Explore: Volunteers
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 […]
• Gaining Ground
After more than 15 years of dedicated service, last year David Outerbridge stepped down from his volunteering in support of Gaining Ground. David—who turned his retirement into a period of keen effort caring for the land and structures on the farm—was a regular and beloved presence among the farmers and volunteers. Last summer, as he […]
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, Bancroft Elementary School, R.J. Fisher Middle School, and all of the individual students […]
November 30, 2021 • Gaining Ground
The end of November means the days are approaching their shortest and the coldest nights will soon be here. It also means that our volunteer season has come to an end for the year and the last of our seasonal farm team members have departed. At the farm, we grow used to the many devoted, […]
September 27, 2021 • Gaining Ground
Every year, the farm welcomes an amazing team of local high school students who devote themselves—during their precious summer vacation months—to volunteering with us in the fields. They help our farmers—in the searing heat and the pounding rain—with soil preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting, and so much more. These weekly efforts of the high school farm […]
August 27, 2021 • Christine Savage, Communications Manager
At Gaining Ground, we’re fortunate to have a community of volunteers who embody the spirit of generosity. One such volunteer—who has shown incredible dedication and warmth to our farm and farmers this season—is Barb Sommers. Barb joins us on the farm nearly every week—toiling in rain or shine—from nearby Acton. This is her first year […]
May 3, 2021 • Erin Espinosa, Farm Education Manager
Gaining Ground was thrilled to announce the reopening of our volunteer program this growing season. After a year of isolation and overwhelming challenges, it feels important for all of us—our farmers and our volunteers—to have the opportunity to reconnect with the land and come together in support of hunger relief. Volunteers are essential to the […]
April 14, 2021 • Christine Savage, Communications Manager
In a year marked by so much change, the past months have served as a powerful reminder for everyone at Gaining Ground of the essential role that connection and community plays in our lives. And we know that our volunteers share this understanding with us. As one volunteer who started joining us on the farm […]
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