age are welcome to ride in the car and help with loading & unloading)
● Delivery Driver
○ Pickup route: Pick up food from food donors (bakeries, farmers markets, small
grocery stores, etc.) and bring it to a recipient agency or to the Food Link Hub.
○ Delivery route: Pick up food from the Food Link Hub and deliver it to a recipient
agency.

Van Driver (Drivers must be 18+ and have a valid driver’s license)
● Van Driver: Drive the Food Link vans to various destinations including Grocery shifts,
Pickup/Delivery shifts, and bulk-pickups - large size pickups from wholesale partners.
Food Link Hub (Age Requirement: 9+. Ages 9-13 must be accompanied by an adult)
● Hub Shifts: Assist with daily operating tasks including sorting produce and
nonperishable food, loading/unloading vehicles at the dock, repacking food and bagging
bread, composting, clean-up tasks, and other needs that arise.

Sign up on their website.

MAMAS (Mutual Aid Medford And Somerville) facilitates neighbors helping neighbors. For example: we connect people who need groceries with people who have cars to deliver them, we accept monetary donations and redistribute the money to people who request it, we help people organize neighborhood events and set up neighborhood group communication channels, we find people who have yard space for gardening and coordinate volunteers to set up and maintain shared gardens to grow food for their communities.

Sign up to learn more about opportunities within each group by clicking the links below:

• Sign up for the groceries/deliveries email list,
• Fill out the gardening interest form to connect with that group,
• Browse the general list of MAMAS volunteer opportunities,
...or email askyourmamas@gmail.com about other volunteer roles!