Available Harvest VISTA Positions
Are you interested in hunger relief, food waste, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, or public health? Want to build your skills as a community organizer and leader by creating community buy-in and strengthening relationships between food banks and farmers?
Join our Harvest VISTA Team!
Temporary Summer Position: Good Cheer Produce Assistant Summer Associate (Langley, WA)
The Good Cheer Food Bank’s gleaning program engages volunteers to harvest and deliver excess produce from backyard fruit trees, the Bayview Farmers Market, and the Organic Farm School, for distribution to Whidbey Island’s hungry populations.
The VISTA Summer Associate (SA) will work in an intensive level of summer service for 10 weeks. They will support Fresh Food on the Table, Good Cheer Food Bank’s program to supply nutritious, locally-sourced fresh fruits and vegetables to low income and impoverished children, individuals, and families on South Whidbey Island in Washington. The SA will focus on fair and efficient distribution of fresh produce, as well as healthy eating education. The SA will partner directly with produce donors, contract farmers, and garden volunteers to harvest, wash, pack, and deliver produce, contributing to food and nutrition education efforts for food bank clients. They will assist with food processing and season extension efforts, contributing to evaluation and discussion around retooling distribution points and limits system, assisting with photo documentation, outreach efforts, survey collection, and donor recordkeeping to track and evaluate program impacts.
For more information and to apply, go to my.americorps.gov
Temporary Summer Position: Kitsap Conservation District VISTA Summer Associate (Poulsbo, WA)
Kitsap Conservation District’s GRACE Garden Project coordinates Farm to Food Pantry and Farm to Community Programs, serving food insecure children, families and seniors in Kitsap County. These programs work to expand capacity in the Kitsap hunger relief system, extend hunger relief programming to mobility-limited, underserved communities, and support ongoing activities to increase access and equity in the local food system by providing fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables. Supervision, training and support for this position will be provided by the GRACE Garden Coordinator.
The VISTA Summer Associate (SA) will work in an intensive level of summer service for 10 weeks. They will conduct education/outreach at food pantries, community meals, school summer lunch programs and farmers markets, as well as develop curriculum and educational materials for outreach activities. The SA will coordinate the GRACE Program’s Farm to Food Pantry (F2FP)/gleaning network deliveries to local food pantries, tribal leaders, senior and low-income housing sites. With the help of Kitsap Gleaning Coordinator, the SA will identify mobility-limited food insecure individuals and communities.
For more information and to apply, go to my.americorps.gov
Temporary Summer Position: Farm Assistant Summer Associate VISTA at Elk Run Farm (Maple Valley, WA)
Elk Run Farm grows produce for the South King County Food Coalition. Families of South King County living in poverty need increased access to fresh produce to address food insecurity and resulting health issues such as obesity and diabetes. Many parts of the region have a high percentage of low-income families coupled with low access to healthy foods. The food banks of South King County serve over 9,000 different families every month in a region where half of children across nine school districts qualify for federal meals. The vision is to provide member food banks with year-round produce that is diverse, nutritious, and familiar to food bank clients.
The VISTA Summer Associate (SA) will work in an intensive level of summer service for 10 weeks.
For more information and to apply, go to my.americorps.gov
Temporary Summer Position: Upper Valley MEND Summer Associate Harvest VISTA (Leavenworth, WA)
Upper Valley MEND (Meeting Each Need with Dignity) is a human services nonprofit focused on fighting poverty by meeting the community needs of hunger, housing, and healthcare. The VISTA Summer Associate will work specifically with MEND’s Community Harvest Gleaning project. Community Harvest works to reduce food waste and increase access to fresh, local produce by organizing volunteers to harvest excess produce from farms, orchards, and growers who wish to donate and then transport that food for distribution at established emergency food providers in the area. The VISTA Summer Associate will work with the Gleaning Coordinator to support and strengthen the gleaning project and develop relationships to distribute produce more effectively to food banks and summer feeding programs.
