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| CFI Newsletter, March 2022
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| Ready, Set, Grow!
Despite snow flurries and temps in the teens sandwiched between blue skies and t-shirt-warm sunshine, we're off to the races at CFI as spring begins to pop up everywhere here in Appalachian Ohio! We're preparing for another busy growing season, and are ever grateful for our amazing network. There's a lot coming up! Below you'll find exciting news and ways to get involved. Looking forward to connecting with you all soon, whether in person or otherwise!
Trowels at the ready,
The CFI team
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| What Else is Growing in the CFI Garden
Check out upcoming events below, including exciting opportunities to get involved. Thank you for growing and sharing with us!
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Member Meeting Final Reminder
Our annual member meeting is happening tomorrow, Friday April 1, from 5pm-7pm, at the Athens Community Center at 701 E State Street in Athens, Ohio. All are invited to attend this celebration of local food, community, and 30 years of growing and sharing the harvest. Guests are welcome.
Thank you to all of our current members! If you haven't joined or renewed your membership in the past year, please consider a donation of $25 or more to become a member. Use our online form to sign up and donate today. Your membership helps us work for a thriving, equitable local food system.
Following the potluck there will be a very short program and active members will vote on proposed changes to the CFI bylaws, as well as on the CFI Board of Directors. Access the proposed changes and slate of directors on our website.
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Cause Connector Ending Soon!
Community Food Initiatives is a featured project on the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s giving website, Cause Connector, and the deadline to help us meet our goal is quickly approaching!
About this fundraiser: We're raising funds to increase our 2023 winter food supply by commissioning farmers to supply food during off-season months. We distribute locally grown food, which means that we distribute what's available seasonally. Historically, Donation Station’s winter food supply has decreased drastically when our local food supply dwindles – at greatest disparity dropping to 10% of our summer supply. This fundraiser will help us bridge that gap in supply while still using local resources, which means it will help us provide healthy food for families in need during a critical time of year, while also providing income for local farmers who can extend their season a bit through storage or growing methods.
Another aspect of increasing access to local produce beyond the growing season is sharing education about growing and processing your own food, so we are continuously networking with experts who want to share their knowledge in these fields. Let us know if you’re interested in providing a workshop!
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| Annual Garden Giveaways
March 23-24 we hosted our annual seed potato giveaway and distributed over 40,000 pounds of potatoes to individuals and organizations from over 10 different counties! This event takes place thanks to our partners at Jackson Area Ministries, who coordinate the donation and delivery of the potatoes each year.
It’s amazing to know that we have the network and volunteer power to share 30,000 pounds of potatoes in two days, but when we distribute gardening resources, we’re sharing more than just pounds of food. One nonprofit that came and picked up 2350 pounds of potatoes shared a story that illustrates this well: Last year they planted 600 pounds of seed potatoes and harvested 6,000 pounds. They enlisted the help of 70 volunteer teams to harvest these potatoes, which were then donated throughout the county in buckets that had been repurposed and donated from a partner nonprofit. From relationships to resources, these garden giveaway events help us grown and share as a community!
Next up in our garden giveaway events is the seed giveaway! Starting April 13, all Athens County Public Library branches will have trays of assorted seeds, available to anyone at no cost. You do not need to sign up in advance to pick up seeds.
Do you have seeds you would like to donate? We would be happy to find a garden for them! Please email us if you have seeds you’d like to share. Melon, squash, heirloom, and organic seeds are especially welcome. Thank you for growing and sharing the harvest with us!
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| Now Recruiting CFI AmeriCorps VISTA Positions
Community Food Initiatives is currently recruiting for two AmeriCorps VISTA positions: one 10 week summer position, and 1 year-long position. Both will help us build capacity through strategic team support. The summer VISTA will be with CFI during our busiest season and will have the opportunity to support many different CFI programs; the year-long position will support all CFI programming while focusing on community engagement and communications. Both positions start in June and are wonderful opportunities for recent graduates, providing excellent professional development and networking opportunities on top of the life-changing experience of learning about food systems and food justice in Appalachia.
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| Southside Community Garden Guardian to Receive ServeOhio Award
We're excited to announce that Amy Fugikawa has been selected to receive a 2022 ServeOhio Award! This award recognizes outstanding volunteerism and service, and we can't say enough about how much Amy deserves this recognition. Amy has taken on guardianship of CFI’s entire Southside Community Garden. Caring not just for her own spaces, Amy maintains other gardeners’ plots when they are unable to do so, and also maintains plots that grow produce for CFI’s Donation Station. Additionally, she maintains the communal spaces of the garden, organizing the shed and building up the garden’s compost system for the use of other gardeners. Recently, Amy has been working to beautify the garden space by planting flowers for pollinators outside of the garden fence, painting the shed, and enclosing plots with brightly-painted cement blocks. Tending to more than just garden plots, Amy offers to meet gardeners to familiarize them with the space, and makes herself available to answer questions. Amy works tirelessly to make our garden accessible to anyone and helps gardeners overcome any barriers they may face to maintaining a plot throughout the year. Last year alone, Amy donated 887 volunteer hours, growing food, beauty, and community at the Southside Community Garden. Along with recognizing Amy in a virtual ceremony, ServeOhio will donate $1000 to CFI in honor of this award. Thank you, Amy!
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| Thank You to Our New Sponsors!
River Willow Culinary Services by Chef Katie Mosher is providing support at the Bronze level and is working with Maribeth on an exciting FUNdraiser in early April. Stay tuned on social media for more information!
We’re grateful to have such amazing support from this community! Sponsors make all of our work possible.
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| What Else?
Donation Station is at the Athens Farmers Market every Saturday all winter long, and we happily accept produce purchased at market! We are also currently accepting seed donations for our upcoming Garden Giveaway event. You can find Donation Station just inside the mall entrance.
There's always more happening at CFI than we have room to share here. Be sure to follow us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Looking for different ways to help the CFI garden grow? Visit our website for information about our programming and to see how you can get involved.
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