At Growing Gardens we depend on our amazing volunteers, staff, board, and community to carry out our mission and help people GROW!

Volunteer Positions

Our work revolves around the seasons and program needs. Because of this volunteer positions vary widely and change often, but each one is important in helping us help people grow their own food! Below is a list of common volunteer positions at the organization. To view our CURRENT volunteer positions click HERE.

Home Gardens

Decrease the chances of food insecurity by empowering low-income families to grow food for themselves, friends and neighbors in their own back yard. From building garden beds to mentoring home gardeners, there are many ways to support the Home Gardens program.

VOLUNTEER POSITIONS:

Garden Installation- Build garden beds in the spring and fall.
Time commitment: 5 hrs/ installation day

Crew Leaders- Lead and organize a garden installation team of 5-8 individuals.
Time commitment: 6 hr training, 5 hrs/installation day (minimum of 2)

Garden Mentors- Work one-on-one with a home gardener, providing support and guidance with garden care, planning, planting, problem-solving, maintenance, composting, and winterization.
Time commitment: 30+ hours total, includes orientation, workshops, and garden visits.
Application deadline: February 15, 2015. Click here for more information on this position or to apply.

Learn and Grow

Educate others to better provide themselves with affordable and healthy food by teaching workshops for our Garden Recipients as well as the general public.

VOLUNTEER POSITIONS:

Workshop Presenters – Share your knowledge in topics like Garden Planning, Composting, Basic Gardening, Seed Saving, Cooking, Food Preservation, Winter Gardening, Urban Livestock and others. Growing Gardens can provide agendas or volunteers can create their own. Time commitment: ≈ 3 hrs/workshop, not including prep and planning

Nutrition Education- Teach others to create nutritious, seasonal, and delicious meals from the food grown in their backyards. Time commitment: ≈ 3 hrs/workshop, not including prep and planning

Youth Grow

Inspire the next generation of veggie eaters and growers to be healthy. Our Youth Grow program teaches children where food comes from, the importance of eating fruits and vegetables and how to grow food through fun hands-on activities.

VOLUNTEER POSITIONS:

Youth Grow Garden Club Volunteers
Youth Grow is seeking volunteers to support our after school garden clubs at partner school sites located in North, Southeast Portland, and Gresham. The classes run on Mondays – Thursdays in the Fall, Winter, and Spring during the hours of 2:30pm-6:00pm, and during the summer between the hours of 8am-12:30pm. As a volunteer, you will be committing to one afternoon a week for an 8-10 week session.  Interested? Please fill out the Youth Grow Garden Assistant Volunteer Application or contact Sarah at sarahc@growing-gardens.org for more information.

Youth Grow Classroom Intern

Would you like to learn the necessary skills to become a garden educator?  Youth Grow Classroom Interns will gain between 60-80 hours of experience assisting and implementing garden-based education lessons at three of our partner schools.  We will be looking for interns for the Fall, Winter, and Spring terms.  To see if this internship opportunity  is right for you read the position description, and fill out our Youth Grow Classroom Intern online application. More questions?  Contact Sarah at sarahc@growing-gardens.org.

Food Pantry Cooking Demo Volunteer
Do you like to cook with simple and healthy ingredients? Support the Youth Grow program by volunteering to do cooking demos at one of our schools’ food pantries. Interested? Please fill out Youth Grow Food Pantry Demo Cook Application and return via email to sarahc@growing-gardens.org.

Outreach

Help Growing Gardens raise awareness and plant seeds for good food and healthy people. Community outreach volunteers share information about Growing Gardens, about hunger and about the ways that people can make a difference.

VOLUNTEER POSITIONS:

Tabling
Table at various events in the community on behalf of Growing Gardens and speak to the importance of self sufficiency and access to healthy, affordable food.

Fundraising Events

Growing Gardens hosts several fundraising events each year that need volunteer staff, including Chef in my Garden.

Office/Admin

From filing to mailing campaigns, there are many ways for volunteers to lend a hand in our offices. Office volunteers help Growing Gardens running smoothly behind the scenes

Special Projects

We often make the most of volunteer talent through special projects like:
-Database management
-Carpentry
-Graphic Design
-Photography
-Web Design

Board of Directors

The board as a whole has the responsibility for governing the entire organization. The board is responsible for determining agency policy in the following areas: Human Resources, Planning, Finance, Development, Community Relations and Operations. The process to become a Board Member is a bit different than that of becoming a volunteer. Please take a look at our Board of Directors webpage for more information.

We Welcome Everyone!

Growing Gardens offers volunteer opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, marital status, family relations, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal or local law.

Questions? Comments?

Contact Volunteer Coordinator, Cristy Morales
cristy@growing-gardens.org
503-284-8420 ext 100