Volunteer

Get Your Hands Dirty!

We believe that everyone deserves good food. To make this happen, we rely on volunteers to support our work.  This could mean harvesting fresh produce on a farm or being on an Advisory Committee.  We have a variety of opportunities that are offered throughout the year!

Individual volunteering

We appreciate how much time and energy our volunteers provide.  Opportunities vary from harvesting and farmer’s market support to packing meal kits and task-oriented activities. We have the greatest amount of volunteer opportunities in the summer and early fall when local food is in abundance in Central Oregon. All offered volunteer opportunities are on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

Group Volunteering

HDFFA is honored that there is so much interest in our work!  However, we can only accommodate a limited number of requests. We prioritize group volunteer events for community organizations, corporations, and businesses that are also sponsors or able to financially donate to HDFFA.  This allows us to operate in a capacity that supports our current or future sponsors and provides a quality event for our Central Oregon community and your staff.  Click here for more information about sponsorships.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For questions about individual volunteering, contact emily@hdffa.org.

For corporations, businesses or large groups, contact info@hdffa.org

Get Involved - Follow these Four Steps

Volunteer at the FIRST Central Oregon Small Farm School!

Join HDFFA at Central Oregon’s FIRST Small Farm School on April 6th! HDFFA is recruiting volunteers to help check-in attendees and monitor classrooms during the four sessions throughout the day. Read more about the event at hdff.org/smallfarmschool

Click the button below to sign up!

All HDFFA programs would not be possible without volunteers like you. See below to sign up to volunteer. Through volunteering you are helping make local food more accessible for everyone. Thank you! 

Questions about volunteering? Email emily@hdffa.org or info@hdffa.org for general inquiries. 

unnamed-3

Volunteer Opportunities

Click the “+/-” to learn more about each volunteer project, and to sign up for any open opportunities!

img_1710

Upcoming Harvest Events:

Grow & Give is a fresh food drive and is the only one in Central Oregon. Volunteers will work on farms harvesting and collecting excess produce for donation to the regional food bank, NeighborImpact.  Each year we collect 15,000 pounds (or more) food, which is distributed to 50+ hunger relief agencies.  The Harvest Team is an on-call crew; duties include:

  • harvesting fresh produce
  • loading produce for transportation to the food bank
  • managing harvesting tools

This volunteer position may require lifting objects that weigh up to 50 pounds.

Time Commitment and Location: 

  • Average of 2 – 4 hours per harvest event, not including time spent traveling to and from local farms.
  • All events occur at farms in Crook, Jefferson, and Deschutes counties.
  • Details are emailed to volunteers who indicated an interest in Harvest Team events on their volunteer form.
  • Harvest Team slots are available on a first come, first-serve basis.
Bend Farmers Market
Bend Farmers Market

HDFFA’s local fresh food drive, Grow & Give, is seeking market volunteers to assist HDFFA market staff at the end of the Bend and Northwest Crossing Farmers Markets to collect, weigh and transport market produce to cold storage a few miles away. Tasks include helping take down the market booth, weighing and recording food donations, engaging with market patrons about HDFFAs mission, assisting in running interactive activities, and lifting objects of weighing up to 50 pounds. 

Time Commitment and Location: Farmers Market volunteers are expected to commit to a minimum of 3 shifts throughout the season due to the need for job-specific training and volunteer consistency. Each market shift can be expected to last about 1 – 2.5 hours each. 

  • The Bend Farmers Market
    • location: 835 NW Wall St, Bend, OR 97701
  • The Northwest Crossing Farmers Market
    • location: NW Crossing Dr, Bend, OR 97703
veggierx_kit-shot5_2020

VeggieRx Program: VeggieRx is HDFFA’s free fresh produce prescription program that improves healthy eating habits for individuals experiencing food insecurity and diagnosed with one or more diet-modifiable diseases. Participants receive fresh locally grown produce, nutrition education, and one-on-one support from HDFFA’s Registered Nutritionist. 

For volunteer opportunities email HDFFA’s VeggieRx Program Manager at kelly@hdffa.org.

How the program works: Patients are referred to our VeggieRx Program Manager by local care providers if the individual is 18 years or older, screens positive for food insecurity, and has one or more diet-modifiable diseases. Potential participants then contact our VeggieRx Program Manager to determine if they are a good fit for the program. Enrollment begins March 1st and the program begins June 7th and goes through October 18th. The participant will be placed either into a cohort that receives 10 consecutive weeks of free CSA boxes or 10 consecutive weeks of vouchers to use at the Bend Farmer’s Market. Vouchers are obtained and redeemed at the Bend Farmers Market. 

*Note: HDFFA does not reimburse expenses incurred by volunteers
(food, parking fees, tickets, etc.) 

Contact Kelly Moffatt for more information and to sign up for available volunteer opportunities.

HDFFA VeggieRx Senior Program Manager

Grow & Give Veggie Haul
Grow & Give Veggie Haul

Want to haul fresh veggies around?  We are seeking on-call volunteers with flexible schedules to transport donated fruits and vegetables from point A to point B throughout Central Oregon. Pickups may be sporadic and short notice, so flexible availability is important. Your own vehicle is required for this volunteer opportunity. Driving routes may resemble a schedule like picking up vegetables on several Tuesdays throughout the season from a farm in Bend and dropping them off at NeighborImpact Food Bank in Redmond.

If you are interested, be sure to check “Veggie Hauler” on your volunteer form.

If you have already filled out a volunteer form and want to join in on this new opportunity, email abigail@hdffa.org.

Time Commitment and Location: 

  • 1-4 hours per month depending on the schedule of the volunteer and the availability of produce needing to be transported.
  • Locations for produce pick up and drop off are in Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties.
111321-fill-your-pantry-redmond-oregon-2

We are always in need of various types of support that will help us run the organization. This is a great way to volunteer a little bit of time or consistently throughout the year. Support tasks for volunteers may include:

  • Farm and Ranch Directory distribution
  • General office or technical support
  • Take-home volunteer projects including spice packing for our Fresh Harvest Kit program

General/Project Support volunteer opportunities will be emailed out as they arise based on the interests you selected on your volunteer form.

Time Commitment and Location: 

  • Average of 1-3 hours per volunteer opportunity, and several support opportunities may be spread out over a longer period of time.
  • Most general tasks will take place in the HDFFA office which is located at 354 NE Greenwood Ave #205, Bend, OR 97701, or in the communities of Crook, Jefferson, and Deschutes counties. 
HDFFA Meal-kit Fundraiser

We believe that community members who have a passion for our work, and/or individuals who have experienced our program(s) should have the opportunity to become leaders.  We encourage members who are new to board service to apply to be on our Board. 

Time Commitment and Location: 

  • Serve a 2-year term
  • Average of 5-10 hours per month which includes monthly Board meetings, being on a committee and participating in fundraising.
Photo courtesy: Amanda Long | Sungrounded Farm
Photo courtesy: Amanda Long | Sungrounded Farm

We believe that individuals participating in our programs and community members interested in improving food security and farm and ranch viability should have the opportunity to provide feedback and become leaders in our work.  With these values in mind, we invite community members to participate in our Food Security Advisory Committee or Agricultural Advisory Committee to help inform our current work, and to build the leadership capacity for the future of farming, ranching, and food access in Central Oregon. 

For more information about our committees, please visit the pages below:

Contact Us

We're not around right now, but we would love to hear from you. Team HDFFA

Not readable? Change text. captcha txt