PRAIRIE Fund
Clay County
Donate
To comply with bank requirements and prevent delays in deposits, all checks must be issued to West Central Initiative, with “PRAIRIE Fund” in your check’s memo field.
Credit card payments will list West Central Initiative as the merchant on your bill but by using this donation page, your donation will be given to the PRAIRIE Fund.
Designating West Central Initiative as the payee ensures that the Internal Revenue Service recognizes your tax-deductible contribution.
Overview
“PRAIRIE” stands for Prairie Rose Agricultural Institute for Research, Innovation & Education
Mission: Uniting compassionate hearts & skills from many cultures for a renewal of health, agriculture, and community.
PRAIRIE, using the model of biodiversity of native prairie, is launching related initiatives:
Prairie Rose Farm is a working demonstration and education farm north of Moorhead with a multicultural farmer team that offers apprenticeships, CSA family & food shelf shares and provides “space to grow” options and technical support for immigrant New Roots Incubator Farmers.
Funds are needed to provide low income access to fresh vegetables through the CSA and FAIR SHARE, Food Shelf Shares, or VEGGIE Rx Share financial support for low-income CSA members; to provide onsite demonstrations gardens for youth and elder gardening experiences; to support biodynamic training courses for farmers and the local community. Matching funds (25%) are also needed to finance the establishment of pollinator buffers, and tree/hedge row plantings to buffer biodynamically certified land from neighboring conventional farmers.
The Urban, Youth, Food, and Ecology Initiative increases access by low-income families to fresh locally grown produce and create ACCESS to land, training, & resources for BIPOC & underserved urban gardeners;
- Pilot a youth-led demonstration/teaching garden; low-cost methods for backyard and/ berm gardens, season extension, home production of bedding plants, replacing impervious surfaces with pollinator & rain gardens.
- Support neighborhood-based, family managed gardens to expand food access directly by educating youth as food producers for families in need;
- Build a long-term infrastructure of support for local food production through a coalition of local government & organizations
- Establish a Network: K-20 school, college students & faculty will create “Career Pathways” linking schools, community gardens, farms, all assisting K-20 students to develop employable skills.
- New Roots farmers will Partner with First Congregational UCC to use their commercial kitchen for processing value-added products for their growing farm enterprises.
Farmland Conservation Partners (FCP) addresses the need for new models for cooperative social financing to support start-up CSA’s, beginning farmers, and other new agriculture and food-related initiatives. It all boils down to …increasing access to farmland and venture capital for organic farmers. A current effort underway on 106+ acres in Clay Co. will:
- Support a beginning woman farmer’s efforts to acquire farmland,
- Support organic transition to specialty crops & small grains
- Reserve/partially develop with organic conversion, hedge row, pollinator strip, & fencing a 13+ acre micro farm site for an additional beginning farmer
- Provide an example of Creation Care/Climate Justice movements across denominations relating land access to climate change, equity, social justice,
- Provide a replicable partnership financing model for additional land access efforts
Food for All
Being part of a truly sustainable food system means that everyone has access to fresh, nutritious food and that farmers get paid a fair price for their produce.
PRAIRIE is excited to launch a new program in 2023 that will purchase excess food from farmers at the end of a farmer’s market sales day for contribution to local hunger relief programs.
Feeding our Neighbors Campaign
PRAIRIE successfully completed a MDA Local Food Purchase Assistance Grant, which provided $91,000 to purchase produce, fruits, grains, meat, and eggs from local small producers—including New Roots Farm Incubator farmers—and donate that food into our local hunger stream. Fresh, organic food was distributed through a network of nonprofits, local food pantries, and the Great Plains Food Bank to those most in need.
MDA has now launched a new state-funded grant opportunity, and PRAIRIE plans to apply. We aim to raise $50,000 in matching funds, allowing us to distribute up to $135,000 in food through this next round.
Donations can also be made by check to:
PRAIRIE
417 9th Street South
Moorhead, MN 56560
(Please note “MDA Match” in the memo.)
