AmeriCorps Day of Service

At the beginning of summer, GV was able to host an AmeriCorps Day of Service organized by our AmeriCorps VISTA intern TJ Capps! If you aren’t familiar with AmeriCorps, it is the federal agency for national service and volunteerism with many different service components including a Conservation Corps and the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program. GV partners with AmeriCorps VISTA, which is an anti-poverty program designed to provide needed resources to nonprofit organizations and pubic agencies to increase their capacity to lift communities out of poverty. The service terms are for one year, so each year GV gets a new VISTA to help increase our capacity and infuse new life and ideas into the organization. AmeriCorps VISTA is one of our three internship opportunities. We also partner with the Veteran Conservation Corps (VCC), VA Work Study program, and offer custom internships. If you’d like to look more into our internship opportunities, check out our website!

During the Day of Service, we had about 8 VISTA interns from various nonprofits and public agencies throughout Whatcom and Skagit counties come out to the Lynden farm and help complete our new raised garden beds and perform general farm maintenance. They were able to learn more about what GV is doing in its community and more about the veteran community at large. Most VISTA’s are not veterans and so it was a great opportunity for them to learn more about veteran/military culture and dispel any previously believed veteran stereotypes. They were also able to learn more about farming and agriculture and they can’t wait to come back and volunteer again! Overall, it was a great day and we were able to finish the raised garden beds, fill them with soil, and plant cucumbers, peas, onions, and lettuce. We ended the day by having lunch and we’re excited to host our next Day of Service!