Getting started in the Food Garden: “Nice outdoors, it gives peace in my mind”

Volunteers are worth their weight in gold, for fellow human beings, the neighborhood, the city, and more. In the North district, there are many people who lend a helping hand. Every month, we highlight someone and they share about the added value of their volunteer work. This time it’s Annemarie Verschoor, who volunteers at Food Garden IJplein. “This brings me peace of mind and delicious vegetables on my plate!”Annemarie has been teaching biology for over 30 years at high schools. In addition, she is a painter and a beekeeper. From a young age, she has learned how wonderful it is to be outdoors. “I never tire of the shapes of plants and how they grow. Nine years ago, I was painting on the dike and suddenly saw a beautiful vegetable garden behind me. This turned out to be Voedseltuin IJplein. I signed up here as a volunteer and have never left.”

How do you make an impact?

“We grow vegetables as professionally as possible for clients of the Food Bank in the area. Additionally, I sometimes coordinate the work in the garden and I am the president of the association.”(text continues below the photo)

What is the most fun part about this?

“We are with a lot of different people and always have so much fun and achieve a lot. And of course, sometimes we can bring something tasty for ourselves. That is a huge incentive, especially when you have chatted beforehand with all kinds of people about what you are going to do with those vegetables at home during work.”(text continues below the photo) 

What does this volunteer work bring you?

“I love working outside, it gives me peace of mind. And then enjoying delicious vegetables on my plate! That calming aspect works for many people like that: recently, five lanky teenagers came to help out in the morning for their social internship, after a few hours one of the boys noticed that it wasn’t as boring as they thought, but actually ‘really calming’. How beautiful is that?!”(text continues below the photo)

Volunteer Tasks

Interested in volunteering at Voedseltuin IJplein?Check out the options here.Curious about other volunteer opportunities? Our online job board features about 1000 fun and meaningful tasks in the city. For everyone’s talent and schedule.Search online or make an appointment with one of our mediatorsHello.Photos: Jackie Mulder