Feed Families in Appalachian Ohio

It is hard to believe that it is already March! Spring is in the air in Appalachian Ohio, with sunny days, rainstorms, birdsong, and lots of activity at CFI.

As I write to you today, we are in the thick of preparations for our annual garden giveaways, the first of which is the Seed Potato giveaway coming up in mid-March. The CFI team has been hard at work recruiting volunteers and reaching out to partners to organize the distribution of 80,000 pounds of donated potatoes throughout the region. This will be followed by our seed giveaway in April, which will distribute over 1000 packets of free seeds through the local library system, and the plant start giveaway in May. Providing resources and support to community gardeners and home growers is a cornerstone of CFI’s work toward local food security, and these giveaways are a fun, impactful event each year. 

In addition to the upcoming giveaways, the CFI Community Gardens Team is hard at work organizing a series of educational workshops, community seed swaps, and work days to prepare our community gardens for spring planting. 

The Donation Station has been reaching out to our many food access partners over the past few months in preparation for the 2024 growing season. It is humbling and inspiring to hear feedback about the impact of CFI’s programs. 

At a site visit last week, one of our healthcare partners shared that Tuesday afternoons were the most in-demand appointment time for their patients because people were so excited to have access to the fresh local produce that their staff picked up at distribution on Tuesday mornings from CFI.

We also recently released our Annual Report — and wow, what a testimony to the power of community! Please take a couple of minutes to look through this snapshot of the past year.   With your support, last year CFI:

• Distributed 68,690 pounds of healthy, local food through the Donation Station.
• Invested over $30,000 with local farmers.
• Provided 4,900 plant starts & 40,000 pounds of seed potatoes through Garden Giveaways.
• Reached 969 students with Youth Garden Education.
• Shared recipes and samples with 2,138 individuals through Discovery Kitchen.
• Facilitated over 3,000 volunteer service hours in support of our mission to ensure that everyone can access healthy local food in our communities.

There is much to celebrate, and still much to do. Thank you for being in community with us.

Links:

• Recent CFI Newsletters - follow our journey
• CFI 2023 Annual Report