Danii Wilcox   Farm to Pantry, Healdsburg

Dani Wilcox, CEO of the Farm to Pantry program in Healdsburg presented a program outlining the scope of their activities and encouraging involvement by Rotarians as individuals as well as a club, in their programs.

 

Farm to Pantry was founded in 2008 for the purpose of gleaning food from orchards, fields, gardens, and private residences for redistribution into the community and places of need. It arose out of the understanding that food insecurity is significant in Sonoma County, if not throughout the world, and that there was a tremendous amount of surplus food being grown and allowed to go to waste, for lack of gathering the food and distributing it.

 

Fully 50% of Healdsburg students qualify for subsidized or free breakfast or lunch at school. 40% of purchased food frequently goes to waste.

 

Each week, Farm to Pantry harvests roughly 2000 pounds of food for distribution. Between the years 2008-2000 16, 135 tons of food have been gleaned and distributed. In 2016 alone, 28 tons of produce were gathered. Most of the food is delivered locally to food pantries. What is not needed locally is given to the Redwood Empire Food Bank, with whom the farm to pantry organization has a close affiliation. They are also affiliated with Becoming Independent, a county sponsored program to help people with functional disabilities gain a meaningful employment experience and the opportunity to earn some income.

 

Gleaning takes place on Tuesday and Thursday mornings every week between the hours of 9 AM and 11:30 AM. The group meets at the Healdsburg Food Pantry on Healdsburg Avenue just across the street from the Chevron station. People who participate in the program get a green shirt as part of their “ uniform" and frequently socialize before and after their gleaning. In October they have a community tomato canning/preservation day that is held at the Healdsburg High School in the culinary department, making over 30 cases of tomato sauce that is distributed through the local food pantries. At times they will work with the Redwood Empire Food Bank, in their kitchen facility for producing other items.

 

Farm to Pantry is funded primarily by grants coming from multiple sources. The Noon club has provided money to them in the past. They have an annual fundraiser in the summer. Tickets for the dinner and evening of entertainment are $150. Last year over $80,000 was raised for their program.

 

In addition to working with Becoming Independent, they have programs in every school in Healdsburg with involvement of the students in field trips and also to help with gleaning.

 

Members can sign up to receive email notification of events at gleaning@farmtopantry.org.

 

Thank you Dani for a wonderful presentation and a wonderful service to the community.