Service hours are a great way to support your community. Mrs. Shinney, the HHS Community Service Advisor explains, “(Service hours) makes volunteers feel good knowing that they helped people in need and community organizations gain from having extra help! Community service also provides students with the chance to improve skills such as empathy, communication skills, teamwork, planning and problem-solving. Community service connects students to the community by improving it and making it a better place for all!”
As many Hingham High School students are aware, there is now a service hour requirement for freshman students. Ten hours of community service must be completed by May 15, 2025. Although that may seem extremely far away, it will be here before you know it. Many students have found ways of fulfilling those hours in unique ways. Liam O’Toole plans on, “Volunteering at the library.” Orlando Vittorini stated, “I plan on volunteering at PRS helping fifth graders learn to put together their instruments.” In this article, we will be focusing on volunteer opportunities at Holly Hill Farm.
Holly Hill farm is a terrific way to clock in hours for community service. The produce that they harvest in the Farm-to-Food Pantry Program (F2FTP) is all donated to six local food pantries. They have done great work in the past, such as in 2023, when they harvested “nearly 4,500 pounds of produce” to local pantries. Growing fresh produce for the community can have a big impact for many families. This is important in Massachusetts because many families and households are struggling with food insecurity. According to a survey done by ProjectBread.org, 17.9% of households in Massachusetts deal with food insecurity. To combat this problem, Holly Hill Farm has done a fabulous job playing their part in helping local families get fresh and healthy produce.
When it comes to what one’s job would entail at Holly Hill Farm, there are many parts to it. According to the Holly Hill website, “Activities include planting, composting, cultivating, harvesting, cleaning and prepping vegetables.” When you are at Holly Hill, you will really experience every part of working on a farm in a short period of time. In the picture above, the teenage volunteers can be seen washing off vegetables so they can be put into bins and be sent to the food pantries. During the spring and summer months, there is a lot of planting involved as that is when the New England weather is best for growing certain crops. As we move into the fall and winter seasons, there will be much more harvesting of those crops as they have all fully matured. Working on the farm is an incredibly fun and rewarding experience as I did this past summer. You also learn quite a lot about gardening and how to prepare produce. This information can also be brought into your own personal gardens at home too.
If you are interested in volunteering at Holly Hill Farm, you may use this link below: https://hollyhillfarm.org
