New Ways to Join the Temecula Community

“We would have been backed up on work if SJVC’s students had not volunteered.”  (-Conner Troy, The Outreach Farm Project)

Active participation in the community is nothing new for SJVC students, but the places and ways students volunteer for the community is always changing.

SJVC Temecula students volunteered with the Outreach Farm Project this month, a non-profit organization that supplies the Temecula Murrieta Rescue Mission with fresh, locally grown produce.

Founded in the spring of 2009 when the recession’s impact was devastating families throughout the U.S., the Outreach Farm Project seeks to meet the needs of those struggling to obtain the basics of food and shelter.  Three acres are dedicated in partnership with a local flower farm and the farm manager’s family to grow fresh fruits and vegetables to help supplement the Rescue Mission’s food distribution program.

The Outreach Farm Project is run entirely on donation and volunteers, from ground preparation to seeds, supplies and labor to crop harvest.  Over 150,000 pounds of produce has been donated to the Rescue Mission in the last three years.

“I loved having the opportunity to join an organization that is dedicated to helping others. It has been one of the best heartfelt experiences of my life,” said ASB president Ronnie Gonzales.

“Most of us felt that we could stay longer because we wanted continue helping such a great cause. There is so much we could say about this event, but the only way to completely understand and feel the rewards of this experience is definitely by participating in it – there are not enough words to describe its effects on you as a human being.”