Volunteer with CFR
From roots to fruit, your hands make the difference!
Community Fruit Rescue offers volunteer opportunities for all ages, abilities, schedules, and interests. Whether you want to pick fruit outdoors, lead a team, drive donations, represent us at events, volunteer with coworkers, share professional skills, or gain experience through an internship — there’s a place for you here.
Our volunteers make it possible to harvest thousands of pounds of fruit each season, reduce food waste, discourage wildlife attractants, and deliver fresh produce to neighbors across Boulder County. However you choose to get involved, your time makes a tangible local impact.
Explore the opportunities below to find your fit!
Get involved
Picking fruit is the most common way to volunteer with Community Fruit Rescue — and no experience is needed. Harvests are led by trained Harvest Leader volunteers and typically last around 2 hours. Volunteer pickers help harvest surplus fruit from backyard trees, get to take home a portion of the bounty, and ensure the rest is donated to local food partners and animals at nearby sanctuaries and farms.
How it works:
During harvest season, sign up for open events through our Harvest Finder.
Show up ready to pick and make an impact!
We provide all necessary equipment and begin each harvest with a brief orientation to ensure everyone feels confident and prepared. Most of our harvests take place on residential properties, reflecting Boulder County’s rich urban orchard history. Harvests are family-friendly, hands-on, and offer a meaningful way to reduce food waste while sharing fresh fruit with our community.
We can’t wait to harvest with you!
Pick fruit
Harvest Leaders are volunteers who play a key role in making Community Fruit Rescue’s harvest program possible. During harvest season, leaders help coordinate volunteer crews at harvest sites, ensuring fruit is safely and efficiently picked and shared throughout the community.
As a Harvest Leader, you’ll work with volunteers and tree owners, help organize harvest logistics, and support a positive and welcoming experience for everyone involved. It’s a great opportunity to build leadership skills, spend time outdoors, and help ensure surplus fruit is put to good use rather than going to waste.
Harvest Leaders help turn local fruit abundance into community nourishment while supporting food access, reducing waste, and helping minimize wildlife attractants in urban areas.
Additionally, Harvest Leaders who lead at least 3 harvests during the 2026 season will receive a $30 expense reimbursement stipend for each harvest led.
Be a Harvest Leader
Help close the loop by transporting freshly harvested fruit to local food partners. Delivery volunteers ensure fruit reaches organizations serving individuals and families experiencing food insecurity. This role is flexible, impactful, and essential to keeping fruit fresh and moving quickly from tree to table.
We donate harvested fruit to organizations such as Community Food Share, Longmont Food Rescue, Sister Carmen Community Center, Good Life Refuge, Luvin’ Arms Sanctuary, and more.
Deliver fruit to recipient sites
Help us spread the word and share the fruit! Our Event Team volunteers are the friendly faces of Community Fruit Rescue at fall festivals, farmers markets, and community events. Whether you're chatting with folks about our mission, handing out apples or cider samples, or helping set up our booth, you're playing a key role in growing our community and reaching new supporters.
This is a great opportunity for outgoing folks who love talking to people, believe in local food systems, or want to support our work in a fun, social setting. No experience needed—just bring your enthusiasm, and we’ll provide everything you need!
Event Team roles typically involve:
Tabling at local events (we’ll match you with ones that fit your schedule)
Sharing info about our harvests, workshops, and programs
Offering samples & handing out flyers
Helping with setup/cleanup-- including potentially transporting materials in a personal vehicle
Welcoming new people into the CFR community
Want to help out? We’d love to have you on the team!
Join our Events Team
Community Fruit Rescue warmly welcomes groups, businesses, schools, and organizations looking to make a positive impact together through a fun and engaging harvest event. Volunteering as a group with CFR is a fantastic way to strengthen team bonds, give back to the community, and help us reduce food waste while providing fresh, healthy fruit to those in need. Whether you're a corporate team, a community organization, a classroom, or a group of friends, we'd love to work with you to organize a group harvest for you and your team to make a difference in our community.
Volunteer as a Group
Have professional skills you’d like to contribute? We welcome support in areas like marketing, communications, photography, videography data management, grant writing, translation, event support, and more. Skilled volunteers help strengthen our organization behind the scenes and expand our reach.
We also welcome in multiple interns throughout the year, especially during our harvest season. Internships offer hands-on experience in nonprofit operations, food systems, community engagement, and environmental stewardship. Interns work alongside our team to support harvest coordination, outreach, program development, and more — gaining practical skills while making a measurable local impact.