Partners
Our Partners and Business Supporters
Our simple mission is to Grow, Gather, and Give to those with an immediate need for nourishing food, while also fostering abundance by encouraging more backyard orchards and home veggie gardens.
FBG dovetails with many organizations who also serve the community's nutritional needs.
Food Security Working Group
Jefferson County Food Bank Association
Jefferson County Community Wellness Project
Jefferson Community Foundation
Jefferson Conservation District
WSU Master Gardeners Foundation
We are fortunate to have many businesses and individuals helping us build gardens and community with every seed planted. Please thank them for their support of the Food Bank Growers.
FedEx Onsite store in the QFC center
Magic
Submitted by FBG Vice President, Mark Paxton
If you’re very fortunate, a few times in your life you’ll bear witness to real magic as it happens.
And so it was last weekend as we prepared for and mounted amodest plant sale to support the Food Bank Growers’ network, a nonprofit collective that directs fresh, organic produce to local food banks. The sale was at Birchyville, a Port Townsend garden plot filled with whimsey, vegetables, ducks and chickens.
On Friday — the day before the sale — a few buyers arrived early, having gotten their wires crossed. Eager to cultivate new friends as well as vegetables, volunteers showed them around and sold them raspberry canes and fresh farm eggs.
Later that day, it was time to load a large rototiller from another garden. When the large machine proved too large to three people to load, a call was made to Papa’s Small Engine Repair. Within minutes, Chauncey Locklear showed up with a trailer, easily loaded the machine himself and promised that they’d perform repairs at a deep discount, and forget about the pickup fee, because the growers are building a stronger community. Magic.
A few hours later, a trip toMail Plus produced the same kind of magic. A sheaf of copies was needed to promote the Food Bank Growers’ Annual Plant Online Sale at the end of April. After she’d made the copies, all-the-while reading one of the flyers, the staff member slid the pile across the counter and quietly said, “there’s no charge for these.”
Taken aback, I said, “but I don’t understand! Why?”
“It’s because of what you do, she said. Magic again.
Then, on the day of the sale, volunteers came together. Hot mulled cider and snacks appeared. One of the Friday shoppers dropped by unannounced with a plate of oatmeal cookies. Donations and purchases flooded in. And at the end of four hours, there was $900 in cash and checks, waiting just to be turned into more food for Jefferson County families.
Community and connection happen when we share food. And when people come together to ensure that no one in Jefferson County need to want for healthful produce, magic can happen. There’s always room for another pair of hands, and with that simple act, you can see the magic for yourself.