Opportunities From: ServeMaine

Facilities Volunteers help keep our campus welcoming, functional, and beautiful - a vital part of how we serve the public and support Maine’s food producers. As an extremely lean nonprofit, we rely on the generosity of in-kind volunteers to tackle the behind-the-scenes tasks that keep our community resource space running smoothly. A clean, well-maintained campus helps us draw in visitors, offer high-quality educational experiences, and create a positive, professional environment for the many nonprofits, community groups, and food-related organizations who use our space.

Volunteer tasks vary widely and can be tailored to your skills and interests. Examples include gardening or flower bed care, weeding, landscaping, paint touch-ups, drywall or small building repairs, lightbulb changes, tech troubleshooting, equipment repairs, and other general upkeep projects. Whether you love working outdoors, fixing things, or tackling satisfying one-off projects, we likely have a task that fits your strengths. Scheduling is extremely flexible - volunteers can set their own hours and choose projects that match their availability. Some tasks (like gardening) are ongoing throughout the season, while others (like patching drywall or repairing equipment) are one-time projects.

If you're willing to share your skills, we will gladly work with you to design a project or routine that suits you. Your efforts help maintain a welcoming, functional campus that benefits not only us, but a much wider network of Maine’s food and community organizations. This is a meaningful way to support local food systems, contribute in a hands-on way, and make a visible, lasting impact.

Maine Food Storytellers lead our signature daily drop-in educational programs, Flavors of Maine, in the Tasting Room; these are engaging, story-driven sessions that introduce visitors to the complex landscape of Maine’s food systems. Each 45–90 minute program (June through October) weaves together narratives about individual producers, entire industries, support organizations, and the many ways they intersect to shape Maine’s vibrant food ecosystem. These sessions give visitors the foundational knowledge they need to understand why local food matters, where to find it, and how their choices directly support Maine’s farmers, fishermen, and food makers.

This role is perfect for outgoing, enthusiastic people who love teaching and can make complex ideas feel accessible and exciting. You may teach one person or up to 12 participants during a regular session, and occasionally up to 30 for private groups. Because programs are offered on a drop-in basis, scheduling requires a bit more flexibility than other opportunities. Some days we may not know until shortly before start time whether a session will run—though during peak season, programs typically fill and run reliably. Volunteers arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled session and should check in earlier in the day via phone, email, or text to confirm attendance numbers and any special considerations. Cleanup is minimal: bring glasses and plates to the kitchen, answer any lingering questions, and you’re done.

Training for this role is more extensive than most opportunities. Volunteers develop a deep understanding of Maine’s food systems - not just memorizing a script, but learning to answer questions thoughtfully and accurately, and becoming true ambassadors for local food. Training may include readings, practice sessions, and optional site visits to local producers to strengthen your knowledge.

MFBEC staff handle all food prep, materials, and setup; your job is to bring enthusiasm, clarity, and confidence to each session. This opportunity is especially well suited to people with existing experience in Maine’s food landscape, whether through nonprofits, farming, fishing, aquaculture, food education, or related work. For the right person, this is an incredibly rewarding role: you’ll learn a ton and experience the joy of watching visitors discover their own connection to Maine’s food systems - and leave ready to take meaningful action in their local food community.

Class Assistants support our hands-on cooking workshops, tastings, and food-education classes by helping instructors deliver a smooth, welcoming, and mission-aligned experience for every participant. Most instructors are outside partners who come in just for the class; you are the on-the-ground representative who helps infuse our nonprofit’s mission, values, and Maine-focused messaging into each session.

Volunteers help with attendee check-in, answer questions about our organization, give a brief introduction at the start of class, and assist throughout the session by managing dishes, portioning and serving samples, supporting the instructor, and sharing information about membership opportunities. After class, you’ll help reset the space so it’s ready for the next group.

This role is genuinely fun and immersive; you essentially get to “audit” each class, tasting what participants taste, hearing everything the instructor teaches, and occasionally cooking along with the group. Some classes will include an MFBEC staff member alongside you; for others, it will be just you and the instructor working as a team. MFBEC staff handle class materials, ingredient prep, and most setup, though light setup assistance may be appreciated for certain sessions. Volunteers typically arrive 1 hour prior to scheduled class start time and stay 30 minutes-1 hour after for clean-up; classes range from 1 hour to 3 hours and many occur on weekday evenings or weekend days. 

If you love Maine food, enjoy helping people learn, and want a behind-the-scenes role in our most popular programs, this opportunity is a great fit for you!

Join us in bringing our largest and most exciting on-campus events to life! Special Event Volunteers help us run public events like the Needham Festival and the Maine Night Market - celebrations that regularly draw 500–700+ attendees and require far more support than our small staff can provide. Volunteers typically commit to a 4–5 hour shift and serve in a wide variety of roles, all essential to creating a smooth, welcoming, and educational experience for our guests.

Before each event, we’ll reach out with details and a list of volunteer assignments, giving you the chance to sign up and indicate which roles you’d enjoy most. We need all kinds of help, from wayfinding and parking assistance, to running crafts and kids’ activities, to supporting cooking demonstrations, to staffing info tables. Event days are lively, community-centered, and incredibly fun, offering a hands-on way to support interactive, family-friendly food education right here in your local community.

Help us bring Maine’s food stories directly into the community! Outreach Event Volunteers represent our nonprofit at local festivals, farmers markets, and special events, sharing our mission, promoting upcoming classes and membership, and sparking curiosity about Maine’s food systems. Our info tables are usually a mix of general awareness (who we are, what we do, why it matters) and an activity tied to the theme of the event itself. Past hands-on activities have included “plant your own heritage bean” stations, edible insect tasting and trivia, and Maine food sampling.

Maine Tasting Center staff will pack all supplies and prep any hands-on activities...you simply pick up the materials, attend the event, enjoy chatting with the public, and drop things off when you’re done. As a very small team stretched thin, we know how important it is to show up at community events, but we can’t seize every opportunity on our own. Volunteers like you make this outreach possible and make a huge difference in our ability to execute our mission and reach as many people as possible! 

These opportunities occur year-round and may take place near and far from Wiscasset - each opportunity is presented to our volunteers and you can sign up for it if you feel like it's a good fit for your schedule, travel tolerance and interests! Events are usually anywhere from 4-5 hours each and set-up/tear-down is typically minimal and quick - if extensive set-up (tents, tables, etc) is required, a Maine Tasting Center staff member will accompany you to assist.