Wishing you a blessed holiday

THANKSGIVING 2017--BY THE NUMBERS

6,500--The number of Wampanoag American Indians as of 2010, roughly half of whom lived in Massachusetts. The Wampanoag attended the first Thanksgiving, playing a lead role in the historic event, and were essential to the survival of the colonists during the newcomers’ first year.

244 million--The forecasted number of turkeys raised in the United States in 2016. That is up 4.5% from the number raised during 2015.

4--The number of places in the US named after the holiday’s traditional main course. Turkey Creek, AZ (pop. 405 in 2015), Turkey city, Texas (367); Turkey Creek village, La. (357); and Turkey town, N.C. (280).

859 million pounds--The forecasted weight of cranberries produced in the US in 2016. Wisconsin was estimated to lead all states in the production of cranberries, with 521.0 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts (estimated at 207.0 million pounds).

4--The number of places and townships in the US named Cranberry. Cranberry township , Pa., was the most populous of these places in 2016, with 30,739 residents.

Two weeks til Cabin Fever Trivia Night!

It will be here before you know it!  Have you put together a team and signed up for Cabin Fever Trivia Night?

Saturday, March 18, 2017
7:00 PM
Potsdam Elks Club

Admission $20 per person with a discount to $10 for students!


Compete in a North Country trivia contest in teams of four - put your own team together or we'll match you up with someone.

Prizes!
First and second place in the trivia contest
Best team name
Best team uniform

Register soon - this event often sells out!

All proceeds benefit GardenShare's work.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Presenting sponsors:

Partnership sponsor:

Friend sponsor:

Mort Backus and Sons

Thankful for you!

However you are connected to GardenShare, and here are just a few of the ways, we give thanks for your involvement this year!

• Farmer
• Farmers Market
• Volunteer
• Participant in the Local Food Local Places project
• Donor
• Student intern
• SNAP recipient using the farmers market
• Attendee at the Food Day Youth Summit
• Participant in the Fight Hunger 5K
• CSA Bonus Bucks recipient
• Advertiser in the Local Food Guide
• Facebook follower
• Growing Community Award honoree or event attendee
• Newsletter reader

(Let us know if we missed how you are connected to GardenShare!)

Our work at GardenShare is about building community and we are grateful that you are part of that community.  Thank you for your involvement, your support of our vision of a hunger-free North Country and your commitment to local food and local solutions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

RANDOM THANKSGIVING STATS

228 million: The forecast for the number of turkeys the United States will raise in 2015. That’s down 4% from 2014.

841 million pounds: The forecast for U.S. cranberry production in 2015. Wisconsin Is estimated to lead all states in the production of cranberries, with 503 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts (estimated at 211 million).

32: Number of counties, places and townships in the U.S. named Plymouth, as in Plymouth Rock. The two counties are in Massachusetts (507,022) and Iowa (24,874). Plymouth, Minn., is the most populous place, with 75,057 residents in 2014. And then there is Mayflower, Ark., whose population was 2,345, and Mayflower Village, CA., whose population was 5,662.

4: Number of places in the U.S. named after the holiday’s traditional main course. Turkey Creek Village, La., was the most populous in 2014, with 443 residents, followed by Turkey Creek, Ariz. (412), Turkey City, Texas (396) and Turkey Town, N.C. (296).

Source: Census Bureau, 11/5/15, Thanksgiving Stats

Turkey what if's

I've just wrapped up my final Thanksgiving turkey drive as a food bank director.  Foodshare distributed nearly 20,000 turkeys and all the trimmings to families in need here in greater Hartfod this past week.  I'm sure similar efforts were going on at the churches and food pantries in St. Lawrence County and that many families will be sitting down to a traditional turkey dinner tomorrow.

Cause of celebration, of course, and yet this blog entry at Children's Health Watch, "Of Turkeys and Taxes," along with my friend, Joel Berg's Facebook status update: "This week, above all, let’s be clear that the answer to U.S. hunger isn’t more food drives or turkey give-aways but more jobs, higher wages, and a stronger government safety net," brought home the mixed feelings I always have at this time of year.

Yes, it's great that the public has come through with enough turkeys to make sure that every family that requested a little help has that traditional Thanksgiving meal. But what about next week, next month, and next year?

What about the summer months when the needs are even greater than in the winter?

When will the day come that local food pantries announce a smaller need or maybe even close their doors because their services are not needed any more?

It's not that I'm ungrateful for the outpouring of support!  It means a great deal to me personally to be able to lead the effort help low-income families have a special holiday meal. After all, we all have things to be grateful for, no matter our current situations.

And the people who receive those meals are grateful. Here's just one response we received at Foodshare this week:

“I want to sincerely express my gratitude for Foodshare. I was completely blown away by the Thanksgiving bags I received yesterday. I would not be able to put on a dinner for my 2 kids otherwise. I'm tearing up right now. Everyone was SO KIND and everything was SO well run... my heart is so very full and grateful. Thank you endlessly for all you do. It is my sincere wish to someday return the favor by volunteering once I'm able. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

But wouldn't it be great, if, one of these days, we could actually slow down, or even stop running these food drives because we had figured out, as a civilized society, how to make sure that everyone has access to enough healthy and affordable food?

Gloria