Harvest Against Hunger’s Harvest VISTA program acts as a gleaning and produce recovery program incubator, working with partner host sites to place AmeriCorps VISTAs across the country. These VISTAs serve as gleaning coordinators, building localized, sustainable produce recovery programs that connect farmers to food banks to increase the amount of fresh nutritious produce available to people experiencing food insecurity. This position is located in Mesa County, Colorado serving with UpRoot Colorado (UpRoot). UpRoot partners with farmers, hunger-relief organizations, and volunteers to glean surplus produce for distribution to community members facing food insecurity. UpRoot’s efforts simultaneously work to reduce on-farm surplus, increase the nutrition security of Colorado’s residents, and to strengthen connection and food wisdom in the communities we serve. UpRoot is young but growing quickly. In 2022, we recovered ~100% of our totals, year over year, from 2021. Since our founding in 2016, UpRoot has rescued more than 250,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables across Colorado, equivalent to nearly 2.5 million servings of nutrient-dense food. With the support of a Harvest VISTA, we believe that we can significantly increase our positive impact within the Colorado food system. In 2022, we gleaned 75,000+ pounds of food across parts of Colorado’s Front Range and Western Slope regions.
Member Duties
UpRoot is excited to welcome a Gleaning Specialist VISTA to expand and build capacity within the gleaning program along the Western Slope. The AmeriCorps member in this role will recruit new partners and volunteers locally to support the gleaning efforts. The member will be tasked with expanding the program into Mesa County by recruiting new partners such as farmers and hunger-relief agencies, and volunteers; coordinating local gleaning events and food distribution; develop materials to increase capacity and effectiveness, such as a gleaning toolkit, volunteer management materials, and a data-collection system. The member will also represent UpRoot at convenings with state and nationwide partnerships, and will build organization capacity through fundraising efforts such as grant research.
Program Benefits
Education award upon successful completion of service; Stipend; Choice-of-Education Award or End-of-Service Stipend; Relocation Allowance; Childcare assistance if eligible; Living Allowance; for details about AmeriCorps VISTA healthcare benefits, please visit http://www.vistacampus.gov/healthcare
Terms
- Car recommended
- Permits working at another job during off hours
Service Areas
- Health
- Environment
- Hunger
- Community Outreach
Skills
- Writing/Editing
- Non-Profit Management
- Recruitment
- Environment
- Public Speaking
- Community Organization
- Communications
- Team Work
