May Volunteer Feature: Bethany!

At Pitney Meadows Community Farm, we’re deeply grateful for the amazing individuals who give their time, energy, and heart to our mission. Our Volunteer Feature is our way of recognizing the dedicated community members who help our farm thrive. This month, we're excited to shine a light on Bethany, our next Volunteer Feature! 

Some people make a place feel more alive simply by being part of it. Bethany is one of those people. A devoted mother, an inspiring leader, and a natural connector, she brings intention and warmth to everything she touches at Pitney Meadows… from flying kites in the fields with her children to chairing this year’s Fire Feast Committee with immense drive, grace, and vision.

Bethany’s journey with Pitney Meadows began with a simple race and has since grown into something much deeper: a relationship built on shared values, reciprocal care, and a deep love of this land and community. We’re honored to share her story and grateful every day that she chooses to grow with us here.

We sat down with her to learn more about how she first found Pitney Meadows, what keeps her coming back, and what it means to be part of something larger than yourself.

What brought you to Pitney Meadows Community Farm? Why do you volunteer with us?

 What first brought me to Pitney Meadows Community Farm was running. With a toddler and eight month old baby in tow, I signed up for my first race since becoming a mother at the Michael J Pitney Farm Run in 2022. My deep love of running cross-country came from the opportunities it presented to spend more time immersed in nature. After a decade of living in NYC and the journey of moving up here after becoming new parents on the brink of 2020, setting foot on the starting line of a 5k course outside of the city that morning felt like coming home. Our daughter was exposed to seeing the high school cross-country invitational that morning, and our son tried his first taste of a bagel after the race.

Showing up on the farm with my family on that early October autumn morning was like opening a door into a community of people and a special place that my husband and I could feel was going to offer meaning to all of us. Since that 5k, we've become involved and enjoyed spending time on the property. Volunteering with the farm is nothing I contemplated with precision, I just started doing it because it felt natural. I am a firm believer in giving back, and in the "thinking globally, acting locally" mantra. The relationships we've made and the deepening of our roots here as a family have only grown the more we've engaged. Volunteering is a recipricatory. I am grateful to be involved here in any capacity. We consider Pitney Meadows an extension of our home here. 

What’s your favorite part of Pitney Meadows? How about volunteering here?

Watching my children grow here is my favorite part of Pitney Meadows. I mean this not just as beneficiaries of the programming, but as young eyes and minds witnessing an inclusive community that values people and the land. The best part of volunteering is showing my children that this is an important component of community building and engaged citizenship. Acting on this value system in quiet ways is a gift that I can give to the larger community, and also use as an opportunity to be a role model for my kids. I love pulling in and saying hello to three people I know before I even arrive at my destination on the farm on any given day. I love the chance to teach my children how important it is to proactively connect with others.

What’s a memorable moment you’ve had at Pitney Meadows?

Kite flying is always magic. This year, our daughter spent every other Wednesday of the school year with peers learning on the farm through the inaugural Nurtured in Nature program. During our end-of-the-year celebration, our whole family of four was outside at Pitney Meadows with new friends and families, including my husband, who spent much of the festivities flying a kite high in the sky. It's beautiful to engage an entire family. 

Being at Pitney Meadows brings out the best in so many of us. The evening was light-hearted, full of shared dishes, and the laughter of children running in the field. The night was set to the backdrop of the sunset, waiting just a little longer to wane as we willed our way into stretching the celebration just a bit longer. We've been grateful to supplement our daughter's education with this program. Immersing students in this non-traditional classroom that connects them to nature also builds community, something that you cannot do in the same way in your own backyard. We keep a kite in the back of our car, but Pitney always has a few for visitors to use in the Welcome Center. I encourage folks to grab a kite from the Welcome Center the next time they are on the farm. 

Why do you think our Community Farm is important?

The list is long. From healthy food accessibility, to supporting the local agricultural system, to a welcomed break in our growing city for an ecological haven, and so much more… the whole feels greater than the sum of its parts. Most obvious to me upon initial observation, Pitney Meadows offers a deeper connection to our food through their programming and CSA. It is more important today than ever for folks to understand where their food comes from, how to use it, and why to grow your own or support locally-grown food.

More so, this place has a heartbeat. Pitney Meadows provides connection. It is a hub for so many individuals, families, and businesses to engage in meaningful ways. The farm places value on sustainability and self-awareness. Pitney Meadows has grown as a place that has become a cultural hub of activity in Saratoga. It has been a pleasure to watch other individuals bring a vision to the farm and see new programming realized. 

If you were to be any plant, what would you be and why?

What a question! I'll lean into my first thoughts here and run with it. For me, it is impossible, of course, to choose one. My immediate thought is a Queen Anne's lace growing among a field of wildflowers, not too unlike the fields at Pitney Meadows. They remind me of walks in the field with my mom at my childhood home in northeast Ohio, a property that was once 100 acres, is raising the fifth generation of our family today, and is deeply intertwined in my heart. The second response would be a strong hardwood tree, like an oak or sugar maple. I love that they stand quietly, witnessing the world around them through the lens of all seasons. 

What would you say to someone who’s thinking about being a part of their Community Farm?

First, stop thinking, and just start. I wish every community had Pitney Meadows. If you're lucky enough to find yourself in a place with a Community Farm, there is room to connect and to shape engagement in a way that speaks to you. So much of the farm is about connection. The next time you come, bring a friend who hasn't been here yet. Stepping foot on the farm can open a whole world to someone who doesn't realize how much connection they're missing out on. 

Second, the doors are open, and there is so much positive energy already here. I encourage you to get involved, especially if you feel you have something to bring to the table. It is up to each of us to engage and create the types of places that we want in our community. Pitney Meadows is a great place to tap into something that piques your interest. More likely than not, there is bound to be an overlap with the farm's mission and a benefit to the community of folks who live here in some way. Sports, the arts, food...it's hard not to find a reason to be here.

Bethany reminds us that community is not a concept—it’s something we create together, moment by moment, choice by choice. Through her presence, her leadership, and the way she brings her whole heart to everything she does at Pitney Meadows, she embodies what it means to belong, to give, and to nurture something bigger than ourselves.

Whether she’s deep in Fire Feast planning and fundraising, volunteering alongside her family, or simply stopping to greet a neighbor on the trails, Bethany helps weave the fabric of connection that makes this farm feel like home. Her belief in showing up, in modeling kindness, and in acting on her values, not for recognition, but because it feels right, ripples outward in ways big and small.

We are deeply grateful to Bethany not only for the time and talent she shares, but for the spirit she brings to this community. She reminds us of the quiet power in giving back, in planting roots, and in creating a place where others can grow. Thank you, Bethany, for helping us make Pitney Meadows a place where people feel seen, included, inspired—and loved.