Appreciating Our Incredible Volunteers

Phil Turner, Board President, receiving the 2016 Volunteer of the Year Award!
Phil Turner, Board President, receiving the 2016 Volunteer of the Year Award!

Over a hundred community members came out to the Food Love Project last Thursday night to potluck together on our beautiful educational farm and celebrated the hundreds of volunteers of Sierra Harvest!

It was an incredible evening, with lively music (volunteered!) by the Folk Varmits, a feast of seasonal foods fit for a king, and the opportunity for our staff to honor our amazing team of volunteers that make our work possible.

For all you volunteers who couldn’t make it to the event, we extend to you our enthusiastic gratitude for all you do to serve our children, farmers and families in creating a dynamic local food system. 212 volunteers dedicated more than 3,100 hours to support all our programs. We couldn’t do it without you!

Special recognition was given to the volunteers that have gone above and beyond

The Folk Varmits graced us with their harmonious music amidst the flowers!
The Folk Varmits graced us with their harmonious music amidst the flowers!

our expectations in taking on responsibility for tasks that can be especially complex, time consuming, or tedious. The highlight of the evening (besides delicious food, great music, awesome company, and the sights and smells of the farm) was the recognition of our Board President Phil Turner, who was awarded Volunteer of the Year.

Phil has served on the board of Sierra Harvest (and before then Living Lands Agrarian

Network) for nearly four years, during which he spent hundreds of hours contributing in a wide variety of ways – engaging our board and staff in passionate discussions about how to best accomplish our mission, donating his scrumptious Phil’s Bakery bread for our community events, engaging in our fundraising efforts, serving as a Sierra Harvest Ambassador, and working on numerous behind-the-scenes projects that have made our organization stronger and more robust.   We are incredibly grateful for having his talents and good humor on our team.

 

Guests receiving a tour of our Food Love Project farm, our educational farm
Guests receiving a tour of our Food Love Project farm, our educational farm

We surprised Phil with his award through a staff performance of “Recipe for Volunteer of the Year”, and although he was stunned, he gracefully accepted.  “I feel very lucky to be a part of a large community of volunteers who care so much about how we live and take care of each other”.

Join our Sierra Harvest family and volunteer today – opportunities abound to support all of our programs.  View a list of volunteer positions available now!  For more information about volunteering contact Miriam Limov at miriam@sierraharvest.org or complete the online volunteer application.