What’s New at NUFFI this April
Newburgh Food Project Update
We are thrilled to announce that Ilyana Campos has joined the NUFFI team as Project Manager for the Newburgh Food Project. Ilyana was born and raised in Newburgh and has a wealth of knowledge in food/nutrition security issues. She comes to us just in time – as we kick off Phase 2 of the Newburgh Food Project. Ilyana is jumping right in, reengaging our community partners and the Newburgh Food Project Taskforce in time for our June 3rd community meeting where we will share findings from the Newburgh Food Project Study and, with community members, begin to identify projects and develop implementation plans to address food/nutrition security for all. It’s so important that we address these issues as a community – please join us on June 3rd and if you have questions or need more information beforehand, feel free to reach out to Ilyana at Ilyanac@nuffi.org.
9th Annual Urban Farming Fair on April 26th
The 9th Annual Newburgh Urban Farming Fair promises to be a great day of fun and learning! We’ve got an incredible line-up, including live performances by The Farm Art Collective and Shades, tours of the Downing Park Urban Farm with Farm Manager Jeffrey McConaughey, free seedlings, a Kids Corner featuring story time and crafts, Ask a Master Gardener, workshops, demos, food vendors, raffle prizes, and more! Please join us from 12-4PM on April 26th (rain or shine). As always, this event is free and the public is encouraged to attend. We are so grateful to the committee members who help us organize this event each year – Christi Dennis, Jean Hinsvark, Jemile Nesimi-Hobson, Virginia Kasinki, Nancy Layne, Nancy Rider, and Tania Silva. And of course, we couldn’t keep this a free event without the support of our sponsors including: Orange County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board, Orange County Land Trust, Citizens, Walden Savings Bank, Rider, Weiner & Frankel, Luna Rose Consulting, Motorcyclepedia, MVP Healthcare, MHVFCU, Row 7 Seed, PKF O’Connor Davies, Target, International Dimensional Stone, Knights of Columbus Msgr. Henry O’Carroll Co. 444, and Abrams Insurance. Funding for this project has also been provided by the Awesome Newburgh Foundation, to whom we are also so thankful!
We still need volunteers for the Urban Farming Fair. Choose the shift that works bets for you.
Orange County Land Trust Honors Kasinki
NUFFI Executive Director, Virginia Kasinki, is one of several women who will be recognized this spring by the Orange County Land Trust for their leadership in conservation and agriculture. Other honorees include Cari Watkins-Bates (Scenic Hudson), Christina Chan (Chester Agricultural Center), Liana Hoodes (NOFA-NY), Lucy Joyce (Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County), Melinda Meddaugh (Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County), Kathleen Nolan (Catskill Mountainkeeper), Sharon Soons (Soons Orchards), Terrie Thal (West Branch Conservation Association), and Karen Washington (Chester Agricultural Center). We’ve always known that Virginia is a driving force in agriculture, conservation, environmental sustainability, and food/nutrition justice and we’re so glad that the Orange County Land Trust recognizes it too! For more information about the event, please click here.
Blooms for Food
NUFFI has been successful in receiving grants and contributions to help us meet the expenses related to growing produce at the Downing Park Urban Farm for donation to local soup kitchens and pantries. Over the years, we’ve donated over 60,000 pounds of fresh, nutritious food to help people in need in the City of Newburgh. Like any healthy business, NUFFI needs to diversify its revenue sources, and we’re pleased to announce that we’re introducing a new way for NUFFI to earn money and for the public to support our efforts! Blooms for Food is a bouquet subscription service that we’re implementing this spring. We’re growing all sorts of beautiful flowers at Downing Park Urban Farm and will provide customers with a curated cut flower arrangement on a regular basis for a reasonable price. All proceeds from the sale of Blooms for Food will offset the cost of growing food for donation at the Farm. For more information and pricing, please click here. We hope you will consider a subscription to help us meet our goals to provide healthy produce to those in need!
We’ve been selected by the Hannaford Community Bag Program!
During the month of April, we receive $1 for every reusable Community Bag purchased at Hannaford!
We are so excited to share that, for the entire month of April, Newburgh Urban Food and Farm Initiative has been selected by store leadership at Hannaford’s to receive a $1 donation from every purchase of the $2.50 Community Bag. This is a great way to broaden awareness and help our cause.
Hannaford Location ONLY
2636 Rt. 32
New Windsor, NY
Thank you to our Newburgh Urban Farming Fair Sponsors (to date)!
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