Explore: Volunteers
July 29, 2024 • Danielle Capalbo, Communications & Development Manager
We’re thrilled that two aspiring local Eagle Scouts, Nathaniel Ely (Troop 132) and Charles Mastromarino (Troop 135), chose to complete their capstone service projects on Virginia Road, installing a combined 1,000 feet of hardware cloth around the farm’s perimeter to keep cottontails out and reduce pest pressure from bunnies that can damage up to 10 percent of our annual crop.
Can mulching be a form of ministry? Yes, according to the Outreach Committee at Trinity Episcopal Church, a Concord-based parish with a long history of philanthropic support for hunger relief efforts— including the production of fresh, healthy food at Gaining Ground.
June 3, 2024 • Danielle Capalbo, Communications & Development Manager
With skill, care, and hard work, small seeds give rise to abundance. At Gaining Ground, that lesson is underscored each day of each season—and we can’t help but recognize the parallels when we witness metaphorical seeds of community engagement flourish into deeper involvement with our hunger relief mission. That’s what happened with our friends at […]
May 29, 2024 • Danielle Capalbo, Communications & Development Manager
Just as perennial plants and herbs delight us with consistent nourishment on the farm, Gaining Ground is sustained and encouraged by perennial volunteers—those who return year after year. We’re lucky to count Ashley Perssico among our enduring supporters. Not only has Ashley grown from a recurring volunteer to a trusted board member, but she has […]
April 26, 2024 • The Gaining Ground Team
The board and staff would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who gave generously and shared their time and talents with Gaining Ground last season. Special thanks go to: Belmont Day School, Thoreau Elementary School, Tenacre Country Day School, and all of the individual students who participated in our 2023 Read for […]
April 25, 2024 • Polly Vanasse, Board Member and Community Farm Team Member
What can happen when you join a team eager to develop their “game” with extraordinary “coaches” who excel at growing food and creating a sense of purpose? The inaugural Community Farm Team formed in 2022, made up of folks who had found tremendous joy volunteering at Gaining Ground and who hoped for longer sessions and […]
• Jennifer Johnson, Executive Director
Over the years, I’ve heard numerous Gaining Ground visitors describe the joy, happiness, and wonder they experience during their trips to the farm. This special place can be a sanctuary, a source of inspiration, and a balm for our frenetic and screen-heavy lives. Sharing the farm with visitors—particularly volunteers—is a central part of our work. […]
November 1, 2023
This year more than 3,200 people have volunteered with Gaining Ground, helping us promote regional food security by growing and donating fresh, organic produce for people in need! One of those community members is Mark Mullins, who first volunteered in 2022—and has kept coming back! We appreciate Mark’s consistent, positive presence, and were glad to […]
August 29, 2023
We welcome thousands of volunteers to the farm each year, and almost half are youth. Typically classrooms and families visit once or twice during the season. Yet one particular group, the High School Farm Team (HSFT), spends all summer helping our crew in the fields. Since the program began in 2016, the HSFT—comprising students from […]
July 27, 2023
Gaining Ground’s hunger-relief work is made possible by a community of generous volunteers dedicated to holistic, sustainable farming practices and helping to improve access to fresh, nutritious produce for our neighbors struggling to put food on the table. A remarkable member of this team is Rob Webber. We recently caught up with Rob to learn […]
April 7, 2023 • Allison Goodwin, Operations Director
Gaining Ground’s Volunteer Committee includes members of the organization’s Board of Directors, staff, and dedicated volunteer community. Participants include long-term volunteers, members of our Community Farm Team, teachers whose classes participate annually in our Read for Seeds program, and a representative from the National Charity League, a service organization with whom we partner. Last year […]
February 13, 2023 • Gaining Ground
Calling all kids (and kids at heart)! Join our Read for Seeds program and support our hunger relief efforts right from your home.
November 21, 2022 • Christine Savage, Communications Manager
“Last time we were at the farm, it was really cool,” said Shawn Massak. “We set up two of the accessible gardening beds, which was great because it really connects into what some of our population experiences.” Shawn works as the employment services manager for The Guild for Human Services, helping to provide job training […]
September 29, 2022 • Christine Savage, Communications Manager
Every year, Gaining Ground welcomes a team of local high school students who volunteer in the fields during their summer vacation. They learn and work alongside our farmers under the scorching sun and the pummeling rain, preparing the soil, transplanting seedlings, hand-weeding vegetable beds, and harvesting nutrient-dense produce for hunger relief. Throughout the 2022 season, […]
• Christine Savage, Communications Manager
There are many reasons why we love that Concord is a town flush with cyclists, but chief among them may be that a bicycle is what first brought volunteer Laurie Gleason to Gaining Ground’s fields. “I biked in many years ago. When we stopped there was one person working in the fields, and there was […]
August 29, 2022 • Gaining Ground
At Gaining Ground, our hunger-relief work is made possible by a community of volunteers that embodies a dedication to sustainable, holistic farming practices and uprooting food insecurity rivaled only by that of our incredible farmers. A standout member of this outstanding team is Allison Aley. We caught up with Allison to learn more about her […]
June 29, 2022 • Christine Savage, Communications Manager
This June, it wasn’t unusual to spot a group of high school students decked out with hats, work gloves, rakes, and secateurs, scattered throughout the perennial beds at the farm. Once or twice a week, hard-working horticulture students from Minuteman High School pulled up weeds, trimmed overgrown fruit trees, hauled wheelbarrows to the compost pile, […]
June 22, 2022 • Gaining Ground
This spring, eager readers at Belmont Day School, Thoreau Elementary School, and Tenacre Country Day School helped to raise over $14,000 in support of our work to get fresh produce to folks experiencing food insecurity. Gaining Ground’s annual Read for Seeds read-a-thon provides funding for up to 70 percent of our total seed costs each […]
May 27, 2022 • Gaining Ground
Having lived in Concord for 19 years before moving to Lincoln in 2012, Chris Lundblad has known about Gaining Ground for years. But she didn’t become involved until 2020, when she started helping her friend, Polly Vanasse—now Gaining Ground board president—deliver produce to one of the farm’s partner organizations in Sudbury. By 2021, Chris was […]
April 14, 2022 • Allison Goodwin, Program Manager
Each season at Gaining Ground brings challenges as well as successes; rewarding reminders of the impact and importance of our hunger-relief mission. Foremost among these in 2021 was the return of our volunteer program after a pandemic-driven hiatus. The joy of those first April volunteers was undeniable in their warm smiles, rolled-up sleeves, and dirt-caked […]
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