Volunteer
Volunteer Opportunities
FareStart is fortunate to be the recipient of the committed, hard work of our talented and dedicated volunteers. Volunteers provide invaluable assistance to FareStart with special events, benefits, shelter delivery runs, serving on strategic committees, and other special projects throughout the organization. A few hours a week can make a tremendous difference!
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact volunteer@farestart.org.
FareStart also seeks dynamic individuals for part time and full time paid positions. If you are interested, please let us know! Employment Opportunities
Internship Opportunities
Each year, FareStart offers a select number of unpaid internships. Interested? Click here for more information! Internship opportunities
Volunteer Experiences
Read below to learn more about the experiences of a few of our great volunteers.
Jennifer's Story
“When I first began as a volunteer at FareStart, I was startled to see the spelling of the program. I had immediately “seen” in my mind “FairStart” – thinking of a program that gives everyone who is involved in the training a fair start, a new beginning, a way to change their life. And of course, it’s just this double meaning that works so well in its name. After two years of working in the contract kitchen two days a week, I have experienced first hand for myself the new beginning, and it is what I have witnessed in numerous students over the days and months that have rolled by.
My time with FareStart has held some of the deepest, richest, most profound moments of my life. The people who walk through the doors are amazing folk who have taught me and supported me. I came to FareStart feeling – how could I help? What was it I could do to contribute, to feel that I deserved to stand alongside students as they worked their way through changes in their lives?
Every student has been a gift in my life and all the staff and volunteers I have known have taught me so much. I will never be the same person again, having had the opportunity to work and be with these brave people as they face and embrace their new futures. We are all people in this world. We are all people who have felt unloved, have felt scared, have felt angry and somehow being and working in the kitchens of FareStart lines of differences can dissolve and people as people can truly be together. And that’s what FareStart is for me – the being together. And what could be finer than that? To be together, creating food, creating new lives, and feeling threads of humanity everywhere.
Thank you to FareStart and the goodness that you create everyday.”
Gobe's Story
Gobe was introduced to FareStart through the summer "TIPS" (Teens In Public Service) program. She spent the summer with the FareStart Development office before returning to school for her junior year in high school. After contributing her time and talent to FareStart's summer fundraising and event planning projects, she was asked to write a short speech about her summer at FareStart. One of her observations while spending time with the staff and students was:
"The greatest lesson that I have learned this summer is that if you step outside your comfort zone, ready for change, you'll find others striving for the same thing."
Thanks Gobe!