Community Food Initiatives

Today, and in Sundays moving forward, CFI will be posting notes of appreciation for the amazing people that make our work possible.

For our first post, we want to congratulate Reggie Morrow for his new role as Executive Director of Athens Food Rescue!

Reggie became a CFI ComCorps member in 2020 and quickly made an impact in the local food ecosystem. With great care and determination toward addressing food insecurity, Reggie elevated CFI’s work in countless ways, becoming Director of Food Sourcing and Distribution with CFI through 2023. We are incredibly proud! Share your favorite memories with Reggie below ⬇️

We had an amazing year working with the preschool at the Athens Community Center! The children absolutely adore spending time in the Children’s Garden and a huge thank you goes to the Master Gardeners of Athens Ohio for maintaining such a beautiful space for learning and exploration.

Perhaps the highlight of the year was when the children helped paint a “Free Little Library” built by the amazing Master Gardeners. They absolutely loved reading books from it (and it’s a great spot to stop by on your bike path ride, check it out!). Gardening education and reading – a perfect combo!

National Pollinator Month -a month to celebrate and protect birds, bats, bees, butterflies and other pollinators that sustain our local ecosystems -begins next week. Join Rebecca Wood and Chris Kline this Saturday, May 30 for a guided walkabout and workshop to learn more!

Here's the link to register for this free workshop: https://www.givepulse.com/group/294916-community-food-initiatives

Our friends at Rural Action are hosting a native plant sale. Today! 10-2 at UpCycle Ohio Thrift Store
Support local ecosystems and the work Rural Action does in our community.

🌿 Native Plant Sale 🌿

Bring your garden to life! Support local ecosystems, attract pollinators, and grow something beautiful with a selection of native plants.

Shoutout to the The Wildflower Legacy Foundation for generously providing scholarships to our Sprouts Summer Garden Camps!

The Wildflower Legacy Foundation thrives on providing children in our community opportunities to be a part of something--a camp, sport, lesson, and more--no matter the cost! They provide the fees, gear, equipment, and whatever else is needed for this to happen. The Foundation was started in honor of a healthy Hattie Jean White, who was stillborn in 2021 a few days from full term. Hattie's parents longed to see her participate in camps and sports and because they will never be able to, their mission is to make sure other parents and guardians get to watch their child(ren) do something they love or try something new. If you would like to learn more about their mission, visit their website www.wildflowerlegacyfoundation.com

☔️ Rain or Shine 🌞 the Veggie Van travels to Glouster on Fridays for the mobile pay-what-you-can-market.
Our team will be at Glouster Memorial Park from 3:30-5:30 with fresh, locally grown strawberries for sale.

And we will have an assortment of plant starts to share including sweet and jalepeno peppers, cucumbers, beefsteak and roma tomatoes, squashes, corn, swiss chard and cabbage.

Our friends at Rural Action are raising funds to provide food to households experiencing food insecurity.

Rural Action's Sustainable Agriculture team sources the local food each week for Community Food Initiatives to distribute at Veggie Van locations in Coolville and Glouster.

Donate here: https://givebutter.com/local-food-for-all-copy-4avkj8

We are raising funds to support food insecure households with a weekly bag of fresh produce and a whole loaf of bread. Produce is grown locally by producers at the and bread is baked with local ingredients by . Our Sustainable Agriculture team sources the local food each week and packs it into abundant shares for the recipients. Community Food Initiatives then distributes these shares on their Veggie Van in Coolville and Glouster.

Donate here: https://givebutter.com/local-food-for-all-copy-4avkj8

Meet in the Discovery Garden for a walkabout to inventory common pollinators - birds, bats, bees, butterflies and more! - and talk about the role they play in nectaries, insectaries, pollination and the food web.
Use this link to register for this free workshop: https://www.givepulse.com/event/836965-birds-bats-and-bees

We're loaded up with plant starts and on the road to Coolville for opening week of the Veggie Van mobile market season!

It was really great to see so many of you today at Opening Day of the Veggie Van season and this evening's potluck and plant start giveaway!
In case you missed it, the Veggie Van will be in Coolville tomorrow and Glouster on Friday.