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Volunteer
Opportunities
reVision Urban Farm relies on the support and
commitment of volunteers to help feed the families residing at reVision
House Shelter and to aid in hunger relief for residents living in Dorchester.
The majority of volunteers work on our farm, but opportunities can
be created to fit your desire and strengths. Tutoring homeless mothers to help them
obtain their GED, nutritional counseling, fundraising, and carpentry are
just a few of the opportunities that can be accommodated at reVision
House.
Volunteering
At reVision Urban Farm
When you volunteer at
ReVision Urban Farm, you will not only get your hands dirty, you will help
feed the hungry, beautify our city, and reconnect with the land. We ask
that each individual or group commit to volunteering for two or more
hours. If you would like to schedule a tour of our farm and aquaculture
facility in addition to volunteering, please plan on being at the farm for
two-and-a-half hours. Please call in advance to schedule a mutually
convenient time to come to the farm.
Drop in hours are at
9:30 am and 1pm. Please arrive at these times so we can plan for the days’
tasks and allow enough time for orientation. Bring friends or family
members! If your group is over 5 people, please read below for more
details.
Most of our work is
done from mid-March through mid-November. So keep that in mind when
scheduling your outing.
Volunteer groups are
welcome and invited! Please schedule your volunteer date at least two
weeks in advance. Due to the limited space and staff we try to limit group
size to 25-30.
If the majority of your
group is under the age of 10, we can provide you with a tour. However, due
to safety and efficiency concerns, we cannot accommodate volunteer
opportunities for younger groups. A tour usually lasts for 45 minutes so
plan to be here for a little over an hour.
We do work some
weekends. Please make sure you schedule your weekend groups one month in
advance so we can make sure we have the staffing.
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What Should I Expect At reVision Urban Farm?
Volunteer tasks on our farm vary with the
season. In the spring, we prepare
our growing beds to be planted with a variety of crops. During this time, the soil must be
loosened and compost added to all of our growing beds. After preparing the beds, crops are
then seeded or transplanted. In
the summer and fall, we harvest our produce and prepare growing beds for
succession crops. One constant
during every season is weeding – one task you can count on when you
volunteer at one of our farm’s three reclaimed urban lots.
Farming in the city creates unique challenges such
as keeping our gardens looking well maintained and aesthetically pleasing
to our neighbors. Picking up
trash, among other volunteer tasks, is not always popular but is
important and necessary in an urban setting.
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What Do I Wear?
Volunteering at a farm is often hot and always dirty
– come prepared and dressed appropriately for farming. Please consider the following
guidelines:
1) wear clothes that you will not mind
getting dirty;
2) wear closed-toe shoes (city gardens
often have broken glass
and trash);
3) while the farm does have work gloves,
they are dirty and worn from constant use. If you would like to wear clean gloves,
please bring your own;
4) dress for the weather; if it is cold or
raining, bring a jacket or dress in layers;
5) bring a water bottle, sunscreen, and a
hat.
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Who Do I Contact?
To
schedule a volunteer date, contact our farm’s grower Matt Kochka
at (617)-825-8642, x. 15, or email mkochka@vpi.org
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