Among the buildings of higher learning at Arizona State University rests a Valley treat: date trees. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday Oct. 6-29, volunteers are needed to help pick the dates - and in return, you get to keep a bag for yourself.
The school's arboretum will sell boxed campus harvest dates Oct. 11 at the Farmers Market on the Tempe campus. The Farmers Market is 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every other Tuesday beginning Sept. 27 west of the Memorial Union fountain on Orange Mall.
Volunteers also are needed to pick olives on the Tempe campus 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 19. That same day, speakers will discuss how to process green or black olives for eating.
When the task is done, volunteers can take a bucket of the picked olives to the Queen Creek Olive Mill and exchange it for olive oil.
To volunteer for the dates and olives harvests, contact Deborah Thirkhill at (480) 268-4165 or visit http://cfo.asu.edu/fdm-arboretum-volunteer.
• A Helping Hand is our weekly spotlight on a volunteer opportunity in the East Valley. Find other way to help at www.volunteermatch.org.
