Value and values: What do you really want to give?

by Jody Aliesan, PCC Farmland Fund President and Operating Officer

See also in this article:
Getting back to what is worthy; to what has worth
Now’s the time for year-end gifts!
Give your sweetie a bunkhouse
Farmland Fund Highlights
The Annie Grant Barn
Donor Roster for October 1 — 31

Gifts represent value, even sacrifice or dedication — of time and thought, if not money — on the part of the giver. They also represent values. Intimacy in a gift comes from values that are shared.

The most valuable gift is one that satisfies in a triangular way — it delights the recipient, it gratifies the giver, and it benefits someone or something beyond the two.

The third beneficiary could be the craftsperson who created it. Or a cause receiving a percentage of the amount spent. Or an ideal the gift represents — such as supporting local independent businesses, choosing natural materials, conserving resources, opting out of the dominant media/consumer culture, practicing voluntary simplicity, getting back to basics.

Getting back to what is worthy; to what has worth
Speaking personally, the Farmland Fund represents what I value: saving farmland from pavement, protecting the homes of wild creatures, honoring the genius of local organic farming and making sure those who practice it have land to grow crops and pass on their skills so that (personal gratification) I can be fed.

So I’m going to give — to those who will be delighted by our shared values — some material things that convey benefit to what’s larger than ourselves. A copy of the environmental coupon Chinook Book, for example, along with a five-pound bag of Nash’s Best carrots, presented in a Farmland Fund tote with my message written on a postcard photo of the Delta Farm. It was PCC member Christine Deak who suggested adding the tote to Farmland Fund merchandise!

Two of my friends plan a Winter Solstice wedding. To honor their bond, I’ll send a “protection share” certificate for a pair of fruit trees in the Delta Farm’s orchard, complete with green ribbon and gold seal. (See Give your sweetie a bunkhouse.)

For holiday meals I’ll pick up the Farmland Fund crudité platter in PCC’s Delis and choose what else I need from the dozens of vendor donors identified in PCC stores by Farmland Fund shelf tags.

(My friends and family already know the best gift to me in any season: When I open a card with a check inside made out to the Farmland Fund, everybody smiles.)

As you can imagine, all this will feel really good. My friends will receive value, I will have the peace that comes from giving both generously and wisely, and I can’t help but sense that the land itself will rejoice.

For Farmland Fund merchandise and the “protection share” brochure, check out the new wall displays in PCC stores! If you don’t find one, ask a Member Services staff person or the Store Director.

Give your sweetie a bunkhouse
by Jody Aliesan, PCC Farmland Fund President and Operating Officer

How to custom fit an unusual gift, make the right person happy and support what you value all at the same time:

Buy a “protection share” in the Delta Farm. “Invest” in the land (from one square foot to an acre), the orchard, fruit trees, buildings, or the welfare of the resident barn owl.

Consider the metaphorical possibilities. What might these shelters mean to the two of you: A barn, a farmhouse, the little bunkhouse in the photo, or a storage shed, the hay barn, equipment shed, or pumphouse?

Or how would you honor the memory of someone who has passed on?

Then dedicate your gift to your friend, sweetheart or family member. We’ll send an official certificate complete with green ribbon and gold seal. You can present it in a Farmland Fund tote!

Your intendeds will know that their names and yours will protect the farm forever, inscribed on permanent plaques attached to the gate, the fences and the buildings. You can find them together when you visit the farm. And you won’t have to worry about the maintenance.

Look for the brochure “Become a stakeholder in the Delta Farm” in all PCC stores, or see the printable form on our website: Protection Shares for the Delta Farm. We also have an online donation form to donate via credit card: Online Donation Form. Or call in a credit card order at 206-547-1222 x140.

Paydown of the Delta Farm loan
$295,000 paid, $205,000 left to go.

At press time the match from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) was in its final stages. WDFW’s grant will pay off the loan and send us well down the road to saving our next farm!

Saving farmland online: Thanks to PCC’s webmaster, Nancy Gagnat, and programmer Kirk Noe, the Farmland Fund now has an online donation form at Online Donation Form.

Thank the farmers! Send a gift to the Farmland Fund and we’ll mail a handsome card to the farmer of your choice or choose a farmer for you from the Washington Tilth Producers Directory. If you’d like some cards for your own use, send two dollars for each to the postal address on the form below or call in a credit card order at 206-547-1222 x140.

Tax Rebate Check Report: During October $350 came in with notes attached such as “My tax rebate at work!” Another $1,700 was given in rebate check amounts.

The Annie Grant Barn
Sue Short renders pencil drawings of past and present barns in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley to highlight their beauty and preserve their memory. “This is the barn my Grandpa Markley bought when he came to Sequim in 1948.” Her website for viewing and purchasing 28 (so far) barn drawings is under construction, but she can be contacted at ad_art@webtv.net, 360-582-9519, and 461 W Bell Street, Sequim WA 98382.

Donor Roster

(October 1 – 31)
Anonymous: 8
Diane and Steve Adam
Ruth Afflack
Linda Breuer
Gro Buer
Annette Case
Nancy Cherniss
Debra Daniels-Zeller and Tom Zeller
Theresa L. Dunne
Carl Elliott
Lynnea Erickson
Lucida Garneau
Lucy Hadac
Mary Jane Helmann
Leilani Hooten
Betty Hughes
Elise Jensen
Barbara and Edwin Jurgens
Rahl Loomis
Alan Lott
Laura Martin
Tony and Linda Messent
Paul Packer
Norm and Lynn Prewitt
George Purdy
Joan and Philip Schneider
Amanda Sepe
Naomi Solomon
Nancy and Mark Tucker
Chantal Stevens and Dennis Wajda
Constance Trowbridge
Marianne Twyman and Louise Wisechild
Karen Wasserman

PCC staff
Over one hundred PCC staff members make voluntary payroll deductions twice a month. Sandy Donnen contributed her customer service award and an anonymous “Angel” in the PCC offices left a container of coins at the Reception desk totaling $241.33.

Foundations
The Starr Family Fund of the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation

Businesses
Blue Willow Tea Company
New Seattle Massage
Padraig Cottage Industries
Seeds of Change

The PCC Farmland Fund works to secure and preserve threatened farmland in Washington State and move it into organic production. For more information, see PCC Farmland Fund web page.