Dani Dolphin serves as the Community Food System VISTA at Blue Mountain Action Council in Walla Walla, WA. As the Food System Coordinator, Dani works closely with farmers, non-profit partners and community members in the Walla Walla Valley to combine efforts and strengthen the agricultural…
Ellis Fahsholtz serves as the Farm to Community VISTA at Harvest Against Hunger (HAH) in Seattle, Washington. Farm to Community is an umbrella that encompasses three of HAH’s farm to hunger relief programs, including Farm to Food Pantry, King County Farmers Share, and the PCC/NFM…
Samara Elaine González, MSN, is the current Fresh Express Mobile Market Community Liaison at the Tacoma Farmer’s Market through Americorps VISTA. In Samara’s early days with Tacoma Farmers Market in April 2021, she attended as many Fresh Express markets as she could to get a better…
The Green Urban Lunch Box was founded by Shawn Peterson after his elderly neighbor asked for help in her garden, since she wasn’t able to maintain it anymore. Thus began GULB’s Back-Farms program, which now connects volunteer Garden Apprentices with senior citizens to build, cultivate,…
Marie-Yvonne is a VISTA Leader for the Harvest VISTA Program, which works in tandem with Harvest Against Hunger. The Harvest VISTA Program recruits and places Americorps VISTA members at local hunger relief agencies across the country. These members provide and create opportunities for produce collection,…
Every fall, to commemorate the end of the harvest season, and thank volunteers, donors, and community partners, City Fruit hosts a fundraising event called “Celebrates.” From this event, City Fruit raises money to fund their Harvest Program. Previously, Celebrates was an in-person cider tasting event,…
Aaron New is a VISTA Leader with Harvest Against Hunger in Seattle, WA. In his role, he aids the program by developing outreach and fundraising strategies to expand Harvest’s capacity to work toward their mission. He also provides mentorship and professional development opportunities to the…
Melanie Jones serves as the AmeriCorps VISTA with Concrete Jungle in Atlanta, Georgia. As the Communications Coordinator, Melanie manages the social media channels for Concrete Jungle as well as the website and newsletter. She’s also helping to increase Concrete Jungle’s connections to small-scale distribution sites…
Kyleigh Humes served as a Summer Associate VISTA at Kitsap Harvest in Bremerton, Washington. She helped further Kitsap’s mission to connect “abundance to need by reducing food waste, nurturing community, and providing equitable access to fresh, locally grown food.” Below, Kyleigh reflects on her summer,…
Ife Asabi served as a Summer Associate VISTA at City Fruit in Seattle, WA. City Fruit harvests and gleans thousands of pounds of fruit each year from Seattle’s public and private orchards, and distributes it to local food banks, food programs, restaurants, bakeries, and farmers…