Students Adopt a Local Market

On a Thursday afternoon in December, a group of high school students pours into Center City Public Charter School. The students are visiting from Friendship Tech Prep Academy, a neighboring Ward 8 school, to volunteer at Center City’s monthly Joyful Food Market, which they adopted for the school year.  The group begins their volunteer shift by bringing fresh produce into the building, while their guidance counselors proudly photograph their day of service. As the students prepare for families to arrive, they carefully arrange baskets of kale, oranges, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower, and stack bags of beans. Joseph, a high school junior, explains what sets this volunteer experience apart from his other community service projects in the city: “I get to see the impact really close to home,” he says. “When I walk through D.C., I usually see the same faces. I get to meet people in my community here,” he adds. Friendship Tech Guidance Counselor Julia echoes this sentiment. “Partnering with Martha’s Table makes a lot of sense for us because we want our students to have meaningful service opportunities—and this one is close to home.”

Community Support for our Markets

It takes a village! Through Martha’s Table’s Adopt-a-Market program, groups of 10 or more volunteers distribute fresh groceries and lead cooking demonstrations at a school market once a month. Participants in our Sponsor-a-Market program provide financial support in addition to volunteers. Thanks to these wonderful groups for all of their support:

AARP
Bernstein Management
DeMatha Catholic HS
Edmund Burke HS
Friendship Tech Prep Academy HS
GW Medlife
Junior Professionals Advisory Committee (JPAC) of USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service
Linder Global Events
Maret School
Optoro
Potomac Job Corps
US Trust

Action Alert: Consider adopting a market today: email volunteer@marthastable.org. Interested in sponsoring a market? Email rdavidson@marthastable.org.