COMCorps welcome and photo gallery!
COMCorps welcome and photo gallery!
Wild August 
Warm Welcome!
August?  Already?!  August is a whirlwind of living in two different worlds at once.  We haul watermelon alongside pumpkins, harvest zucchini with butternuts, process green tomatoes and early apples.  We sweat in the August heat, and cool mornings raise goosebumps on our skin.  Brick-red sunflowers in their prime signal summer; red buckeye leaves say fall’s foot is in the door. 

August 2020?  Like the rest of the world, we’re learning to adapt to continuous challenges and changes.  We are finding increasingly virtual ways to help people engage with the real world.  We’ll be sure to keep you posted about all these awesome happenings on social media.  In this newsletter, we’re sharing one of the most exciting changes: our new COMCorps crew!  Many of you have already had a chance to meet them out in the community.  You can learn more about them below, and check out everything they’ve had a chance to do in just a couple weeks at CFI!   Like we said … August is a whirlwind!  

Also included below you’ll find a "Summer Glory" mini photo gallery.  So much beauty and garden goodness! 

Joy, gratitude, seeds, sweat, sunshine, teamwork, and thunderstorms,

The CFI team

Meet the New Crew 
Sonya Ferrier (above, left) is an Athens native who recently graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Environmental Geography. She is passionate about sustainable agriculture, food justice, and the environment. In her free time she loves gardening, crafting, and reading. In the future she hopes to pursue a master’s degree in geology, a field she became interested in during her travels to national parks. She is excited about her year of service with CFI and sees it as a way to give back to the community that raised her
Alex Armstrong (above, center) grew up in Athens, and graduated from Ohio University with a BA in French in 2020. As a prof once remarked, though, he is “really a geographer at heart.” It was an abiding interest in the justice and injustices in our landscape that led him towards CFI, where he is serving in 2020-2021 as Food Access Coordinator through OU COMCorps. In his spare time Alex enjoys hiking, canoeing, and riding his moped through the gorgeous green hills of Southeast Ohio.
Raya Abner (above, right) recently graduated from Ohio University with a degree in English, a minor in psychology, and a certificate in diversity studies. Coming to Athens from Cincinnati, she fell in love with the Athens community and food justice after an internship at United Campus Ministry. She comes to CFI eager to learn more about sustainable gardening and our local food system while becoming an "official" Athens townie. She is most passionate about books, coffee, cats, and astrology. 
Quick Updates
  • We're sharing tons of food this season thanks to support from HAPCAP and some awesome teamwork with Rural Action.  Already in 2020 we've distributed 58,215 pounds of food.
  • We're still celebrating our full community gardens!  Plots are growing like crazy, and flowers planted for pollinators bring joy for all who visit.  
  • We're excited about what educational outreach will look like this year at CFI.  Videos coming soon showcasing gardening and cooking with seasonal produce.
  • Nourishing Networks just wrapped up sessions in Nelsonville, and the next stop is Glouster beginning September 6th (sessions are virtual during Covid-19).
  • Veggie Van has been a hit in Glouster this season, and we're in planning stages for next season.  Stay tuned!  

    See "Summer Glory" mini photo gallery below.  :)  

What Else?
Things are always sprouting at CFI!  Stay up to date -- and see more beautiful photos -- on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. 
As always, thank you for being our community.  Stay safe and sane, and keep taking care of each other.
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