Access Nature Forum – Mahwah Environmental Volunteers Organization
Join us on December 3rd at 1:00 PM Via Zoom.
Join us for a discussion with MEVO (Mahwah Environmental Volunteers Organization) Inc., which was a recipient of PPA’s stipend project. MEVO was able to welcome in an existing partner, the Bergen County Department of Adult Special Services (BCASS), to their farm to volunteer at a high frequency. BCASS had been volunteering with MEVO previously, but due to limited staff on MEVO’s end, they were not able to welcome them as frequently as they liked. The stipend from the Pinelands Preservation Alliance afforded them the ability to welcome BCASS anywhere from 2-4 times a month from April to September.
BCASS brought groups of anywhere from 5-15 adults on a given visit, where they stayed for an hour each time. MEVO emphasized sensory experiences that would allow the clients to connect with the farm and the outdoors while they came to visit. Every visit started with a sensory farm tour where the groups could touch, taste, see, and smell what was going on at the farm. Since they camefrequently, they got to witness the farm changing from spring to summer, to fall, through their senses. While at the farm, clients helped with tasks such as weeding, lining the perennial and herb beds with a rock border, laying down mulch, and more. MEVO focused on tasks that fit the range of abilities for the group on the given day. If clients were more excited to tour and experience the farm that day, they would spend all the time of their visit happily on that.
About MEVO: The Mahwah Environmental Volunteers Organization is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit located in Mahwah, New Jersey, whose mission is to be the model for the creation of scalable ecological solutions that inspires and empowers people to take action for a better future. MEVO engages its community in boots on the ground and hands-in-the-dirt volunteer projects that range from working on our two market garden farms, assisting in large-scale trash cleanups on Stag Hill in Mahwah, and trail building in partnership with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. MEVO’s other programs include their Farm to School Program, spring, summer, and fall internship opportunities, and their Community Supported Agriculture Program. To learn more about MEVO and their volunteer opportunities, you can visit mevo.org