Because the foods are grown outdoors here in San Diego, the amounts and varieties change seasonally and even weekly. Some weeks there is bounty enough for the receiving families to share with others. Some weeks there is more of a concentration on a few hardy foods. No weeks are without and no weeks do we deliver commercially grown, internationally sourced or pesticide-laden foods. Our food is grown here in San Diego County by our friends and neighbors. We see them at church, our kids may go to school together and we visit regularly.
An example basket is shown in text (right). Since it is spring when I am writing this, the local strawberries are in abundance as are the cool-weather leafy crops and the amazing citrus. In most cases, foods like this are completely out of financial reach of our recipient families. Together, we can end that. |
We operated without non-profit status for more than a year. During that time, we established connections with local farms, identified many local families that would benefit from nutritional assistance, and worked with farms and friends to establish delivery mechanisms and implement sustainable logistics. The effort was entirely financed by the CEO and founder of Produce for Patriots. Nevertheless, the modest effort was impactful and resulted in some 25 families receiving farm fresh produce, fruits and eggs.
Now, with the positive IRS determination, we are hoping to expand our funding to the level where we can serve 25, 40, 50, 75, 100 or more families each month. This is doable at the farm level and only needs the additional funds to make it happen.
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Notes from P4P families...
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We do what we do because it's the right thing to do.
We expect nothing in return But we regularly get "Thank You" notes from the families that we help. And, like Lydia here, when we get a nice note it makes us do The Happy Dance |
