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It’s not out of the ordinary for a high school to have a Yearbook Club, Robotics Club and even Drama Club.
But have you heard of the Farmers Market Club?
At Winchester High School, the roughly 60 students who make up its Farmers Market Club collaborate with the town’s Farmers Market and dedicate their Saturday mornings to volunteering, fundraising and getting to know their community.
“It’s much different from learning about anything in general versus actually making change and knowing that you’re helping other people,” said Mahidah Rahman, a sophomore and club official.
The club started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the market’s director Fred Yen.
When the world was brought to a standstill and everyone was isolated, the students yearned for connection and an outlet to release creative energy. They saw the farmers market as an opportunity to socialize safely outdoors and contribute to their community.
Yen approved the connection between the market and the kids, and the Farmers Market Club was born.
On Saturdays during the market season, which runs from June to October, the students help set up at 8 a.m. and clean up when the market closes at 1 p.m.
“The vendors who are there every week or every other week experience the students the same way that I do, and they see how capable they are,” Yen said. “Well, they’re treated like colleagues.”
Yen explained that over time, he gives the students leadership roles at the market. He gives them a lot of responsibility and autonomy, throwing them into real-world experiences.
“They are high school students who learn to have relationships with adults who aren’t their parents or teachers,” said Yen, adding, “whether it’s other volunteers, whether it’s vendors, or whether it’s older shoppers.”
Some members even help shoppers communicate with the vendors, translating Mandarin at certain stands.
Samuel Yu, a sophomore and club official, is one of those students. He explained he’s not really a social person, but the market forces him to open up.
“Whenever I translate, and it works, I feel really happy because I know that I’m helping somebody who wouldn’t have been able to resolve a dispute before, figure out what to do,” Yu said. “I think it’s like a very educational experience.”
The educational aspect is something Yen emphasizes as well.
“It’s one thing to learn in a classroom from books and things like that; it’s just another situation where it’s unpredictable in a way,” Yen said. “And there are a wide range of experiences in shoppers and people’s personalities, and being able to learn how to handle all of that is very important.”
However, the impact doesn’t just stop at volunteering.
One of the students’ biggest contributions is fundraising.
“Winchester is a pretty well-off town, but there are always people who are struggling,” Rahman said. “[Students] should always take the chance to help people in any way that they can. I think that the farmers market really embodies that, and more people joining and actually volunteering would really help [students] gain awareness.”
For instance, the students run a tent at the market where they sell T-shirts and other products. They do bake sales, pumpkin painting and other events to raise money for Anna’s Fund, an organization that provides residents with tokens to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from the weekly market.
“They helped with our food assistance program, processing SNAP transactions,” Yen said. “They were able to distribute our Anna’s Fund. And, they were creative in their own fundraising projects, things like walk-a-thons, in support of funding for the food security projects.”
Sometimes, the students pass out the $10 tokens for Anna’s Fund — which is Yu’s favorite job. Last season, they received 50 to 60 weekly residents in need of support, according to the Winchester Farmers Market website.
“I think it’s always important to realize that there is a lot more going on in the world. Being aware and being knowledgeable impacts the choices you make,” Rahman said. “When we grow older and we’ll be able to vote, for example, we can relate that to more than just us.”
You can see these students in action every Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Winchester Town Common until the season ends on Oct. 31.
Ava Ferriero is a journalism student at Boston University. This story is part of a partnership between Winchester News and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom program.
