Volunteer!

Volunteers help with a variety of tasks and projects for the markets. Helping us get the word out about the markets is one of our most important volunteer efforts: distributing posters and flyers, getting information to community organizations, churches and schools, and posting market dates and details to email lists, blogs, etc. Volunteers also help with special events on market days and other jobs that come up during the season.

Volunteers jobs include:

• Market Site Cleanup Day: At some of our markets, we have a clean-up day to prepare the lot & area for the market season (pick up trash, weeding, etc).
• Sandwich Boards: In some neighborhoods, we put out sandwich boards on street corners on market days. Volunteers can “adopt” a sandwich board and be responsible for putting it out each week during the season (sometimes this means storing the board at your home during the week, or coordinating retrieval of the board from storage site each week).
• Distribute posters/flyers, etc: Hand them out at special events, local businesses, community locations and other designated spots, particularly in the early spring before markets open. This is one of our most important and much-needed areas of help!
• Hand out coupons and promotional items at the market: Help us get our flyers and coupons out to shoppers on market day.
• Cooking demos: Assist the demo coordinator with any needs at the market on a cooking demo day, such as buying supplies, help chef with food prep, help pass out samples. Volunteer for this job needs to have good interaction skills with the public. Some food knowledge is also helpful.
• Produce Tastings: Help with set-up, gathering produce, cutting and preparing for shopper sampling. Volunteer for this job needs to have good interaction skills with the public. Some food knowledge is also helpful.
• Market Info Table: Some markets need occasional or regular help in staffing the info table: sell Market merchandise, answer shopper questions about market, promote market. Must have basic knowledge about market (we’ll teach you!) and excellent customer service skills.
• Write for the newsletter: Write an article on a topic appropriate to the markets and the seasons, as designated by the editor. Good writing skills needed. For more information about this job and current needs for the newsletter, please ask.
• Shopper Survey: Help encourage shoppers at the markets to participate in “dot” surveys (conducted over one or two market days per year). Good people skills needed.
• Special Events, Kids’ Activities: This includes events such as the Zucchini Races, Pumpkin Decorating and other special events for kids, fundraising events, and other occasional scheduled events at the markets such as the Miles to Market display. Good people skills needed, and good ‘kid skills’ needed for kids’ events.
• Office Projects: These include occasional projects such as stuffing envelopes, preparing mailings, data entry projects and other occasional projects that may come up.
• Outreach and publicity for market: Contact churches, community groups, schools, etc. to arrange special presentations about the market or distribute special flyers, notices, etc. Attend special events to promote market. Excellent people and presentation skills needed.