12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 12

As we review GardenShare's work and successes for the year 2016 - we have saved the best for last!

This past season, farmers market sales to people using their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps) benefits at the farmers markets increased by 70% as compared to 2015.  $6,536 in SNAP benefits were spent at the five farmers markets in St. Lawrence County this year, compared to $3,834 last year.

In addition to the actual SNAP sales, GardenShare was able to double the value of SNAP purchases, with a combination of a grant from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, donations from individuals, and the Food Bank of Central New York's CNY Health Bucks program.

This is a win for all!  For low-income families, purchasing fresh, locally grown food can be a challenge because often less healthy foods are also less expensive.  As a result, families make food choices based on their limited budgets rather than nutrition.  The work to provide access to fresh food at the farmers markets is important to families who receive SNAP benefits to improve their diets and health.  It's also important to local farmers who benefit from these additional sales.  And all of these funds stayed in our local economy, rather than with a chain store.

Look for information soon on how we will be building on this program in the new year!

Read the rest of our 12 days series here.

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 11

As we wind down our review of 2016 at GardenShare, we just had to highlight September's Fight Hunger 5K!

On Sunday, September 11, 116 people turned out to run or walk the 5K course - more than twice as many participants as last year!  Together with the business sponsors, the participants raised $8,500 to support GardenShare's mission of solving the problem of hunger in St. Lawrence County.  The funds raised will help low and moderate-income people access fresh, locally grown food and in the process, support our local farmers. 

We're excited about the success of this two-year-old event, not just in fundraising, but more important, in bringing people together around the issues of hunger, local food, and food systems policy.  

Planning will begin soon for next year's Fight Hunger 5K and it takes a dedicated group of volunteers to make this work.  Would you like to help?  Get in touch!

Read the rest of our 12 days series here.

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 10

As we look back on the year, we had to highlight our new Hunger 101 program.

Hunger 101 is an interactive, role-playing exercise where most participants play the role of a head of household trying to get enough food for the family.  After figuring out the households budget for food, the participant can visit a grocery store, the farmers market, the social services office, and the food pantry in this quest for food.

As part of our Hunger Action Month activities in September, we scheduled Hunger 101 workshops at Clarkson University, the Unitarian Universalist Church in Canton, and the Little River School.  We have also presented the program to students at St. Lawrence University in more than one class.  To date, about 100 people have taken part in a session and we are actively seeking to do more.

Here are just a few comments from recent participants:

• It gives you an idea of the frustrations people feel when trying to get help
• Having theresponsiblity of feeding a family when on a low-income is a lot of pressure
• It was horrifying to see the real application for SNAP
• More people should come!

Want to schedule a Hunger 101 for your organization?  Get in touch!



Read the rest of our 12 days series here.

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 9

Just a few more in our 12 days of highlighting GardenShare's successes in 2016...

In October, Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County recognized GardenShare with the 2016 Friend of Extension Award at the Association's Annual Dinner Meeting on October 13th. Extension Director, Patrick Ames, cited Gardenshare's unwavering commitment to fight hunger and improve local access to healthy foods across St. Lawrence County.

Pictured from left to right are Patrick Ames, Carol Pynchon, Gardenshare Board President, Carlene Doane, GardenShare Associate Director and Sandy Stauffer, GardenShare Board Member.



Read the first 8 of our 12 days posts:

Day 8 - key donors support the cause

Day 7 - New collaborations to fight hunger

Day 6 - the people of GardenShare

Day 5 - Summer intern and "Farmer Friday"

Day 4 - New York State Council on Hunger and Food Policy

Day 3 - Local Food Guide

Day 2 - Making CSA's affordable

Day 1 - Growing Community Award

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 8

Day 8 of our review of 2016 takes us back to a hot evening in August as we celebrated some key donors and their contributions to GardenShare.


GardenShare's "Sustainers Circle" is a group of donors who are committed to our mission of solving hunger and building a stronger local food system and who have made a three-year or longer pledge to support that mission.

These generous donors provide the backbone of support that lets us do our important work and we cannot thank them enough!  Each summer, our Board of Directors hosts the Sustainers for a reception.  This past August, on one of the hottest afternoons of the summer, we gathered at littleGrasse Foodworks for some conversation, some good homemade treats, and a tour of the farm from our 2015 Growing Community Award recipients, Flip Filippi and Bob Washo.

Bob and Flip give a farm tour.

Read some of our other highlights:

Day 7 - new collaborations to fight hunger

Day 6 - the people of GardenShare

Day 5 - Summer intern and "Farmer Friday"

Day 4 - New York State Council on Hunger and Food Policy

Day 3 - Local Food Guide

Day 2 - Making CSA's affordable

Day 1 - Growing Community Award

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 7

One more look back at 2016, day 7 of our 12 days...

Collaboration has always been at the heart of GardenShare's work, and this year, we have built on that history with a new project designed to bring more volunteers into the work to fight hunger in the area.  Partnering with Campus Kitchens, the Canton Farmers Market, the Church and Community Program, the Free Will Dinner at the United Methodist Church and the Potsdam Farmers Market, GardenShare secured a Volunteer Generation Grant from the State of New York.

Through this collaboration and with the support of the grant, we hope to strengthen all of these groups volunteer efforts, to bring in new volunteers, and help manage, train, and retain volunteers.  

