Volunteer Committees
Committees are groups of volunteers that work with one or more staff on a program or project. Without the hard work of these volunteers, much of our accomplishments would not be possible. Joining a committee is a great way to get acquainted with community gardening, organic gardening education, and more. You will be advancing the effort to help people and communities grow. It's also a fun way to meet some like-minded people.
Committee meetings are typically once a month and held at the Urban Harvest office. You can sometimes do committee work without going to meetings if a meeting does not coincide with your work schedule, and meeting times have been known to change to accomodate volunteers' schedules, so do contact us if you're interested in a group below but cannot make it to the meeting.
Classes Committee
This committee ensures that residents in the Houston area have access to comprehensive, low cost organic gardening education. Volunteers help plan and implement the schedule of gardening classes and discuss ways to publicize them. They determine what classes will be offered by Urban Harvest, who will teach them, and where they will be held. Committee members write class descriptions, select dates, ask instructors to teach, and set prices. They facilitate classes-- introduce teachers and Urban Harvest as well as signing in students. The committee also plans and executes efforts to teach people gardening at other sites.
Community Gardens Committee
This committee helps the Urban Harvest staff improve the quality of existing and new community gardens. Members organize and run semi-annual community gardens meetings to educate and network gardeners. This includes the large Harvest Celebration and Awards banquet each fall. Volunteers help out with tasks at the meetings and call community gardeners to get information. And plan meetings in order to network gardens so they can help each other, support each other and learn from each other. This committee makes efforts to network the 100 community gardens.
Development & Gala Committee
This committee has the essential job of brainstorming ways to attract funding for Urban Harvest's operations and special projects. It oversees efforts to raise money for Urban Harvest and interacts with and advises staff assigned to this. Organizes the annual fund-raising gala. Helps develop grant applications & helps figure out how to increase donations from individuals and foundations. Since sound community services and effective communication regarding them is key to charitable giving, the committee helps us improve what we do and how to communicate it.
Bayou City Farmers Market Committee
Oversees our Bayou City Farmers Market. This committee works with Urban Harvest's staff market manager to manage the market and setting policies. The committee assists with planning and executing events at the market such as our Tomato Fest. They also assist with publicity for the market, including press releases. Committee volunteers assist at the market, including helping with set-up, cleanup, greeting and counting customers.
Finance Committee
This committee creates our yearly budget, oversees budget reports, and provides financial advice and reports to staff and the Board of Directors. It develops Urban Harvest's budget based on previous experience. The committee monitors how well income and expenses balance. They also analyze plans for program expansion and suggests the costs of implementation.
Fruit Tree Sale Task Force
The Fruit Tree Sale task force is a group of volunteers that help with the planning, advertising, and execution of our annual Fruit Tree Sale fundraiser the third Saturday in January of every year. The group meets periodically from October through January. Volunteers assist with press releases, signage, organizing event materials, ensuring the event runs smoothly, setup and cleanup on the day of the event.
Nominations & Governance Committee
The task is to find good people to serve on the Urban Harvest Board of Directors. These are the leaders the entire organization depends on. The committee helps them learn about Urban Harvest and become productive board members. We are always looking for people who believe in the Urban Harvest vision, will work hard, get others involved, or who can figure out how to pay for community gardens and their support. These board members should be dedicated to the mission, and be hard workers who can bring special skills or connections or knowledge to the organization. The committee also reviews & improves bylaws & board function.
School & Youth Gardens Committee
The purpose of this committee is to help school and youth programs build, maintain, and teach in outdoor classrooms that consist of any one or more of the following: vegetable garden, orchard, habitat garden, nature pond, urban forest, or theme garden. This is also an effort to increase the Urban Harvest school & youth garden services such as written materials available to teachers for using gardens at schools. It also includes efforts to communicate with educational administrations larger than schools. It sponsors and develops outdoor classroom workshops twice a year. It supports staff efforts to help plan and build new outdoor classrooms and teach at them. It engages in efforts to increase the amount of grant money and therefore services for school and youth.
