Volunteering | FoodChain

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Aquaponics Farm

Come and get your hands dirty by helping us on our indoor farm! Farm volunteers help harvest plants, transplant seedlings, clean the farm area, and learn all about aquaponics while helping our farm run more efficiently! A volunteer orientation session is required. Opportunities for leadership development available. Sign up here to volunteer in this role!

Cook. Eat. Grow.

This hands-on cooking class provides valuable life skills to elementary school students in our neighborhoods and we need volunteers to help supervise the cooking portion of the lessons. No cooking expertise needed! Interested volunteers will need to get a Fayette County Public School background check before entering the schools, which can be done here. To sign up directly for our current slots, check out our current listings here.

Processing

In our teaching and processing kitchen we need help with prepping and processing all of the local produce and fruit we rescue, like squash! If you love being in a kitchen or if you’re interested in learning ways to prepare and process food, this is the gig for you! This is also a great opportunity to engage your work cohort in volunteer efforts. Volunteer slots available here!

Tour Guide!

This position is ideal for someone who loves to talk about FoodChain! Volunteer tour guides will lead tours of our aquaponics facility and answer any questions our guests may have. Tours are Saturdays at 1pm. A volunteer orientation session and observation of at least two tours are required.

Fill out this form and we will send you more detailed information on providing educational tours of FoodChain!

Community Engagement/Outreach

Education and outreach events, such as helping with Science Nights at local schools, are a great way to educate the community about FoodChain’s mission! Volunteers will answer questions about our the work we do, engage in conversations about local food, and explain the role we play in the Lexington community. Hours are flexible. A volunteer orientation session is required.Please email info@foodchainlex.org

Chat N Chow

Once a month we host community dinners to cultivate meaningful relationships with our neighborhood residents. These meals take place on the fourth Thursday of every month beginning at 5:30pm. We typically need 3-4 volunteers to help with setup, serving food, and clean up. You can sign up for this opportunity here.

Farm to School

If you are passionate about educating students on the benefits of local food, this is a great opportunity for you! Volunteers will assist with school presentations and activities, as well as the expansion of the program in Fayette County schools. Because of you, more students will understand the importance of eating local! If you’re interested in volunteering for this please email info@foodchainlex.org

Classroom Aquaponics Program

FoodChain would love some enthusiastic volunteers to help with our classroom aquaponics initiative! This opportunity would involve contacting schools who are interested in the program, setting up and installing our classroom aquaponics systems, and giving a short presentation to the students about aquaponics. Help FoodChain teach more kids about sustainable food systems! Email info@foodchainlex.org for more information!

Special Skills?

Do you have a specialized skill or awesome connection that you want to put to good use? We would love to know! Design, engineering, fundraising, event planning, and organization are all examples of ways you can be involved! To get in touch about any ideas you may have email us at info@foodchainlex.org!