Clif Bar's In Good Company® program brings a coalition of volunteers together to create a better future for food
In Good Company invites employee volunteers from values-driven businesses to work alongside local, community nonprofit partners during weeklong immersion projects focused on healthy food systems, environmental restoration, and rebuilding after natural disasters.
We help build community gardens and straw-bale homes, restore forests and wetlands, and clear (tons of) trash from the Ohio River. These experiences change both the communities where we work and our volunteers. It’s not just the fresh food or cleaner water, it's also the conversations and insights that come when working together side by side.
In Good Company grew out of Clif Bar & Company’s long tradition of hands-on community service and the certainty that collaboration among businesses can be a powerful force for positive change. Clif Bar directs and manages the program.
“Through the act of extending a hand—not just once in a while but as a regular part of life—we are changed as individuals and as a company.”
“If I had to pick one word to describe In Good Company, I’d say life-changing.”
“Normally, corporate volunteers come in for a few hours one day. They already know each other because they usually come from the same organization, whereas In Good Company volunteers are from different companies, from different backgrounds, from different places, all over the country, coming together for an entire week. They’re working together for full days, living together, eating together, cooking together, and really transforming something that is really meaningful and powerful to the communities they’re working in and partnering with.”
“The kind heartedness, the open heartedness—that’s not supposed to happen. You’re supposed to come and do the build. You’re just supposed to come and do the garden beds and the path. You’re not supposed to touch people’s heart and connect, but they do!”
For media and press contact, email us at ingoodcompany@clifbar.com
50+ companies
675 employee volunteers
25+ nonprofit partners
8 communities
27,500+ volunteer hours
Strengthening Food Systems
We've increased growing space and access to fresh produce in communities from coast to coast:
6 community gardens renovated, equaling the size of a football field for growing and gathering in the Bronx
3 market stands, 1 toolshed, 1 woodshop, 1 classroom and 14 raised beds built at West Oakland Farm Park
1 food forest launched at a food bank in California's Central Valley
1 education hub (a yurt!) constructed for youth at an East Oakland nursery
Many raised beds, chicken coops, bee boxes, composters, and vermicomposters in multiple communities
Protecting & Restoring the Environment
We've restored acres of forests, rivers, and wetlands (some of the world's most beneficial ecosystems):
5,000+ trees planted in Stanislaus National Forest
9.5 acres of wetlands planted, which grew to 78 restored acres in Louisiana's Gulf Coast
135,500+ pounds of garbage pulled from the Ohio River
1 bamboo forest test-modeled to reduce diesel particulates and improve air quality in West Oakland
Rebuilding Communities
We've helped rebuild and renovate homes, and created community and learning spaces:
2 homes rehabbed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
3 straw-bale homes and 3 community ovens restored on Hopi land
2 homes fitted with solar panels in West Oakland
1 art studio, 1 art gallery, 1 multipurpose space created for youth in the Bronx
“There’s a lot of learning, and a lot of leadership that can come out of it because folks do come back thinking about things in a very different light.”
“I think Clif Bar should shout a little louder about this—it’s a really cool program.”
"The experience with In Good Company showed us how we could be more effective, how much more stuff we can get out of the water if a group comes for five days versus four hours. You just get so much more done! We’re hauling trash out of rivers seven to nine months a year. It was really uplifting for us to have a group of hardworking volunteers jump in with us."
Inspire Service. Create Change
2005
Hurricane Katrina flattens and floods much of New Orleans.
2007
Clif Bar sends 14 employees to New Orleans to rebuild homes in the Upper 9th Ward after Katrina—and Clifsters have an epiphany moment: we can make even more impact by inviting other companies to come along.
New Orleans Pilot Project
14 Volunteers
560 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Habitat for Humanity
Clif Bar sends 14 employees to New Orleans to rebuild homes in the Upper 9th Ward after Katrina—and Clifsters have an epiphany moment: we can make even more impact by inviting other companies to come along.
2008
New Orleans (#1)
27 Volunteers
1080 Volunteer Hours
3 Community Partners: New Orleans Food & Farm Network, Rebuilding Together New Orleans, Bayou Rebirth
In Good Company is born!
Employee-volunteers from Annie’s, Clif Bar, EILEEN FISHER, Numi Tea, Seventh Generation, and Timberland rebuild the Ebarb family home in New Orleans.
The In Good Company alliance was initiated by Annie's, Clif Bar, EILEEN FISHER, Numi Tea, Seventh Generation, and Timberland.
2009
New Orleans (#2)
26 Volunteers
1040 Volunteer Hours
4 Community Partners: Rebuilding Together, Backyard Gardeners Network, Lower 9th Ward Village Community Center, Bayou Rebirth
Renovate the Cousin’s family Hollygrove-neighborhood home, plant a garden, rehab a Lower 9th Ward community center, and top it all off with a day of wetlands restoration.
2010
Hopi (#1)
10 Volunteers
400 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Red Feather Development Group
Raise wooden tresses and stack 300 straw bales with the Nachie family to build their home in Bacavi.
