Donate Food

Home gardeners are an important part of the Willing Hands community. We encourage community members to donate part of their harvest, which Willing Hands then distributes with a special note that the food was grown by neighbors, for neighbors. In 2021, nearly 100 families donated 7,500 pounds of produce, eggs, and meat from their gardens and pastures. 

Here’s how it works:

1.) Plant an extra row or an additional few vegetable plants in your garden. If you’re wondering what to grow, we suggest peas, beans, and greens because it can be difficult to harvest these kinds of highly perishable vegetables in the larger Willing Hands gardens with only one or two work days a week. On the other end of the perishability scale, our recipients also love familiar crops like carrots, cabbage, potatoes, onions and winter squash. Of course, we will gladly accept any kind of produce! 

2.) At harvest time, bring your clean, fresh-picked produce to Willing Hands, 198 Church Street, Norwich, VT. 

3.)  Follow the sign for Grow a Row and place your harvest in the refrigerators on the side of the building. Follow the instructions to weigh and record your donation.

Questions?  Contact us at (802) 698-0265 or garden@willinghands.org

Willing Hands invites you to purchase a local CSA that we will distribute to our neighbors in need. By “sharing a share,” you support the local farm economy and a robust, caring, and well-fed community!

Here’s how it works: 

1) Choose a farm to support.
Willing Hands partner farms that offer CSAs include:

1. Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center (E. Thetford, VT)
2. Crossroad Farm (Fairlee, VT)
3. Edgewater Farm (Plainfield, NH)
4. Hemingway Farms (Charlestown, NH)
5. Honey Field Farm (Norwich, VT)
6. Mink Meadow Farm (Etna, NH)
7. Root 5 Farm (Fairlee, VT)
8. Sunrise Farm (White River Junction, VT)
9. Sweetland Farm (Norwich, VT)
10. Luna Bleu Farm (South Royalton, VT)

2) Follow this link to make a tax-deductible donation directly to Willing Hands.

3) Alternatively, you can purchase a CSA share directly from the farm, who will notify us. Please note that only contributions made directly to Willing Hands are tax-deductible. We cannot send tax acknowledgement letters for CSAs purchased directly from local farms.

4) Willing Hands uses 100% of your donation to purchase a CSA at the farm of your choice. 

5) We pick up the CSA and distribute all of this fresh, wholesome food to families, seniors, and children in need.

Questions?  Contact us at (802) 698-0265 or alec@willinghands.org

Want to help pick up Willing Hands CSA shares and bring them back to our warehouse? Email volunteer@willinghands.org

Are you a hunter with extra meat? Willing Hands encourages donations of processed and packaged wild game year-round. 

Vermont residents: Contact Willing Hands Operations Manager, Chris Castles, at chris@willinghands.org, and he will talk you through getting the meat processed and donated.

New Hampshire residents: Contact your local New Hampshire conservation officer to have the meat processed and delivered to Willing Hands. 

If you processed and packaged the meat yourself, call us at 802-698-0265 to coordinate a drop-off at our office in Norwich.