How You Can Help – Individuals
Locally grown food is a hallmark of our work at Willing Hands. There are may ways you can ensure more people have access to fresh food:
- Give money to help us source more food from our farm partners through “Give Local Food”
- Donate homegrown produce from your own garden
- Drop off wild game that you have processed or fresh eggs from your flock!
Give Local Food
Formerly known as “Share A Share,” the Give Local Food Program is a partnership among Willing Hands, local farms, and people like you! It celebrates delicious, locally grown food, strengthens the local agricultural economy, and supports our community by making fresh food more available to everyone.
How it works:
You purchase farmstand credit or extra CSA shares for Willing Hands through one of our participating farm partners, and the food is set aside for us to pick up. We then deliver it to our food access partners around the Upper Valley on our regular delivery schedule. Your gift keeps dollars local, strengthens your favorite farm’s bottom line, and ensures fresh wholesome food reaches more people in need right here in our community: Win-Win!
How to donate:
Use this form to donate directly to Willing Hands and we will use those funds to purchase CSA shares from the farm of your choice.
Or use the links below to purchase directly from one of our Give Local Food partnering farms that offer CSA shares:
- Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center | East Thetford, VT
- Crossmolina Farm | Corinth, VT
- Crossroad Farm | Post Mills & Norwich, VT
- Deep Meadow Farm | Ascutney, VT
- Edgewater Farm | Plainfield, NH
- Eureka Organic Farm | Springfield, VT
- Farm on the River | Springfield, VT
- Fledgling Farmstead | Tunbridge, VT
- Flying Dog Farm | Tunbridge, VT
- Hemingway Farms | Charlestown, NH
- Hogwash Farm | Norwich, VT
- Honey Field Farm | Norwich, VT
- Luna Bleu Farm | South Royalton, VT
- Mink Meadow Farm | Etna, NH
- Root 5 Farm | Fairlee, VT
- Sunrise Farm | White River Junction, VT
- Sweetland Farm | Norwich, VT
- Winter Street Farm | Claremont, NH
Note: Contributions made directly to Willing Hands are tax-deductible; however, we cannot send tax acknowledgment letters for CSAs purchased directly from local farms.
Are you a volunteer who can help pick up farm-fresh food from these partners and bring it back to our warehouse? Email volunteer@willinghands.org
Are you a business interested in a partnership to showcase your values in supporting local agriculture and increasing food security? Reach out to us today! Contact info@willinghands.org
Funding to support the Give Local Food program was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.
Grow a Row
Home gardeners are an important part of the Willing Hands community. We encourage community members to take part in relieving food insecurity by adding a few extra plants or reserving a row in your garden to be donated to us. At harvest time, bring your clean, fresh-picked produce to our Grow a Row donation area, open 24/7 at Willing Hands, 198 Church Street, Norwich, VT.
We gladly accept all fresh produce from local gardeners. Especially loved by recipients are highly perishable staples like peas, beans, and greens and familiar crops like potatoes, carrots, and onions. We also happily accept extra eggs from your backyard flocks.
Questions? Contact us at (802) 698-0265 or info@willinghands.org
Share Eggs or Wild Game
Do you have a backyard flock that over-produces eggs? Fresh eggs are one of the most sought-after foods at our delivery sites. Follow the process to donate eggs at our Grow a Row donation area (see above) where we often have extra empty cartons that you’re welcome to take and fill!
Are you a hunter with extra meat? Willing Hands encourages donations of processed and packaged wild game year-round. This extra protein is so appreciated at our delivery sites.
Vermont hunters: Contact Willing Hands Operations Manager, Chris Castles, at chris@willinghands.org, and he will talk you through getting the meat processed and donated.
New Hampshire hunters: Contact your local New Hampshire conservation officer to have the meat processed and delivered to Willing Hands.
If you processed and packaged the meat yourself, call us at 802-698-0265 to coordinate a drop-off at our office in Norwich.
How You Can Help – Farms and Businesses
Willing Hands works closely with more than 100 food donors across the Upper Valley, including farms, grocery stores, wholesalers, and more. We are always happy to build new partnerships. Apply to become a food donor using the form below, and we’ll be in touch soon!
Businesses also support Willing Hands in a variety of ways: through corporate giving, volunteer teams, benefit nights, or dedicating a percentage of a featured product’s sales to further our work to reduce food insecurity. Contact info@willinghands.org to learn more.