West Oakland (#1)
25 Volunteers
1000 Volunteer Hours
3 Community Partners: City Slicker Farms, GRID Alternatives, Urban Biofilter
Transform 1 city block into a community garden. 6 backyard gardens! chicken coops! Install solar panels on two neighborhood homes. 1 prototype bamboo forest to filter diesel particulates from the air.
88 volunteers from 13 companies have planted and hammered with In Good Company
Deep Water Horizon explodes 40 miles off the Louisiana coast.
2011
Gulf Coast (#1)
25 Volunteers
1000 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Restore the Earth Foundation, Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
Plant 15,000 mangroves and Spartina grasses on 4.5 acres to grow wetlands, build new hurricane buffer, and create bird habitat.
Hopi (#2)
19 Volunteers
760 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Red Feather Development Group
Team up with the Adams family to build their home in Polacca.
West Oakland (#2)
18 Volunteers
720 Volunteer Hours
3 Community Partners: City Slicker Farms, GRID Alternatives, Urban Biofilter
Urban farms for West Oakland. (Solar panels on neighborhood homes, and environmental restoration too!)
2012
Gulf Coast (#2)
28 Volunteers
1120 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Restore the Earth Foundation, Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
15,000 more native grasses and trees planted on 5+ acres (total Gulf Coast acres planted over 2 years: 9.5, which will grow into 78+ acres over the next 6 years).
Bronx (#1)
22 Volunteers
880 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Bronx Green-Up, Project EATS
Go big, go Bronx! 79 raised beds, 14 greenhouse tables, and 2 bee boxes for 2 urban farms (1 at University Heights High School).
West Oakland (#3)
19 Volunteers
760 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: City Slicker Farms
Laser-focus on more access to healthy, locally grown food: on the Ralph J. Bunche Academy campus, we build a new greenhouse, refurbish an old one, and construct a composting plot and a shady spot for sprouts.
Over 200 volunteers from 28 companies have volunteered with In Good Company.
2013
Hopi (#3)
15 Volunteers
600 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Kii' Nat Wan Lalwa, Red Feather Development Group
We get muddy with Kii' Nat Wan Lalwa, plastering ancestral homes, 1 piki house, and 2 community ovens in Hotevilla and Mishongnovi.
West Oakland (#4)
23 Volunteers
920 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: City Slicker Farms
Big-time building: we raise a community-gathering and education space—and a woodshop so City Slicker Farms can build custom veggie beds for backyard gardeners. The harvest-washing area at Fitzgerald and Union Plaza Park also gets an upgrade.
Bronx (#2)
12 Companies
20 Volunteers
800 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: The Point CDC
1 brick building transformed into an artists’ studio for House of Spoof, a youth art collective.
1 shipping container renovated into an art gallery (with lighting, accessible platforms, and a ramp). 1 multipurpose space supports creative action.
20 Volunteers
800 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: The Point CDC
1 brick building transformed into an artists’ studio for House of Spoof, a youth art collective. 1 shipping container renovated into an art gallery (with lighting, accessible platforms, and a ramp). 1 multipurpose space supports creative action.
The Rim Fire erupts: a hunter’s illegal fire burns out of control, destroying more than 250,000 acres in Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park.
2014
Hopi (#4)
22 Volunteers
1056 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Red Feather Development Group
In Good Company (IGC) volunteers work side by side with the Sekayumptewa family in Hotevilla to help build their energy-efficient, straw-bale home.
Bronx (#3)
24 Volunteers
1152 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Bronx Green-Up, Taqwa Community Farm
Back to the Bronx to build a chicken palace and revitalize Taqwa Community Farm in the Highbridge neighborhood.
West Oakland (#5)
13 Volunteers
624 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: City Slicker Farms
1,000 (give or take) wriggly worms can live in a vermicomposter—and we build many to supply healthy soil for CSF’s backyard gardeners (and because tools need a home too, we also build a tool shed).
West Oakland (#6)
16 Volunteers
768 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: City Slicker Farms
3 farm stands lovingly crafted (think mortise and tenon joints!) for Oakland’s new farm park. Mini greenhouses, too, plus composters and (more!) worm bins installed in backyards.
Drought drives California’s Governor to declare a state of emergency—and we cross paths with a fruit-gleaning PhD who introduces us to a visionary food bank in the Central Valley where we'll volunteer in 2016.
2015
Bronx (#4)
17 Volunteers
680 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Bronx Green-Up, Friends of Brook Park
Return to the Bronx: at Brook Park we dismantle an old greenhouse (extra muscles required to clear the concrete foundation) and construct a 14-foot rain garden to capture rain runoff. Then, so neighbors can linger, we build benches, picnic tables, and bee boxes.
Bronx (#5)
20 Volunteers
800 Volunteer Hours
3 Community Partners: Bronx Green-Up, Friends of Brook Park, GrowNYC
Brook Park (one more time!): we build a 700-square-foot hoop house and install 3 rainwater catchment systems, which means the park can now capture 1,500 gallons of rainwater.
