Volunteers harvesting kale at Shalom Farms in Richmond’s North Side
It’s a sweltering summer day in June, one when most would want to be inside an air-conditioned building or lounging at a pool. But the intense heat doesn’t deter Mary Lloyd Parks and Rita Nuckols, lead volunteers at Shalom Farms’ Powhatan site, from tending to the fruits and vegetables that will soon be transported around the city.
They’re working at the farm as volunteers, one of several opportunities throughout Central Virginia where you can offer a helping hand agriculturally and learn the basics of farming while working to build a better community and equitable food system.
Since 2009, the nonprofit produce farm has been on a mission to ensure anyone in need in the Richmond region has access to a basic human right: healthy and affordable food. And it’s primarily accomplished with volunteers.
“It’s a special organization we’re lucky to have in the city,” says Parks, who has been volunteering with Shalom Farms for about six years. “More people should learn about what they do and how much the service they’re providing is really needed and appreciated in the city.”
From April to November, volunteers work at the 8-acre Powhatan farm or the 2-acre property in North Side. Under the guidance of farm staff, volunteers are assigned tasks such as planting, harvesting and washing produce on designated workdays (typically Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon). Volunteers can do a one-time farm experience, stop by once a month or commit to numerous days a week.
Last year, around 2,700 volunteers served at Shalom’s two farms alongside 100 lead volunteers, who commit to help at least once a week during the season. Around 600,000 servings of produce are harvested annually.
Rita Nuckols, a lead volunteer at Shalom Farms’ Powhatan property
Volunteers are also welcome at Virginia Free Farm, located west of Richmond in Kents Store. Founded in 2019, the farm provides free food to communities in need in Central Virginia. They also offer children’s agricultural education, donate land for wildlife conservation and partner with regional Indigenous tribes to preserve their food sovereignty.
With a dozen regular volunteers, Virginia Free Farm grows crops including orchard fruits and tomatoes and raises livestock, such as goats and sheep. Volunteers can serve year-round here, sowing, harvesting and packaging in the peak season, as well as seed saving in the winter or on rainy days.
While helping others is why many choose to volunteer, the experience can be personally rewarding. “You’re helping a lot of people,” Parks says. “It’s also a lot of personal satisfaction doing the work and being involved.”
Not only is farm work a productive way to spend time outdoors, but friendships often grow, too. “You get to know people when you’re spending three hours picking butter beans and having conversations,” Nuckols says.
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