National Volunteer Week
Steve Bonfig, community volunteer and Urban Roots Board member
This month, Steve Bonfig begins his third season volunteering at our weekly Market Garden Community Farming Events. Volunteers help prepare soil, plant starts, and spread seeds in the spring. Summer brings a lot of harvesting and weeding, and in the fall, volunteers help us put our gardens to bed for the winter. In addition to volunteering with us, Steve joined our Board of Directors in 2024.
What inspired you to volunteer with Urban Roots?
It fit the “framework” I wanted as a place to make a significant commitment, a framework that I thought a lot about. I wanted to spend my time with an organization that:
- Addressed a basic need (water, food, or shelter)
- Was oriented toward youth
- Focused on an underserved community
- Had a sustainable model
- Was local
If it aligned with a personal passion – growing real food! – that would be a bonus. There are so many places that need help, but Urban Roots became the primary one for me because they literally checked every box.
What keeps you coming back?
Since volunteering, I have experienced the organization hands-on and have met so many truly good and amazing people. The three programs–Market Garden, Cook Fresh, and Conservation–are amazing, and they are interconnected in a way that really makes sense. And in the end, there is food – real, nutritious food provided within the community, a community where access to this kind of food is hardly assured, much less affordable.
What have you done as a volunteer with Urban Roots?
So far, two years as a hands-on, get-dirty worker in the Market Garden program – prepping plots, weeding, seeding, harvesting…pretty much growing good food from end-to-end. I thought from the start that I could do more by also serving on the Board. It led me to apply, and thankfully I made it through the process and was accepted. As I learn even more, I see a strong and well-rounded Board that cares deeply about the organization and the youth and community we serve. It’s another “why” that keeps me coming back. I am continuing to volunteer with Market Garden for a third year, and I look forward to deepening my involvement and contribution to a range of activities on the Board.
Is there a memorable moment from your time volunteering that made you feel connected to the mission of Urban Roots?
When you are on your hands and knees, getting dirty, doing good work in a communal way, you get to know people a bit while helping fill a basic human need, and that’s pretty cool. That’s not just “a” moment, that’s many moments.
What would you tell others who are thinking about volunteering with Urban Roots?
Do it. Now. We need you more than ever.
What’s one thing you wish more people knew about Urban Roots?
How much they care, how much good they have done and continue to do, and the number of lives they have changed, long before I showed up.
In what ways have you seen your work make a difference—either for the youth interns, the community, or the environment?
It’s hard to pull out “my” work for this question; I don’t think that’s the point. I do know I am part of a highly focused, caring team – of youth interns, staff, board and volunteers – that is true to the Urban Roots mission and is making a very real difference for individuals and families, as well as the environment where we live, right in our own backyard.
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