VACU Creates Documentary of Volunteer Event at Shalom Farms

Virginia Credit Union members and employees joined in a volunteer work day to benefit Shalom Farms on November 3.

This short documentary has been produced about the day and features comments from members, employees and staff at Shalom Farms.

Shalom Farms operates an urban farm off Westwood Avenue in Northside Richmond. Approximately 60 volunteers were recruited to construct the frame for a greenhouse, harvest cabbage and other late-season produce, weed garden beds and build other structures on the farm.

Shalom Farms works with communities to ensure access to healthy food and the support to live healthy lives. Shalom Farms produced more than 500,000 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in 2017 with the help of 17,000 hours of effort with thousands of community volunteers.

“We work with thousands of individuals and families each year who experience barriers to accessing and using healthy food,” said Dominic Barrett, executive director of Shalom Farms.

Asking members to volunteer with their credit union was a natural choice for VACU and fit with the credit union’s cooperative spirit, said Glenn Birch, director of public relations for VACU.

“Our employees have volunteered at Shalom Farms in the past and we wanted to extend that opportunity to the community. As a member-owned organization, we wanted to create an opportunity for members, employees and the community to volunteer together in a meaningful project.”

A financial cooperative serving more than 275,000 members, Virginia Credit Union offers a variety of affordable banking services, loans, mortgages, and free financial education resources, with a focus on helping people be more confident with their finances. Virginia Credit Union is an equal housing opportunity lender and is federally insured by NCUA.