In response to COVID, the West Elk Community Fund generously donated money to Valley Organic Growers Association in late spring of 2020 to be used to support Delta County’s food needs. We are in gratitude to this local foundation that helps many community non-profits and are honored to have been chosen to facilitate this program.
The money was initially dispersed to the Senior Lunch Program, our Buy Local Campaign, and CSA Boxes throughout the summer to low-income families through Thistle Whistle Farm and The Living Farm. We had some funds leftover and the VOGA board decided to provide Thanksgiving boxes to families in need.
The boxes were coordinated through Farm Runners and included goodies from many VOGA members including Ela Family Farm, Zephyros Farm and Garden, Mountain Oven, Abundant Life Farm, Rogers Mesa Fruit, and Thistle Whistle Farm. Thank you to our farmers for working so hard to provide such nourishing food to our community. We are so grateful to live and grow in this Valley of abundance.
We were able to provide 20 boxes to 20 families in need in Delta County. These boxes contained a beautiful mix of fresh produce, fruit, root vegetables, bread, and apple sauce – excellent local ingredients for Thanksgiving festivities.
We are so pleased to participate in this service initiative for our community and would love to be able to facilitate more programs similar to this in the future. For many years VOGA has focused on educational programs for producers and consumers as well as supporting and promoting our members – we are so happy to be able to respond to Delta County’s food needs this year and serve our community in this way.