The Dynamic Duo -- Mobile Market Volunteer Spotlight

Ky overseeing the enchilada sauce at JuJu's cooking class.

As a small but growing nonprofit, the staff at Arcadia are extremely grateful for all the work that our many volunteers perform to make our organization run smoothly.  Whether it's helping to serve meals at our Farm Dinners, build our website, pull weeds, staff tables at community events, or assist with our Mobile Market, volunteers can be counted on to make our goals realities.

I manage Arcadia's Mobile Market stop at the Congress Heights National Children's Center, and am ably aided at this stop by two wonderful volunteers, Pafilvie Amisial and Ky Vaugh-Cooke.  Pafilvie, a social worker at a nearby dialysis clinic, found Arcadia when she looked for more nutritional food resources for her clients.  Ky, a home renovation contractor, wanted to further his knowledge of healthy eating.  Both Pafilvie and Ky help with the set up and breakdown of the market shelves and bins, aid the customers with choosing produce, and process transactions.  Recently, they also assisted me at the Get Growing! cooking class I taught at Arcadia Farm.  Besides being my favorite volunteers, they've become friends with whom I look forward to sharing social time.

When asked if working on the Mobile Market has influenced the way they eat, they both replied "Yes."  I thank them each week with produce and bread, or with containers of whatever I've made that day for food demonstrations.  The other week Pafiulvie said that she is learning more cooking techniques and recipes, and that I've showed her how many vegetables that are in season at the same time can be combined in recipes.  They are both now aspiring to have their own garden soon, too.  It's rewarding to know that the help and support is a two-way street.  We're so thankful to all of our volunteers like Pafilvie and Ky who help make our work possible!