Students and community members volunteer at Guilford County Farm to pick over 4,000 pounds of grapes to be donated to the local community.
On Saturday, Sept. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 7, students from Elon University attended The Big Pick at Guilford County Farm, part of the Kernodle Center for Civic Life’s Get on the Bus programming. The Get on the Bus program is geared toward students who may not have access to transportation or would like to engage with a community partner, but do not know how to get started.
The Big Pick is an event hosted by Guilford County farms where volunteers harvest the grapes to be donated to local food banks, shelters, and kitchens for people in need of some delicious fresh produce. The muscadine vineyard produces thousands of pounds of grapes each year. To learn more about Guilford County Farm please visit their website here.
A total of 48 student volunteers attended both weekends of the event and completed over 150 hours of service. Through a partnership with the Global Education Center, 14 students participated in the first weekend of the event, and many returned to participate in the second. Approximately 4,000 pounds of grapes were picked by all of the community volunteers across both weekends.
Service Ambassador Kelsey Altemose ’27 shares about her experience attending the big pick “It was great to see so many students from the Elon community all come together to pick so many grapes, and bond through service.”
Throughout the fall semester, the Get on the Bus program hosted opportunities for the Boys and Girls Club, the City Gate Dream Center and Carolina Tiger Rescue. Learn more about future Get on the Bus opportunities along with other service events on Phoenix Serve.