Join us in thanking these organizations!

We are pleased to announce recent support from several foundations and non-profits. Please join us in thanking the following organizations!

• The Lydia B. Stokes Foundation “supports building resilient, healthy communities by focusing on social and economic justice, regenerative organic agriculture, viable, healthy ecosystems, quality of life issues, development of local food systems, local energy security and peace initiatives.” We recently received a $10,000 operating grant from the Foundation and are thrilled to have their support!
• The Bunny Rattner Foundation has honored the example of teaching children about food and farming that Ms. Rattner set during her lifetime with a generous grant to support our Youth Farm Education programs. We also received a $2,500 commitment from the Northampton Education Foundation to support field trips in Spring 2017. These grants help to replace funding that was cut from our state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education grant when the governor made budget cuts in early December. We remain grateful to Rep. Peter Kocot for obtaining that grant and seeking a restoration of funds this fiscal year.
• The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Fund renewed its $50,000 grant for our Food Access programs this fall, ensuring that we can continue to make our local food system accessible to everyone in our community. With their support, over 40,000 pounds of fresh, local produce was donated or provided at steep discounts to low-income families.
• Jackson Street School PTO contributed $10 per share for 20 JSS families that participated in our new Red Bag program, reducing their cost of participation to just $10 – thank you!
• CISA, an important regional partner in many ways, has also been a key financial supporter in 2016. For each of the 70 low-income Senior FarmShares that we purchase for $125 from Crimson & Clover Farm, participants pay $10, Grow Food Northampton paid $100 with support from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, and CISA provided $15, helping us to expand the program while ensuring farmers are paid a fair price on par with their regional program. (CISA runs Senior FarmShare programs in many other towns as well – more info here.) CISA also raised money for the SNAP & Save program, which matched SNAP expenditures at farmers’ markets throughout the Valley. Our Tuesday Market received over $6,500 from this pool and we contributed another $4,600, bringing the total SNAP match above $11,000 and total SNAP-driven purchases to over $25,000! CISA also re-granted funds from a federal Farmers’ Market Promotion grant, helping us to publicize the market and send text alerts to customers.

It is a privilege to serve a community that is so supportive in so many ways. We rely heavily on individual donations, but could also not achieve as much with our many programs if not for the support of so many great organizations!