Company description

From our founding in 2004, Willing Hands has focused on addressing hunger and healthy eating by delivering perishable, healthy food, mostly fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the Upper Valley region. Over the years our organization has grown to include gleaning food directly from farm fields and growing food in a small, organic garden, all with volunteer effort. In Fiscal Year 2023, Willing Hands recovered and distributed almost 1 million pounds of healthy food to our 80 recipient organizations which include food shelves, low-income housing facilities, senior centers, and other non-profits who share our mission. Many of these organizations do not have another source of fresh, perishable food. Currently, we serve approximately 6,000 people each week with 4-5 servings of fresh vegetables and fruits. Our recipient surveys indicate that 25% are children, 25% are over age 65 and 75% identify as food insecure.

Job description

Garden Coordinator

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team as the next Garden Coordinator. Our current farmer will move on to new adventures after the 2024 growing season. This position will work closely with an experienced grower and step up to take on more responsibilities within the first year. The Garden Coordinator will be responsible for planning and managing all tasks related to growing produce in Willing Hands’ gardens and orchards in our 4+ growing locations. You will engage, coordinate, and lead volunteer crews during scheduled garden work sessions, and support communication with volunteers, and management of the crop and volunteer data to show impact of this work that furthers the mission of Willing Hands.

Classification: Non-Exempt, Full time @ 80% with seasonal fluctuation

Supervisor: Operations Manager

Supervisory Responsibilities: Volunteer groups (2024 season), Gardens Assistant (anticipated for 2025 season)

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Crop planning: Develop a yearly crop plan appropriate for each garden location that prioritizes produce that is highly sought by Recipient Organizations, increases nutritional variety of Willing Hands deliveries, and is rewarding for volunteers to cultivate.
• Growing Food: Develop site-appropriate plans for all garden locations, and plan and manage all agricultural tasks including but not limited to supply ordering, seeding, planting, cultivating, equipment ordering and maintenance, pest-management, weeding, and harvesting.
• Volunteer management & training: Coordinate and train volunteer teams to accomplish all tasks necessary to carry out Garden Program goals. Maintain accurate harvest and volunteer records and up-to-date garden events calendar in the Willing Hands volunteer database, document volunteer attendance, and ensure a safe and productive volunteer experience in the gardens.
• Budget Development: With the support of supervisors and Management team, develop detailed annual Garden program budgets.
• Communications: Generate weekly updates for the garden programs to share with volunteer crews, coordinate with staff and volunteers by email, text and/or calls about specific session details as needed. Take photos during the garden sessions to share with Willing Hands’ communications team for use in social media postings and regular updates to supporters.

Skills/Abilities:

• Proven garden and/or farming experience.
• A passion for growing healthy food in a sustainable manner and contributing to the current transition of certain Willing Hands gardens to no-till regenerative methods for growing food;
• Ability to spend long periods of time outdoors performing often strenuous and sometimes monotonous agricultural tasks. Ability to comfortably lift up to 50 pounds, often repeatedly, and assist volunteers who may not be able to lift as much.
• Personable and positive attitude and demonstrated ability to communicate with and manage volunteers in variable outdoor conditions, and work with diverse and multi-disciplinary teams;
• Excellent time-management and organizational skills;
• Strong verbal and written communication skills;
• Commitment to safety protocols, to be an example, and ensure volunteers adhere to the same;
• Proficient with digital communications, comfort with Google Suite, and ability to learn, and use efficiently, additional digital platforms for data and volunteer management;
• Detail-oriented with attention to accurate record-keeping;
• Ability to act as an ambassador for Willing Hands and our mission any time working with volunteers, at partner farms, with supporters, and with the general public.

Required and/or preferred Education and Experience:

• 3-5 years of agricultural production management experience
• Valid driver's license required

Additional Requirements:

This position requires some flexibility for working hours dependent on growing conditions in gardens and the scheduled volunteer sessions. Expectations are for 0.8 FTE (1680 hours) for the year, with full-time (including some overtime as may be necessary) during the months of April - November, and part-time hours December - March with a schedule approved by the supervisor.

General Expectations of all Staff

• Understand and support the mission of Willing Hands as expressed by the Board
• Greet the public through all channels of communication with courtesy and respect
• Coordinate and integrate efforts with staff working on other Willing Hands programs
• Work in a safe manner and report any safety hazards to the Executive Director
• Maintain individual workstation and office in a clean manner
• Practice good work habits of flexibility, efficiency, punctuality, dependability, and confidentiality
• Strive to grow existing skills and learn new ones
• Employ good communication skills by sharing information, listening to others, and giving positive input
• Work as a team member by helping others and making suggestions for improvements

Benefits and Work Environment

• Paid time off and holidays
• Mileage is reimbursed at the current federal reimbursement rate for all approved work travel with a personal vehicle.

• Opportunity to set professional development goals with supervisor
• Health Care, Vision, Dental and Retirement Benefits
• We care deeply about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable work environment.

Other related assignments as necessary.

Willing Hands is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender or gender identity, race, religion, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, or disability with respect to employment, volunteer participation, and the provision of services.

Compensation

this position is: hourly, $20/hr +

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline