Shenandoah County students planted the last of some 2,000 tomato plants on the Woodstock Farm, and they did a great job. You are invited to help. Please pick a specific date from the "Calendar" found under the "Volunteer" tab at the top. You can scroll down the calendar to see what we are doing each day for several months.  You can register online.   Please sign up today!

Following is a portion of the latest electronic newsletter, which you can obtain on a regular basis by signing up on the Newsletter tab above.

Sobering Thoughts (Editorial)

Now that we all have become experts on the Titanic, we are all aware that third class (steerage) passengers died at substantially higher rates than first class, wealthier passengers.  But did you know that nonprofits that serve the poor people are failing at much higher rates than those that serve the general population?

We do not interpret this pattern as being a divisive political issue of class warfare or a debate between the "have" and the "have nots."  It is not bigotry but merely a question of people wanting to help their own kind, because that is how they identify problems and solutions.

In fact, nonprofits that provide "the most basic anti-poverty services for the poor and homeless failed at around twice the rate of more mainstream services," according to the UCLA Center for Civil Society in its recent report on nonprofits in Los Angeles County (and we have no reason to think that other areas, including Virginia are different).

In addition, funding for the hungry is being cut at the federal and state levels.  In Washington, debate is being heard on cutting $35.8 billion in food stamps for 2 million people and reducing the benefits for another 44 million.  Nearly 300,000 school children may lose free schools meals and hundreds of thousands could lose their Medicaid and CHIP coverage.  States are cutting back on help to the poor because of federal budget cuts to states.

Doing more with less is also a common problem for churches,
which are also in the ranks of nonprofits, and some churches are, therefore, floundering financially, forcing them to close their food pantries.  We are aware of a number of food pantries -- perhaps as many as 200 in our service area, which covers a third of Virginia -- that have closed because of insufficient financial support during the recession.  Most of these agencies were very small pantries serving a limited number of hungry families, but this trend has had an impact and has put increased financial stress on the surviving pantries causing the poor to scramble.

Similarly, our Volunteer Farms Network is experiencing intense pressure to provide more food to nourish increased numbers with less funding.  This is not to say that the Volunteer Farms are going the way of the Titanic.  We have avoided the icebergs, but it is difficult to steer a safe course in these changing times.  Over our eight years of existence, we have found it essential to alter our direction a few times to stay financially sound in these scary times.  In fact, we welcome the challenge as we seek new ways to flourish, expand, strengthen and serve more people.  The Volunteer Farms are growing; now producing food from farms near Culpeper and Woodstock.

There is tremendous competition for funding between the many nonprofits with a wide range of interests, including health, education, research, law enforcement, fire prevention, etc.  Our faith tells us to help our hungry neighbors, but how you accomplish this with your charity is a question that only you can answer.  We remind you in these tough times that the Volunteer Farms does not receive funding from government at any level or the food banks

that we serve.  Our gift of free food to the hungry is matched by the blessing of teaching thousands of young volunteers the merits of serving other people.

Please continue to support the Volunteer Farms - your financial contributions will keep our ship afloat and on course.  With your help, we will prosper to help those who are food insecure:  the elderly, handicapped, children, unemployed and underemployed.  "There but for the Grace of God go I."  Donate online (www.VolunteerFarm.Org) or mail your check to Volunteer Farms, 277 Crider Lane, Woodstock, VA  22664.  Or by PayPal:

PLANTING PROGRESS

Keep your fingers crossed.  So far this has been a great growing season with lots of things going into the ground.  We need a good year to feed the growing numbers of hungry neighbors we serve in about one-third of Virginia.

At the Volunteer Farm of Culpeper, we have planted 30 apple trees, 10 peach trees, 10 apricot trees, 10 pear trees, 20 plum trees, 15 blackberry buses, 30 raspberry bushes, and 15 blueberry bushes.  Planting includes peas, onions and potatoes.

At the Farm of Shenandoah, we have planted 45 apple trees, 10 peach trees, 30 blackberry bushes, 30 raspberry bushes, and 30 blueberry bushes.  Planting has been completed on onions, beets, peas, and we continue to plant potatoes.

This is just the start of the season and we have much more to plant during the next few months.  Your help is vital, so please plan to bring your group, your family or yourself  to volunteer for a half-day.  You will see what we are planning for each day on our website: WWW.VolunteerFarm.org. First go to the “Volunteer” tab at the top of the page and you will see the calendar.  Follow the directions to select the day you wish to volunteer and register online.

Everything we grow on the Volunteer Farms goes to help feed our hungry neighbors through food banks, pantries, soup kitchens and similar agencies serving both sides of the Blue Ridge up to Northern Virginia.  The elderly, handicapped, children and the unemployed need the good nutrition supplied by the Volunteer Farms.  Please register to volunteer today!

DIFFERENT TYPES OF VOLUNTEERS

We have many different kinds of volunteers on the Volunteer Farms, not just youngsters who plant, maintain the crops, and harvest.  We want you to be happy as a volunteer, doing what you want to do. We’ll be glad to negotiate with you on coming up with volunteer work that you enjoy.  If have a commitment to become a partner, call 540-459-DIRT (3478).

Several individuals and small groups provide help in the office to keep our members informed.  However, we always need more help to prepare mailings to recruit volunteers and solicit donations.

As an example, we have one regular volunteer who is a neighbor and retired construction superintendent who worked a life-time on big jobs like schools and hospitals.  He is our on-scene superintendent of jobs such as putting up our donated walk-in cooler and burying 5,000 feet of pipe through out the Woodstock farm for irrigation.  While he does our plumbing also, we could use someone with an electrical license to volunteer on the farm.

Another regular volunteer is a local pastor who wants to work in the fields every Monday, unless he has a wedding or funeral.  And yet another lady-volunteer has been actively working in Page County to recruit volunteer groups, fund-raising and even touting our farms to the area courts to assign youngsters to community service.  Also, we have several ladies and a few men who volunteer their time in the office assembling mailings to recruit volunteers and solicit donations.

A retired gentleman in Loudoun County has been actively raising funds and donations for both farms by speaking for us before civic groups and federal employees in the Combined Federal Campaigns.  He has done such a fine job that our Board of Directors elected him to our board.  When he sold his business, he had hit IT guy move the computers to our Woodstock office.

A musician in the Shenandoah Valley has provided all the support needed for our website for several years. We even have a gentleman, who is a fireman in the city and has volunteered to pick up donated cars for us.  He has a tow truck and all the necessary experience to come to your place if necessary to pick up a car or pickup you want to donate to the Volunteer Farms.

DONATED VEHICLES:

We always need cash donations for our farm operations.  However,  you may want to consider donating a car, truck or a tractor, boat, camper, land or anything else of value.  When you donate a car to our non-profit organization, you will receive a letter from us using the Blue Book price as a tax deduction.  When you buy a car, you have the option of trading your old vehicle for a new car, selling your old car yourself, or donating the vehicle for a tax deduction.  With car sales up now, you may consider trading your gas-guzzling vehicle for a new gas-efficient model.  Remember you have the option of donating your old vehicle to the Volunteer Farms, but you may also want to ask your tax advisor if a tax deduction would help you.  If you want us to pick up your vehicle, call 540-459-dirt (3478).

Cash donations may be made online at our website through PayPal, or mail your check to Volunteer Farms, 277 Crider Lane, Woodstock, VA 22664.

We welcome invitations to speak to church groups, civic organizations, schools, businesses and clubs of all kinds.

Growing Plans for 2012

This new growing season is shaping up very nicely, putting us on course for a record year of producing food for the hungry, and you can help support the effort with your donations of dollars and hours of volunteer time.  This year is more important than ever, because there are more hungry people this year than ever before.

The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank recently reported a sharp decrease in donated food coupled with an "astounding" increase in the number of people seeking food through food pantries.  They warned that their decreased supplies of food could impose a "major hardship" on unemployed and underemployed suffering from the economy.

So, we pray we will have a very productive year to help meet the increased demand for food.  As an indication that this may be our best of nine years, we have already harvested 1.2 tons of turnips and cabbage on the Volunteer Farm of Shenandoah since January 1.  Last fall, we were a little late because of the weather in planting the turnips and cabbage, and at this writing we still have tons of turnips and cabbage growing in the fields during this moderate winter.

To understand our vision for this year, first realize that near the end of last year we had a well drilled on the Woodstock Farm by the Virginia Water Well Association, all at no cost to us.  They expect to return this Spring to install the new pump.  And, in the interim, we have buried 5,000 feet of 2 inch pipe about 4 feet deep in the ground and installed 15 water hydrants, enabling the irrigation of just about the entire 40 acres of open fields.  (This is not your mother's backyard garden, but a farm producing tons of food for the hungry.)

This Spring volunteers will be needed to level the ground over the pipeline, which settled slightly during the winter when the weather turned ugly and wet.  Now this will largely be an effort for motorized equipment, but we will need some strong folks on shovels.  Additionally, strong volunteers will be needed to show their carpentry skills in constructing a shed to house the irrigation supplies.  Additional costs will be about $2,500 for which donations are needed.

Also, at the Woodstock Farm, we have invested $307 in 320 pounds of yellow onion sets, ready to plant in one acre, and $3,200 invested in seed potatoes to plant five or six acres.  This kind of planting is great fun for kids as young as four or five, and it now appears that we will be doing it earlier in the year than ever before.  We have a very similar schedule for planting onions and potatoes on the Culpeper Farm.  (Check the online calendar for specific dates.)

Starting in mid-March to April 1, depending on delivery, we will be planting 55 fruit trees and 90 berry bushes on the Woodstock Farm and 80 fruit trees and 60 berry bushes on the Volunteer Farm of Culpeper.  This purchase of $4,250 in trees and bushes from the Arbor Day Foundation was made possible by grants from the TJX Foundation, Wal-Mart of VA, and the Catholic Operation Rice Bowl.  We are planting three varieties of Apples, as an example, which will produce after two or three years from late spring until fall.  There will also be Blackberries, Raspberries, and Blueberries that will start producing this year in the early summer and will continue until the fall.  We remind all Volunteers that they are picking to feed the hungry - not themselves.

We are clearing a few more acres at the 97 acre Culpeper Farm, making a total of about 40 acres available for cultivation.  The three member management team of the Culpeper Farm plans to plant snap peas, onions and potatoes from mid-March to mid-April, followed in the first half of April by spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, beets and cabbage.  This will require the help of many volunteers and more volunteers will be needed at Culpeper from mid-April through May to plant corn, squash, green beans, tomatoes, lima beans, watermelon, eggplant, cantaloupe, cucumber, sweet peppers and jalapenos.  Volunteers will be essential in June for the planting of more corn, squash and green beans.

A similar vegetable planting schedule is being planned by our new farm manager at Woodstock, although Culpeper's climate puts them a couple of weeks earlier in planting.  So, please schedule time for volunteering at Woodstock's Volunteer Farm of Shenandoah.  The planning is controlled largely by the question of how much seed can we afford to buy at this time.  Last year, we spent more than $6,000 for just seed.

Please be as generous as possible with your donations to the Volunteer Farms.  While you may wish to designate how your donation will be used, we ask that you earmark your donation for operations, which allows us to use your funds where needed.  You may donate online at our website or mail a check or money order to Volunteer Farms, 277 Crider Lane, Woodstock, VA 22664.  All donations are tax deductible and help feed many hungry people.