Participation Guidelines

CORONADO HOME HARVEST

PARTICIPATION GUIDELINES

Welcome to Coronado Home Harvest (CHH). CHH is an all volunteer organization, based on an honor system and intended to be primarily for, but not limited to, residents of Coronado. Your donation of homegrown fruits or vegetables on meeting days will be exchanged for an assortment of all the produce donated.

These Participation Guidelines are the “rules” of the organization. If an individual breaks the rules, he or she will not be allowed to further participate.

CHH is a free exchange, not a commercial enterprise. Buying or selling exchanged goods is not compatible with the spirit of the enterprise and is a violation of the rules of the organization.

THREE DAYS BEFORE THE EXCHANGE, please email  (info@CoronadoHomeHarvest.org) a description of what you will be bringing to share so the volunteers will have an idea of how much food will be available for redistribution.

ON THE DAY OF THE EXCHANGE, please be on time to deliver your food (from 8-10:00 a.m.) at the beginning of the exchange and to pick up your bag of food at the end of the exchange (from 12-1:00 p.m.).

Please make sure that the food you donate is washed, trimmed and ready for redistribution. If you are gleaning for a friend or neighbor and plan to pick up more than one bag of produce at the end of the exchange, you must indicate that at the time of the drop off and you will receive a receipt for both you and your partner(s). When partnering and picking up multiple bags, please bring more goods than you would bring as an individual.

Any food bags not picked up by the end of the exchange will be donated to others.

You are encouraged to follow organic methods in growing the food you bring to the exchange. If not possible, please use the least amount of chemicals you can.

If you do not have fruits or vegetables to share one month, please feel free to bring a batch of cookies, hand-made goods, recipes, plant cuttings, interesting articles on back yard farming, etc., to share instead.   If you do bring prepared food to share, please make sure to include an ingredient list. Homemade food will not be put into the bags to be taken home due to possible allergies. Instead, these items will be available to those who wish to take them.

Although not required, your are asked volunteer to sort and distribute donations on an exchange day, at least once during the year.

Save time and paper! The primary means of communication for CHH is through its website and a once a month email that will be sent on the Monday prior to the exchange.  It will remind you of the date and the location of the exchange, ask what and how much you are planning to donate, and if you are willing to volunteer to sort. Please respond no later than Wednesday night!

Each participant must sign a waiver and release prior to picking up their first bag of exchanged goods. You can sign the waiver at the  event.

LET’S ALL ENJOY!

What to do if you would like to participate: (see also participation guidelines)

1. Get on the email list: info@coronadohomeharvest.org
2. If you’d like to participate, email us at info@coronadohomeharvest.org by the Thursday before the exchange,  letting us know what FRUITS, VEGETABLES, HERBS, and FLOWERS you’ll have to contribute. You can also bring a home-made item as long as you include a list of the ingredients.  Even if you don’t have anything in season, you can still participate by volunteering the day of the event.
3. Participants arrive between 8-10am with your harvest to share and a bag with your name on it. (Volunteers, please arrive at 8am)
4. Return between 12-1pm to pick up your farmer’s market-style bags of produce- all for FREE! (Unclaimed bags will be donated)

Question – How much produce should I contribute?
Answer – Whatever you have “extra.”  we are happy to spread around anything you have that you won’t be able to use yourself, whether that’s 60 pounds of grapefruit, a shopping bag full of rosemary, or a handful of grapes!

Question – Do all members get a bag each month?
Answer – No.   All participants get a bag.  That means everyone who contributes something that month will get a free big bag of food.

Question – Can I donate my extra produce and not take a bag?
Answer – Absolutely. Thank you for your generosity!

Question – Can I drop off my produce on Thursday or Friday?
Answer – Nope.  We don’t have any place to store it.  But participants are welcome to drop off between 8am and 10am on the appointed Saturday.

Question – I forgot to email by Thursday with what I will bring, can I still participate?
Answer – Yes.  However, it very helpful if you can remember to let us know ahead of time. It takes a lot of planning to figure out  how many participants and how much produce we will have vs. how many bagging volunteers we will need each month.

Question – Are all volunteers guaranteed to work?
Answer – Well, it all depends.  Some months there are only a handful of members contributing food and several dozen members who’d like to volunteer to bag.   But I’ll let volunteers know for sure whether or not they’ll be needed by Friday morning before the Saturday exchange.

Question – I don’t live in Coronado, can I still participate?
Answer – YES!  you can still exchange with us.  The exchange is a Coronado community event, but we are a welcoming community and invite you to join in the spirit of sharing what we have.