Opportunities From: Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado

Where You’ll Be: 

You’ll be volunteering at the Village Farm at Stanley, an urban farm located next to Stanley Marketplace in northwest Aurora. This 1.5-acre farm is run by Village Exchange Center, a community-based nonprofit that supports and trains people from many cultural backgrounds.

The farm is both a working food production space and a learning environment. It is designed to grow culturally significant foods that reflect the traditions and needs of the families the Village Exchange Center serves.

What You’ll Do: 

Support the farm get off to a successful growing season! Volunteers will help with some of the following projects:

Establishing new in-ground beds, Building raised beds and planting a hedge row (a row of trees or shrubs that will form a living border/fence),Establishing bed infrastructure such as irrigation and trellises, Cutting down cover crop (a crop used to hold down and add nutrients to the soil between growing seasons), Planting seeds and seedlings.

This work helps lay the foundation for everything the farm will produce and teach in the months ahead.

Why It Matters: 

About half of the food grown at the Village Farm is shared through the Village Exchange Center’s weekly food pantry, located just a few minutes away. This fresh produce supports community members experiencing food insecurity who may not otherwise have access to culturally familiar foods.

The farm also plays a key role in the Village Exchange Center’s vocational training program. Each growing season, participants learn hands-on horticulture skills that can support future job opportunities and long-term food access.

The seedlings planted during this project have been intentionally selected to reflect the cultural backgrounds of the families who will receive the harvest.

Eligibility Requirements:  

Ages 15+   

Youth under 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 21 or older.   

Project Difficulty: 

This project is considered easy. Please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details.

General physical considerations for participating in this project (Some or all may apply): kneeling, bending, working close to the ground for extended periods, lifting or carrying soil, mulch, or plants, and exposure to insects (bees, wasps).

Access Factors: 

Vehicle Access: Street and lot parking is available. Volunteers will need to walk approximately 1/4 mile from their parking to the farm entrance. Volunteers can also bike along the regional trail to get there!

Other Notes: The worksite is exposed and most days gets very sunny.

Where you'll be:

Join Loveland Youth Gardeners in helping to prep their garden beds for the season! Helping this small non-profit team wake up the farm for the Spring will allow them to focus more efforts on their main mission: teaching kids outdoors. A variety of tasks are available to make this project family-friendly and ADA accessible.

What you'll do:

Volunteers will help prepare garden beds for the season ahead. Tasks may include planting, turning compost, transplanting seedlings, tilling soil, and other general garden prep work. There will be a range of activities available, so volunteers can choose what feels comfortable for them.

Please bring your own lunch for the day.

Why it's important:

This farm is the primary site for Loveland Youth Gardeners’ programming, where they provide nature-based education and horticultural therapy for about 150 youth each year.

The space also supports community events and projects, welcoming nearly 1,000 additional visitors annually.

Much of the produce grown here is shared with local community organizations, helping address food insecurity in the Loveland area. By volunteering on this project, you are supporting youth education, community well-being, and local food access all in one place.

Eligibility Requirements:

Ages 10+

All youth under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older.

Project Difficulty:

This project is considered easy. Please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details

Access Factors:

Vehicle Access: 2WD accessible

Other Notes: Volunteers will walk across a short, flat field (approx. 2 minutes) from the parking area to the farm

If you enjoy urban gardening/farm projects, you can view similar projects here.