The Aloha Community Farmers' Market Needs Volunteers
Every Thursday, the ease of transforming a parking lot into the Aloha Community Farmers’ Market depends on who comes and volunteers each week. Market Manager Kyra Ramsay says they need a few market day volunteers to set up, take down, and help the market run more smoothly.
A few more volunteers during the farmers’ market will help make the experience better for customers and vendors.
A few more volunteers during the farmers’ market will help make the experience better for customers and vendors, she says. More volunteers each week would also help the other regular volunteers with breaks and schedule flexibility in case of family emergencies.
Often on days where there are no other volunteers, the main market tent setup, teardown, and coordination of vendors is done solely by Kyra Ramsay and Shane Ramsay, her husband and organizer of the market’s musical guests. Kyra Ramsay says tear-downs during summer heat waves on their own can take extra effort. “Sometimes we don’t get home until 11 because it’s too much,” she says.
“When you have just an additional person, it goes so much faster.”
“We do have somebody that comes either when we’re setting up, when he’s able to, or breaking down which has been great,“ Kyra Ramsay says. “When you have just an additional person, it goes so much faster.”
During the market hours, Kyra Ramsay says the current low number of regular volunteers means she spends most of her time manning the information booth. Being limited to the booth means she has less availability to be out speaking with customers or handling vendor issues.
“I would really like an intern,” Kyra Ramsay says. “Somebody that could learn the info booth. Ideally they’d learn the info booth if they wanted to stay every week. We can teach them to do transactions as well.”
Helping out can include setting up or breaking down things like popup tents, greeting vendors and visitors, crowd counting, or assisting at one of the two Aloha Community Farmers’ Market booths.
There are a variety of volunteer duties available. Helping out can include setting up or breaking down pop-up tents, crowd counting, or assisting at one of the two Aloha Community Farmers’ Market booths during market hours.
While vendors are responsible for handling their own equipment, Kyra Ramsay says it would be ideal to have volunteers help coordinate them getting in and out of the market space.
Starting at 12:30 and going until after the market finished at 7 pm, there are three different shifts:
Set Up (12:30-3:00 pm)
Full Market (3:00-7:00 pm)
Tear Down (7:00-9:00 pm)
People interested in volunteering or beginning an internship are invited to check out their volunteer page and sign up with the online form. For more information or questions, people can contact the farmers’ market at alohacommunityfarmersmarket [at] gmail.com.
More info:
Contact the Aloha Community Farmers’ Market
The Aloha Community Farmers’ Market runs every Thursday from 3 pm to 7 pm through September at the Farmington Marketplace at Farmington and Kinnaman.