Inwood CSA
Inwood Community Supported Agriculture Group

Volunteering for the Inwood CSA

Volunteering at the distribution site

This year, the volunteer commitment will be six hours. Members may work for 4 hours on one Thursday afternoon and 2 hours on another date, or work 2 hours at a time on three different weeks. You will help to set up the produce when it is dropped off, you will help members sign in and collect their shares, and you will help keep the site neat and organized. You should also be ready to talk to passers by who want to know what is going on. If you are volunteering at the end of the distribution time you will also help to pack up all the empty boxes and supplies and pick up any refuse from the CSA.

Other ways to contribute

Some members can't work on Thursdays but would be willing to do different kinds of volunteering. That is great- if you can take on a project that you can manage on your own. We are an entirely volunteer-run organization, so there is nobody "on call" to manage your volunteer contribution when we are not at the site. We always need members who have the time and inclination to do more than their four hours of volunteer time. If you have a project you'd like to take on, please let us know. Below is a list of some ideas- some are things that we would like to see happen, others come right from suggestions in the questionnaires that members filled out. Some are more essential than others, but all would enhance the CSA and make it a more responsive organization. Most of these jobs would require more than six hours of your time, though a few of them might not. If you think you'd like to take on anything listed below, or if you have other ideas about how to use your talents, skills and time to improve the CSA, leave us a message at (212) 353-6842 or email us at info@inwoodcsa.org .

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CSA VOLUNTEER JOBS THAT NEED TO BE FILLED

• Coordinate an additional product: This job is intermittent, and the time committment depends on the product. You will need to see an order through from beginning to end, whatever that entails. You will coordinate taking orders, collecting payment, arranging the delivery, and distributing the orders. You can make sure we get your favorite products, and you determine when and how often we order them. Some examples are: meat orders, a garlic order, dairy, honey, maple syrup.
• Volunteer coordinator: This job basically consists of noting who is signed up to volunteer for the following week, and giving them a reminder call or email (probably over the weekend). There is some trouble-shooting involved when people want to cancel their assignments at the last minute (we usually have an extra person signed up, because it happens so frequently) or when there are too many people signed up for a slot. Before the season begins, you could also prepare some volunteer instruction sheets to keep at the site (perhaps have them laminated to protect them from the weather).
• Spanish translations: We would love to offer brochures, basic website info, and posters in Spanish. Can you translate the text accurately and in a timely manner? It would also be wonderful to have one point person who would be willing to answer emails and return occasional phone calls in Spanish.
• Coordinate a recipe swap: We could use someone who could design and implement a system to create a recipe book or box to keep at the site and/or work with the website manager to post them on the web. This collection could consist of recipes from the newsletter and favorite recipes from other CSA members, keeping a focus on how to use the CSA produce. Members have also asked for tips on storing, freezing, making sauces, etc.
• Coordinate potluck, picnic, or farm visit: Would you like to coordinate a series of community events at the site? Many people say they wish that these things would happen, and it would be great if someone could organize picnics, potlucks, etc. To help coordinate a farm visit, you would talk with the farmers to determine the date, and then let people know when it is. If you could help get people together to car pool, find out about car rental options, etc., that would really help get more people to the farm.
• End-of-year survey: Help to create and distribute the end-of-year survey, and/or work to collate and analyze the results.
• Gardening and park cleanup: Some members have fulfilled all or part of their volunteer time by gardening and cleaning the park, either during the distribution time or on weekends. We have organized times when members planted bulbs, weeded, and cleaned. in the past, we have provided volunteers to the Inwood Community Coalition to clean and plant at the 215 Step Street. We will also clean and garden in Isham Park. This job is a fun way to help our community and it is also a way of saying thanks to the park department for allowing us to use Isham Park for our distribution. If you are interested in being partof this planting event check back for details on the website.
• Coordinate food stamps: We would like to be able to take food stamps, but because we are not a not-for-profit organization, we are not able to do so. We do not sell produce at the site, and so we can't take food stamps through the green market program. Do you work with a not-for profit that could sponsor food stamp participants? There is a fair amount of paperwork that is involved. (One member has already offered to research the possibility of implementing a food stamp program. She could probably use help if you are interested in working on this.

Email us at info@inwoodcsa.org if you would like to be responsible for any of these jobs.