We are grateful that you are willing to offer your time and talents as a volunteer with Cultivate Abundance as well as in conjunction with our Immokalee-based neighbors and partners, particularly Misión Peniel.

 

You will be interacting with various people as a volunteer. Your efforts will be coordinated by Cultivate Abundance staff, often in consultation with Misión Peniel. You will likely engage with other volunteers, including our Immokalee neighbors. You might also interact with representatives from other Immokalee-based agencies and nonprofits.

 

Our team and local contacts are ethnically and linguistically diverse. Several of us speak English and many speak other languages, including Spanish, Haitian Kreyol, and Mayan languages such as Q’eqchi’, K’iche’, and Mam.

 

People represented in the garden are generally Immokalee residents, usually female, and often with children.Within the workspace, our interactions must be respectful and appropriate. We request that garden visitors and volunteers – especially non-minorities – be mindful and appreciative of our ethnic and cultural differences.

 

Also be aware that some in our garden may have suffered previous trauma. Please be aware that certain words and actions, though unintended, could convey disrespect and create anxiety among others who are present.

 

Please reach out to our staff if you have questions or concerns about appropriate, or inappropriate, conduct.  

 

The following are the core values of the Cultivate Abundance team:

• Compassion – From a faith and conscience perspective, we are focused on serving the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40) with a passion for justice (Micah 6:8) along with a commitment to love God as well as our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

• Respectful Advocacy – Our approach to working among im/migrants, refugees, and/or farmworkers.

• Operating as Learners – We strive to deepen our understanding regarding circumstances related to migration and unique farmworker challenges (e.g., legal barriers, human rights, wages, health care, housing), particularly in Immokalee and nearby migrant communities where we address food insecurity.

• Humility and respect – Our expected mode of interaction among all Cultivate Abundance stakeholders, including the migrant community as well as among team members, volunteers, supporters, and partner agencies.

• Integrity – Being transparent and truthful in our planning, activities, and reporting.

 

The following behavior will not be tolerated:

• Disrespectful language or behavior towards the Cultivate Abundance staff, our volunteers, and visitors as well as Misión Peniel’s team and clients.

• Inappropriate behavior or statements towards others, particularly in the context of gender as well as those most vulnerable, e.g., children.

• Lack of respect or care for the property of Cultivate Abundance and Misión Peniel.

 

Cultivate Abundance reserves the right to refuse entry to anyone deemed a threat to our team and contacts as well as to terminate arrangements between the organization and its volunteers.