The VISTA Summer Associate (SA) will work in an intensive level of summer service for 10 weeks.
For more information and to apply, go to my.americorps.gov
Temporary Summer Position: Program Coordinator Summer Associate VISTA at City Fruit (Seattle, WA)
City Fruit harvested over 46,000 pounds of fruit last year from residential fruit trees and public orchards, using over 920 volunteers. The fruit was donated to 29 Seattle area food banks and meal programs so that people living in poverty could have access to fresh local fruit. The Summer Associate’s (SA’s) role as a program coordinator/community harvester will be split between supporting our Harvest Team on harvests throughout the city; communicating with our network of food banks and community partners to coordinate fruit distributions; and planning Fruit for All Pop-Up’s in communities and in collaboration with our community partners.
The VISTA SA will work in an intensive level of summer service for 10 weeks.
For more information and to apply, go to my.americorps.gov
Temporary Summer Position: Community Food System Summer Associate VISTA at the Blue Mountain Action Council (Walla Walla, WA)
The Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC) is located in fertile Walla Walla Valley of Southeastern Washington and is one of a number of Community Action Programs in Washington State. BMAC is a private, nonprofit, multipurpose agency, serving residents in Southeastern Washington to meet the basic needs of low-income individuals and families, offer opportunities for individuals and families to achieve greater levels of strength, independence, and self-sufficiency, develop and implement strategies to prevent poverty in our communities, and leverage community support, service, and volunteerism. The Summer Associate will operate out of the BMAC Food Bank, the State recognized Emergency Food Assistance Program lead in the five counties of Southeast Washington. Over 30 food pantries and meal programs depend on the BMAC Food Bank for distributions of food sourced from a variety of providers.
The VISTA Summer Associate (SA) program will work in an intensive level of summer service for 10 weeks.
To learn more and apply, go to my.americorps.gov
Temporary Summer Position: Kitsap Harvest Gleaning Coordinator Summer Associate VISTA (Bremerton, WA)
Kitsap Harvest’s mission is to increase fresh food through broad community interactions in Kitsap County. The Kitsap Harvest Gleaning Coordinator Summer VISTA will assist in training volunteers for the collection and distribution of produce that is farmer grown, community grown, or gleaned from Farmers Markets or the urban area. They will also assist in building a consistent foundation for food distribution for local partnering organizations and direct service sites that serve low income/ low access populations.
The VISTA Summer Associate (SA) will work in an intensive level of summer service for 10 weeks. They will support food insecure populations in Kitsap with fresh food access. They will build volunteer skill levels for proper harvesting and food safety handling, and mobilize volunteers to harvest excess produce from local farms, orchards, and backyard gardens. They will harvest, sort, and distribute fruit to low-income neighbors and communities via direct service locations, soup kitchens, summer youth meal programs, and community partners organizations across Kitsap.
To learn more and apply, go to my.americorps.gov
Temporary Summer Position: Gleaning Summer Associate VISTA at the Thurston County Food Bank (Olympia, WA)
The Thurston County Food Bank’s (TCFB) mission is to eliminate hunger in Thurston County. The Food Bank is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors made up of community leaders. Their service areas include the urban core and growth areas around Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater. TCFB conducts a number of efforts related to fresh produce and healthy eating.
The VISTA Summer Associate (SA) will work in an intensive level of summer service for 10 weeks. They will focus on program outreach, volunteer recruitment, and volunteer engagement in the full process of gleaning (outreach, harvesting, unloading, weighing, tracking, and distribution). They will encourage and assist new gleaning volunteers to register on our GleanWeb system, build efficiency around produce distribution by communicating to our Client Services Center staff and volunteers about incoming produce, and build community awareness and volunteer support for fruit tree gleaning. They will build communications skills by using social media, and thanking farmers and donors.
To learn more and apply, go to my.americorps.gov