The intern will be responsible for two primary projects:
Harvest-Leader Program: Develop a program template enabling dedicated volunteers to support UpRoot Colorado’s food-recovery initiative and support UpRoot’s gleaning & food-systems coordinators. The student-intern will develop training guidelines for the program, as well as identify a group of core volunteers to field-test the program, including helping to train recruited volunteers to independently lead gleans without a coordinator on-site. Developing this program will include identifying best practices of gleaning organizations with similar programs around the country, drafting a training program for future Harvest Leaders, and creating deliverables for organizational reference. At the internship’s close, the student will present their findings to both the Western Slope and northern Front Range UpRoot teams for future use, as well as to the Association of Gleaning Organizations to inform organizations nationwide of their findings.
Outreach: UpRoot does not currently recover surplus food in Pueblo County. The intern will play a key role initiating connections with the Pueblo County community, local farmers, and hunger-relief agencies on behalf of UpRoot and, most importantly, of local residents currently facing food and nutritional insecurity. The student will be responsible for recruiting an engaged volunteer-base through community outreach, connecting with local farmers to share our mission, and building relationships with hunger-relief agencies that share our values and have the capacity to distribute gleaned produce to the community. This will be done through a combination of emails, phone calls, and site visits to expand our impact and producer network for future gleans.
