Betty's challenge met — $45,000 for saving farmland!

Companion article — Why you need to know about Farm Bill 2002

We met Betty Hughes’ challenge with two months to spare! On September 4, Anne Willard of Port Townsend made the gift that took us over the top.

Anne writes, “I firmly believe that we must set aside land for farming especially around towns and cities. The PCC Farmland Fund is a way I can support local, organic farms that will benefit us all now and will be a legacy for future generations.” Betty now will match the $30,000 raised by PCC members with a gift of $15,000. Of the member total, $4,100 was contributed by PCC staff.

New Seattle Massage supports the Fund during Co-op Month
New Seattle Massage celebrates 20 years of providing quality therapeutic massage on October 13. It’s organized as a cooperative, so it’s fitting that its anniversary falls within National Cooperative Month.

“For years, we’ve extended PCC members complimentary use of our sauna and steam room with any massage. Because of our long-time connection with PCC — both as a grassroots cooperative and through a sharing of basic values relating to health — it’s natural for us to support the Farmland Fund. Sustaining health by saving threatened farmland for organic farming is so important and totally consistent with our mission of offering healing for the whole person.

“We invite all our PCC friends to stop in October 13 for complimentary massage demonstrations and door prizes during our 20th anniversary open house from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 4519 1/2 University Way NE, 206-632-5074.

“Our practitioners will offer complimentary chair massage during the open house in exchange for donations to the Farmland Fund. New Seattle Massage will match these donations, up to a total of $1,000.

“We appreciate PCC taking the initiative to expand resources for organic farming and urge others to join us in supporting the Farmland Fund.”
—Barbara Hersey, Administrative Coordinator, New Seattle Massage

Buy a Chinook Book: $9 goes to save farmland!
“Chinook Book,” the brightly-colored coupon guide now available for $18 in all PCC stores, describes itself as “Over $4,000 in value; the book that pays for itself.” It pays for a lot more than that — when you buy a “Chinook Book” at PCC, the entire $9 profit goes to the Farmland Fund.

As the Celio Group publishers explain, “The word Chinook has multiple meanings: a species of salmon, the trade language used between Northwest native peoples and the first European settlers, and now the Seattle area’s first resource and coupon guide to dining, recreation, food, and household products and services that have significantly reduced environmental impacts.”

“Chinook Book” is also a friendly and trustworthy eco-reference. It demonstrates that reducing personal impact on the environment is “important, possible, not more expensive and not that hard to do.” By doing this “we can made a real difference in our region’s effort to save wild salmon.”

“Chinook Book” (www.chinookbook.net) is printed on Process Chlorine-Free (PCF) recycled paper that’s 90 percent post-consumer content, 10 percent hemp or flax, using soy-based inks. It would make a gift you’d be proud to present or receive.

Farmland Fund Highlights

Want to reward PCC vendors for their gifts to the Farmland Fund?
Look for a new shelf tag in our stores identifying vendors who help save farmland.

Tax rebate check report
During August, $2,100 arrived with notes attached: “We are saving organic farmland forever with our tax rebate check!” “The enclosed check for $100 is part of my tax rebate check. I divided the total into three equal parts and am sending the money off to three groups we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to support in a million years. What fun!” and “This gift represents a significant portion of our tax rebate. We lament the tax cut but are grateful for the opportunity to make a donation to the Farmland Fund.” Another $2,050 arrived with no comment, but in amounts of tax rebate checks.

Founder award
Fund representatives traveled to Portland on September 8 to receive the “Founder of a New Northwest 2000” award from Sustainable Northwest. The Fund is named among “individuals, communities and businesses in the Pacific Northwest that have found ways to reconcile economic progress with environmental health and social equality.” Sustainable Northwest, an Oregon-based nonprofit, is dedicated to “forging a new economy in the Pacific Northwest — reinvesting in the people, the communities, and the landscapes of our region.”

Contribute $100 or more to the Fund and get a free print!
Original illustrations in color pencil and watercolor by NW artists printed on high quality recycled paper, donated by Good Nature Publishing. “Horticultural Fine Art!” says Sunset Magazine.

City Music supports PCC Farmland Fund — Concerts with a cause

City Music, a unique new project launched in 2000, brings to Seattle great live chamber music performed by some of the most exciting and sought-after artists in the Northwest. Through these concerts, City Music provides funds and exposure for important local social and environmental causes.

One hundred percent of single ticket sales are donated to nonprofit groups selected through an application process, a different beneficiary for each performance. The Farmland Fund will be one of three honorees in the new season, on May 11, 2002.

No other arts group strives specifically to draw connections between the arts and social justice in this way. There is no paid staff for City Music, although the musicians are compensated for their performances.

The idea is the brain child of pianist and artistic director Rachel Matthews, who serves in a similar capacity for North Carolina’s Foothills Music Festival.

As Matthews describes, “City Music operates through a ripple effect, spreading ever-widening circles of energy — originating with the music itself, as it unfolds on the Town Hall stage; moving out into the ears, minds and hearts of our listeners; continuing on into the work of our vitally important honoree organizations, and from there into the community at large.”

Donor Roster
(August 1 – 31)
Anonymous: 9
Elizabeth Alexander and Larry Mettger
Erica and Herb Bergamini
Wally and Kathryn Bubelis
Carolee Colter
Jeff Compton
Nancy Crain
Ruth S. Dunlop
Theresa L. Dunne
Laurie and Rob Duyker
Elizabeth and Matt Fikejs
Grace and Robert Gudmundson
Mary Jane Helmann
Susan Henderson
Patricia Hillenbrand
Leilaani Hooten
Livia Jackson
Mel Jackson
Barbara Jeniker
Janine Jijina
Jessica Jones
James R. and Elena S. Karr
Marion Keen
Virginia Kelley
William Kreuter
Pamela J. Murphy
Pat Pedersen
Stephanie Roche
Carolyn Rodenberg
A. Roxanne Scott and Randall R. Omel
Chantal Stevens and Dennis Wajda
Lisa Strandin
Nancy and Mark Tucker
Duane A. and Bertha L. White
Anne Willard
Hanifa Winarko

PCC staff
More than one hundred PCC staff members make voluntary payroll deductions twice a month. Mark Frasher and Randy Lee donated their PCC anniversary gifts.

Businesses
Blue Willow Tea Company

In honor
Carrie Byron and Nathan Phillips
Tim Garrett and Kelly Davis
Mike Miller