An early effort is to help fill the volunteer needs while college students are on break.  These programs rely so heavily on students that it's a challenge when the students are not in town.  You can help right now!

Campus Kitchens - meal is served on Monday evenings at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Canton.  Volunteers are needed for a variety of shifts 1:00 to 8:00 on December 19 and 26 and January 2 and 9.   If you can help, a sign-up sheet can be found here.  Questions can be directed to Ashlee Downing at 315-229-5135.

Free Will Dinner - meal is served on Wednesday evenings at the United Methodist Church in Canton and volunteers are needed from 4:00 to 6:00 to serve drinks, bus tables, and interact with guests.  Maximum number for any one day is six volunteers.  Volunteers are needed December 7, 14 and 21 and also January 4, 11, 18, and 25.  If you can help any of these days, please go here to sign up.  

Read our earlier posts:

Day 6 - the people of GardenShare

Day 5 - Summer intern and "Farmer Friday"

Day 4 - New York State Council on Hunger and Food Policy

Day 3 - Local Food Guide

Day 2 - Making CSA's affordable

Day 1 - Growing Community Award

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 6

We continue our 12 day review of some of GardenShare's highlights of 2016...

Some great new people joined the team at GardenShare, including:

• New members of the Board of Directors, Tamera Rizk and Philip Paige

• Several interns who did great work over the course of the year

• A full-time Amercorps VISTA volunteer

• Many volunteers helping out at the farmers markets and in other ways

• And a Volunteer Coordinator who will be working to engage more volunteers

People who make GardenShare's work possible!  Thank you, each and every one!


Read our earlier posts:

Day 5 - Summer intern and "Farmer Friday"

Day 4 - New York State Council on Hunger and Food Policy

Day 3 - Local Food Guide

Day 2 - Making CSA's affordable

Day 1 - Growing Community Award

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 5

Our series highlighting 2016 continues, day 5 of 12 days of GardenShare successes...

For the second year, GardenShare was selected to be part of the St. Lawrence University Public Interest Corps (SLU PIC).  This amazing program places a SLU student in a full-time, forty hour per week internship for ten weeks in the summer.

Our talented 2016 SLU PIC intern, Amanda Korb, wrote a weekly profile of a different farmer each week all summer.   Her Farmer Friday profiles were a hit!

Day 4 - New York State Council on Hunger and Food Policy

Day 3 - Local Food Guide

Day 2 - Making CSA's affordable

Day 1 - Growing Community Award

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 4

We're looking back on 2016 at 12 of the highlights - GardenShare's own 12 days of Christmas.

For today, we're still excited about our Executive Director, Gloria McAdam, being appointed by Governor Cuomo to the New York State Council on Hunger and Food Policy.  This new Council was created to provide state policymakers with expertise on how to address hunger and improve access to healthy, locally-grown food for New York State residents.

The council has numerous goals, including developing new outlets for local food in underserved communities, and improving students’ access to free or affordable breakfasts and lunches in New York State schools. It also will work to ensure more healthy, locally-grown foods are used in school meals.

The council is comprised of state agencies, anti-hunger organizations, organizations with an interest in food security and representatives from the agricultural community.

All of us at GardenShare are pleased have Gloria giving voice to North County concerns and issues and that she can bring her thirty-plus years of experience to the table.

Day 3 - Local Food Guide

Day 2 - Making CSA's affordable

Day 1 - Growing Community Award

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 3

As the year comes to a close, GardenShare is looking back at some of our accomplishments from 2016, one each day for 12 days.  Kind of our own 12 Days of Christmas.

For Day 3 it's our annual St. Lawrence County Local Food Guide...

When the Local Food Guide came out in the spring, we were thrilled to hear from our founder, Phil Harnden, who called it "the best Local Food Guide ever!"

The Local Food Guide lists farmers, farmers markets, farmstands, u-picks, and other outlets that offer food raised locally in the County.


Day 1 - Growing Community Award

Day 2 - CSA Bonus Bucks

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 2

We are currently highlighting a GardenShare success from the year 2016 each day for 12 days.  Kind of our own 12 Days of Christmas!

For Day 2, it's the GardenShare CSA Bonus Bucks program:

In 2016, GardenShare helped 39 low-income and working families afford a CSA share.  This compares to 25 in 2015!

Here's what one recipient had to say about the program:

"We love the program, it's the only way we could do a CSA.  As long as it's offered, we'll stick with it. Grocery store fresh produce is outrageous!"  


Day 1 - Growing Community Award

12 days - 12 ways GardenShare is making a difference - day 1

Starting today, this blog will be highlight a GardenShare success from the year 2016,  For the next twelve days, read about some of the highlights of the year!  Kind of our own 12 Days of Christmas!

First up, the 2015 Growing Community Award, presented in January 2016...

GardenShare honored Bob Washo and Flip Filippi of littleGrase Foodworks with the Growing Community Award.  Carol Pynchon explained in her nomination submission, “Bob and Flip are a force in the local food movement in the Canton area, and in educating people about the benefits of growing and eating locally.”  

“Bob and Flip both take the time to explain and teach with such patience and incredible knowledge,” wrote Jenelle Matthews in a separate nomination, “they both deserve recognition for their time and efforts, which they display to spread their 'growing' knowledge on a daily basis.”