Horizons Foundation awards
by Jody Aliesan, PCC Farmland Fund President and Operating Officer
This article was originally published in July 2001
The Seattle-based Horizons Foundation has made a $10,000 grant to the Farmland Fund. Their generous gift will help repay the loan that was necessary for up-front purchase of the Delta Farm. We can be proud that the work of our Fund merits support by a foundation of such high integrity.
The Horizons people were impressed by the Farmland Fund’s ratio of overhead costs to our mission of saving land. In 2000, administrative and fundraising expenses combined were less than one percent of funds raised.
What makes the Fund strong is its broad grassroots base. In 2000, 61 percent of all gifts came from individuals; so far in 2001 gifts from individuals comprise 52 percent of all donations. More than 660 of us have given what we could, from once to 10 times; our average gift is just under $200.
Together with the Horizons Foundation, other foundations, businesses and organizations, we are saving land, farming livelihood and wildlife habitat. We are preserving sources of fresh, local, organic produce. We are promoting loyalty between city dwellers and the people who do the work and take the risks to feed us. Saving organic farmland forever!
How to keep things growing after you’re gone
A bequest gift to the PCC Farmland Fund will live after you in a very literal way: in crops grown on the land it saves, in wildlife sheltered there, in the health of the people who are nourished by the food, and in the lives of people who work to raise it. A simple provision in your will (“I leave $____to the PCC Farmland Fund, with its principal offices at 4201 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle WA 98105”) is all it takes.
Bag donation report
Two cents is split between the Farmland Fund and Cash for the Hungry, PCC’s program with local food banks, every time you reuse any full-sized bag to carry your groceries home. This applies to paper, plastic, and cloth bags, backpacks, wheeled carts, whatever conserves resources. The bag reuse donation has been in effect since November 2000 after an overwhelmingly positive response to a month-long shopper survey.
As of May 31, $3,620 has been raised in 2001 through reuse of our bags. Mention your wishes to the cashier to be sure your bags are counted! For more info about Cash for the Hungry, see the July issue of the Sound Consumer.
Paydown of the Delta Farm loan
$265,000 paid, $255,000 left to go: we’ve repaid more than half of the bank loan!
Highlights
- Betty Hughes Member Challenge: Betty matches every dollar PCC members give to the Fund with 50 cents of her own, up to a combined total of $45,000. The challenge lasts through October. In the first two months we raised 37 percent!
- 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.
- Save farmland while you exercise: Five percent of The Gyrotonic Expansion System® session fees go to the Farmland Fund. This holistic exercise program draws from Yoga, ballet, martial arts and swimming. Benefits: increased flexibility, healthier movement habits, alleviation of aches and pains, better co-ordination or body awareness, and gentle rehabilitation. As featured in the February 2000 Sound Consumer. Call 206-725-7331.
Donor Roster (May 1 – May 31)
Anonymous: 19
Kathy Albert
Diane Atkinson
Tom Betz
Liz Birkholz and Richard Larson
Kathryn Bradley
Lynda M. Caine
Rebecca Cate
Arden Clise
Gail Colburn
Margaret Cole
Kathleen E. Crosman
Linda J. Dailey
Barbara H. Davis
Renko and Stuart Dempster
Patricia Dougherty
Mary E. Embleton
Sue Essmyer
Gretchen Graybeal
Mary Jane Helmann
Susan K. Henderson
Irene Holroyd and Patrick Perkins
Leilani Hooten
Ross and Donna Hunt
Charles C. Jenner
Virginia A. Kelley
David and Elizabeth Kohlenberg
Reidun Ruth Kollen
Robert and Mary
Hughes Larsen
David and Patricia Leavengood
Betty Lont
Laure McMillan
Christina J. Mitchell
Yoko and Osamu Murao
Laurel Naman
Dr. Deborah Jo Nedelman
Mary R. Newcomb
Katherine Olsen
Betty and Gordon Orians
Gret and Barbara Owens
Sarah J. Pearl
Christina Purdy
Rabbis Beth and Jonathan Singer
Kevin Tobin
Dr. Melvyn H.H. Trenor
Theodora Speer
Jon VandeMoortel
Barbara L. Warden
Mary J. White
Wendy and David Zieve
PCC staff
More than one hundred PCC staff members make voluntary payroll deductions twice a month. Kelly DeWyse increased her deduction; Trudy Bialic and Gayle Christopher made additional gifts.
Volunteers
Alicia Guy represented the Fund at View Ridge Garden Day; Roxanne Winship and Lynne McWhorter staffed the Fund table at Seattle Tilth’s Plant Sale; Chuck Davies, Johnnie Bratrude and John Arvizu worked long hours at the May 12 benefit concert.
Businesses
A Moveable Feast
Blue Willow Tea Company
Foundations
Horizons Foundation
In honor
Theola Hart
Jacqueline, Noelle and Ivy Mitchell
Laurel Naman
Richard Tupper
Krista Yachechak
Tom Yeager
In memory
Jerry E. Essmyer, “who was always a farm boy at heart and loved his orchard.”
Sara Hulphers