Although it was just the seed of an idea in March, June’s rollout of produce to our partner organizations is now transitioning into a steady weekly rhythm of harvesting, washing, boxing, weighing and loading. Our partners include:

• Tuesdays: Head Start, House of Hope, Loaves & Fishes, Pine Street Inn, Sudbury Food Pantry
• Thursdays: Bedford Food Pantry, Open Table Concord, Rosie’s Place, Westford Community Housing
• Saturdays: Food for Families, Lowell Transitional Living Center, Open Table Maynard

Each year we work with our partner organizations to make incremental changes for closer alignment with our mission and growing supply.

We are excited to expand our partnership with Project Bread and Head Start in Lowell to a second site on an every-other-week basis. Children and parents at Children’s Village at the Mill have been delighted to have the familiar faces of Chef Nick and Market Manager Paula Jordan back for the third year of this free farmer’s market. The community at James Houlares Early Learning Center is just discovering this new opportunity to sample and take home fresh, nutritious vegetables.

We have added Lowell Transitional Living Center because of its ability to pick up produce on a flexible schedule and its shared mission of respectfully providing food for those in need.  In its welcoming dining room, over 300 meals a day are served to low-income people in its programs, and those living on the streets. Just as our produce is grown with care, each meal here is prepared with kindness by its long-time kitchen manager.

Lastly, we are pleased that Westford Council on Aging has moved its distribution to the Westford Senior Housing Community to provide easier access to those in need of fresh, nutritious food. After organizers visited the farm in May to see the hard, heart-felt work packed into every box of produce, we received a beautifully hand written thank you note:

“We are inspired to get started in our new effort of distributing and reaching those who could not possibly afford your caliber of fresh organic vegetables and herbs. We have so much more appreciation for the volunteer groups and hands that cultivate your produce.”

In turn, we have so much appreciation for our partner organizations who take the next step for us to be sure our food respectfully reaches those who need it most.