My name is Erica and I am an AmeriCorps Service Member serving at The Farm at Franklin Pierce Schools in Midland through the Washington Service Corps.

At the farm last year we grew more than 50,000 pounds of produce for the Franklin Pierce School District, local food banks, and other community participants of the Farm. Some of these participants come out for our bi-weekly Community Days, hosted by myself.

These volunteers visit the farm for a few hours- working on a variety of tasks like harvesting, raised bed prep, and produce prep. Beginning the work parties, I give everyone a tour of the Farm, outlining our practices, systems, and answering any questions that may come up.

At the end our our Community Day work parties volunteers get to chose which vegetables they want to take home- but this isn’t all they leave with. Our community participants also get to take home food production experience, and information on what resources and opportunities are available both for themselves and for our community in general.