Stanislaus (#1)
24 Volunteers
960 Volunteer Hours
3 Community Partners: Tuolumne River Trust, U.S. Forest Service, Telele Foundation
The forest needs a whole lotta love after the catastrophic Rim Fire, so we prep many acres for tree planting, then gussy up the Rim of the World, and build out the Telele Foundation’s nursery.
Over 400 volunteers from 44 companies have dug and painted with In Good Company.
2016
Alum Project in West Oakland
32 Volunteers
192 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: City Slicker Farms
In a single day, Bay Area alums build and install 14 ADA-accessible redwood garden beds to provide growing space for local families. We install irrigation and sow seeds to provide hundreds of pounds of mustard, chard, lettuce, arugula, and mesclun at City Slicker Farms Urban Farm Park.
Stanislaus (#2)
19 Volunteers
752 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Tuolumne River Trust, U.S. Forest Service
2,900 saplings planted in Stanislaus National Forest.
Bronx (#6)
25 Volunteers
1000 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Bronx Green-Up, Neighborhood Advisory Committee Community Garden
This huge-hearted garden (and its fearless leader, Marty) steals our hearts and we clear out thousands of pounds of concrete, bricks, and rubble to restore its beautiful central path. Did we mention the new, hand-crafted cedar boxes, including an ADA-compliant garden bed?
Central Valley (#1)
12 Volunteers
480 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: FoodLink Tulare County
1 dusty parking lot begins its journey to become 1 community food forest: we install irrigation, lay gravel walkways, and build soil mounds.
Central Valley (#2)
18 Volunteers
782 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: FoodLink Tulare County
The food forest is shaping up: we build 2 shady pergolas, a children’s garden, and a long cedar fence to shelter food and visiting neighbors.
2017
Stanislaus (#3)
19 Volunteers
760 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Tuolumne River Trust, U.S. Forest Service
Stanislaus National Forest welcomes 2,470 more saplings, bringing our 2-year total to 5,370 trees.
Over 500 volunteers from 49 companies have shoveled and celebrated with In Good Company.
Bronx (#7)
22 Volunteers
880 Volunteer Hours
3 Community Partners: Bronx Green-Up, Mary Mitchell Family & Youth Center, Garden of Youth
The Garden of Youth in the Cretona neighborhood gets a loving overhaul: 1 new greenhouse, lots of raised beds, and a leafy green space for kids.
A series of 250 wildfires—including Tubbs, Atlas, and Nuns fires—blaze across Northern California, burning more than 245,000 acres and forcing evacuations.
Alum Project in Santa Rosa
24 Volunteers
144 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Redwood Empire Food Bank
In one day, Bay Area alums pack 6,750 pounds of carrots and over 270 grocery to-go boxes to distribute 13,230 pounds of food for families affected by the Northern California fires.
2018
Bronx (#8)
24 Volunteers
860 Volunteer Hours
2 Community Partners: Bronx Green-Up, Charles W. Cooke Farm Park
Local heroes Ms. Ida and Ms. Minnie join in our efforts to build 56 raised beds, move mountains of soil, and overhaul the 17,000-square-foot Charles W. Cooke Farm Park.
Ohio River (#1)
21 Volunteers
840 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Living Lands & Waters
What to do about plastics in the oceans? We start upstream, working on the most polluted river in the U.S. Team #1 excavates 24,740.25 pounds of trash.
Ohio River (#2)
21 Volunteers
840 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Living Lands & Waters
Crew #2 digs out 31,348 pounds from the Ohio, bringing our 2-week total to 56,000 pounds of garbage that will never reach the ocean.
The Camp Fire is the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, covering 153,336 acres, destroying 11,000 homes and displacing close to 50,000 people.
Celebrating 10 years
54 Companies
29 Projects
2 Alum Projects
24,650 Volunteer Hours
2019
Oakland (#7)
20 Volunteers
800 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Planting Justice
IGC volunteers gather at Planting Justice’s East Oakland nursery to build a 30-foot yurt and two pergolas, spaces where youth will learn about nutrition and food justice.
Ohio River (#3)
24 Volunteers
926 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Living Lands & Waters
Return to the Ohio River, this time for three consecutive weeks, between Neville, Ohio, and Maysville, Kentucky. Team #3 hauls out over 29,000 pounds, including tires, barge line, a boat, a canoe, and lots and lots of single-use plastic.
Ohio River (#4)
14 Volunteers
550 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Living Lands & Waters
Team #4 piles up mounds of trash, including 1,671 feet of barge line, sinks, bowling balls, carpet, a 200-pound tractor tire, and hundreds of compostable bags filled with recyclables. Over 24,500 pounds in all! Plus a special performance by Hector on the barge.
Ohio River (#5)
17 Volunteers
588 Volunteer Hours
1 Community Partner: Living Lands & Waters
Team #5 finishes strong with almost 26,000 pounds, including 340 tires and an unprecedented 3 messages in bottles. That brings our 2019 season total to over 79,500 pounds and a two-year total of over 135,500 pounds that won't reach the ocean.