Local Food, Community Sharing

Seeking: Harvest Leads
Type: volunteer + share of fruit (Overview, below)
Project: Fruit Tree Project | Lifecycles Project Society
Location: Victoria, BC

ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY

LifeCycles cultivates healthy communities by bringing people together to grow, harvest, and share local foods. Working in urban gardens and orchards, we are reimagining the way that we live and eat in cities. We believe that food is at the heart of thriving, diverse communities and a healthy planet. Our programs distribute fresh local produce to community members and service agencies, while mentoring the next generation of food leaders. Through transformative learning experiences, we strengthen our connections with each other, the food we eat, and the land it comes from. In doing so, we are building a more resilient and equitable food future.

Our projects operate on unceded Coast Salish Territories, specifically the lands of the Lekwungen and WASÁNEC peoples. For more information about what we do, visit: lifecyclesproject.ca

OVERVIEW

We are seeking Harvest Leads for the Fruit Tree Project! Each summer/fall, the Fruit Tree Project harvests more than 30,000lbs of fruit from backyards in the Greater Victoria area. The fruit is distributed under our Community Sharing Model. Tree Stewards may keep up to 25% of the harvest, a further 25% is divided among the volunteer Pickers and Lead, and the remaining 50%+ is brought back to the Lifecycles warehouse. We sort this fruit into A-Grade and B-Grade. All the A-Grade is donated to over 60 agencies through the Mustard Seed, and the B-Grade is processed into value added projects, donated to other agencies who are able to process it, or donated to farmers for animal feed.

Our bottleneck for doing more is a lack of volunteers able to lead picks! We have two vans, and three time slots each day of the week that picks can be scheduled.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Schedule picks using our custom software, the Gleaning Hub.
• Communicate with the Pickers and Tree Steward.
• Pick up the van, or the equipment kit if you'd like to use your own vehicle and drive it to the site.
• Demonstrate safe use of the ladders, and how to use the picking equipment.
• Weigh and label the harvest, log the total weight post pick.
• Drop off the fruit at the warehouse.
• Enjoy your fruit!

QUALIFICATIONS

• You have a valid Class 5 driver’s license and feel comfortable driving large vehicles
• Ability to climb ladders, carry harvest equipment, and move boxes weighing up to 40 lbs

WHY BE A HARVEST LEAD?

The benefits of becoming a Harvest Lead are getting to choose the time and place that works best for you! You will have the ability to choose which fruit you would like to pick. We encourage you to leave some picking slots open for new friends, however you are also able to add friends to your picks – this is a great way to spend time with friends and family. As a Harvest Lead, you will be a key part of getting as much fruit as possible out to the community. We also have a Harvest Lead raffle – each pick counts as an entry to win a fabulous prize!

To become a Harvest Lead, you will need to join us for a one hour General Orientation on zoom, followed by an additional 30min orientation. These are scheduled back to back, but you can choose whatever times and dates work best – we do recommend doing the General Orientation first.

Fruit Tree Project General Orientation:

• Sunday, June 15 – 10:00-11:00 am
• Thursday, June 26 – 7:00-8:00 pm
• Saturday, June 28 – 10:00-11:00 am
• Thursday, July 10 – 7:00-8:00 pm
• Saturday, July 12 – 10:00-11:00 am
• Thursday, August 7 – 7:00-8:00 pm
• Saturday, August 9 – 10:00-11:00 am

Harvest Leader Orientation:

• Sunday, June 15 – 11:30 am -12:00 pm
• Thursday, June 26 – 8:00-8:30 pm
• Saturday, June 28 – 11:30 am -12 pm
• Thursday, July 10 – 8:00-8:30 pm
• Saturday, July 12 – 11:30 am -12 pm
• Thursday, August 7 – 8:00-8:30 pm
• Saturday, August 9 – 11:30 am -12 pm

Once you've done these, we have you join us for an in person training session called the Buddy Pick. You will shadow a staff member and learn how the warehouse works, get oriented on the van and ladder racks, and learn how to teach others to safely pick. We are happy to have you shadow multiple times if needed, and are available to assist with getting to know our scheduling software.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at fruittree@lifecyclesproject.ca

Ready to sign up? Make your account on the Gleaning Hub to get started. You can sign up for our training sessions by clicking on the "Join" dropdown and selecting "Shifts".

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