Ideas and suggestions to increase the reach of produce recovery projects through new and innovative relationships.
Northwest Harvest Yakima has partnered with a local high school for the last 5 years to host a mutually-beneficial event.
Networking in your community allows mutually beneficial partnerships and often increases your ability to meet client needs.
Building these relationships can be as simple as meeting for coffee or a one-on-one tour of a facility. Your partnerships will be strong if you prioritize face-to-face relationship building and phone conversations over email. Plus, it’s just more fun to meet people who are passionate about human services, just like you!
Incentives matter. With any community based program, you will only be as successful as the willingness of those around you to participate. This willingness is proportional to their belief that their involvement is important and effective.
Because the Seattle Community Farm is so focused on community engagement, we look at partnerships with neighborhood organizations and groups as essential to our work. We have found three types of partnerships that are worth exploring.