Veggielution’s Committees and Teams are how volunteers can get involved beyond just coming to workdays. Each group offers a different way to get involved, so choose the one that interests you the most. Before you join in these efforts, it’s helpful if you have participated in at least 2 workdays so that you know how the farm works.

We have 3 committees, Outreach/Education, Farm Planning, and Fundraising. Under each committee there are teams working on different projects. These teams may be formed for a short term project or a longer ongoing project, and each has its own meeting schedule. To get the latest updates when new teams are forming, join our email discussion list.

Farm Planning Committee

This committee is focused on engaging the community in planning and running the farm.

Workday Leader Team

Workday Leaders help Veggielution plan larger and more productive workdays with large groups of volunteers. We encourage leadership in all volunteers, but Farm Workday Leaders are asked to commit to an ongoing role and become a more experienced member of the farming team. You will help facilitate the involvement of other volunteers from diverse backgrounds and ensure that workdays run smoothly. You will also participate in monthly trainings to build your leadership and agricultural skills. Bi-lingual ability (Spanish / Vietnamese / Tagalog / etc.) is strongly desired, as we are part of a large immigrant community that are reaching out to for more farm involvement. Read the full Workday Leader description here. To join, email Mark Anthony Medeiros.

Farmstand Team

This team helps run the farmstand, which is held every Saturday. During the farmstand, you will be selling produce, answering questions, talking about Veggielution, and generally engaging with the community. If you join this team, you can expect to commit to a monthly meeting plus helping to run the farmstand at least twice per month. To join, email Sean Jones.

Chicken Team

If you are interested in getting some face time in with our future egg laying hens, we have many volunteer opportunities! We are looking for volunteers willing to help with their care. The commitment would involve coming out once a week for about an hour to work help clean, feed and socialize (which is code for cuddle and love!) the chicks, especially on Sundays and Mondays. If you are interested in getting in on this chicken-lovin’ goodness, email Jessie Nichols.

Outreach/Education Committee

This committee works on a wide range of projects, including event planning, family day, canvassing the neighborhood, and tabling. Our goal is to spread the word on what Veggielution is all about to as many people as possible. We also hold a General Meeting every 3 months for all volunteers who are working in any committee, as well as new volunteers who are looking to join in. Keep watch in our monthly newsletters or our email discussion list to find out when the next General Meeting will be held.

Family Day Team

We hold Family Day on the second Saturday of each month during our regular workday. We plan and facilitate a variety of activities for children aged 2-10 and their families. If you join this team, you can expect to attend 1 or 2 meetings per month, plus helping to facilitate Family Day the day it happens. We are also looking for volunteers who can just help to facilitate the activities the day of. To join this team, email Juan Gamboa.

Neighborhood Engagement Team

The goal of this team is to engage people from the working-class, immigrant neighborhoods around Veggielution Community Farm, and bring them to workdays to be active volunteers. Part of Veggielution’s vision is to provide healthy produce for the community, and to engage our neighbors to move Veggielution forward. We feel there is extensive knowledge of agriculture in the community and many other resources that are crucial to Veggielution’s development. If you join this team, you can expect to commit to attending a monthly or bi-monthly meeting, plus at least 2 sessions reaching out to the community per month. Spanish language skills and familiarity with the East Side are really helpful. To join this team email Juan Gamboa.

Volunteer Tasks:

• Tabling at locations in the east San Jose neighborhood around Veggielution Community Farm
• Door-to-door canvassing, informing residents about the farm, distributing produce and recruiting volunteers
• Helping to create a welcome environment at the farm for people from the surrounding community
• Providing any guidance or ideas you have for engaging the neighbors

Event Planning Team

This team is currently planning a Volunteer Appreciation Event to show our appreciation and love to all people who volunteer their time to make Veggielution the thriving organization that it is. This event will take place in August, the exact date is yet to be determined. If you join this team, you can expect to commit to weekly or bi-weekly meetings until the event date, and helping to facilitate the event when it happens. We are looking for about 5 people to join this team. To join this team email Julia Lang.

Volunteer Tasks:

• Brainstorm ideas for what the event will entail. For example, live music, theme, location, how to make it family orientated, activities, appreciation gifts for superstar volunteers (listing out who those people are)
• Finding food donors, and possibly bands
• Cooking and preparing for the event
• Facilitating the event

Tabling Team

This team does not hold meetings, and is open to anyone, including those who are involved in any other team or committee. Veggielution often gets asked to table at community events such as health fairs, and festivals, and we like to send 2 or 3 volunteers to each event. If you are tabling you need to be comfortable talking to lots of people about what Veggielution is, and answering lots of questions. For your first few times we will pair you with someone more experienced so you can learn how it goes. If you are interested, email Juan Gamboa.

Fundraising Committee

This committee is dedicated to raising money to support Veggielution. We are especially looking for volunteers that have some previous experience with event planning and/or fundraising.

Fundraiser Dinner Team

We are about to get busy planning for our next fundraiser dinner, which will take place on Saturday Sept 11th, 2010. All food will be sourced from Veggielution and other local sustainable farms. This will be our second year putting this event on, so we will be building on our high success of last year. We will have regular meetings, and there is lots to do including planning the program, logistics, and collecting silent auction items. We are looking for a few very dedicated volunteers to join this team. To join, email Amie Frisch.