Dear Friends & Neighbors,
Please join with River City Youth Ops to make a timely, charitable, tax-deductible gift as we approach the end of the year and plan for 2022. We need to raise $19,500 before December 31, 2021, to secure funding for next year’s Farm-to-Future Summer Program. Will you help us reach our goal?
Here is the impact your donation will make for youth:
$65 will sponsor one youth for one week this summer;
$100 will sponsor one food demo with snacks;
$325 will sponsor one youth for the duration of the program;
$500 will help us start seeds in the greenhouse; and
$1,000 will allow us to plan a team-building field trip adventure.
Your gift of any amount will help us reach our goals and stretch our already-efficient budget. River City Youth Ops is made possible by layers of generosity: our wonderful volunteers, donated land to farm, the partnership of the West Central Abbey, (whose office, kitchen, and facility we use) and the financial support of donors like YOU.
River City Youth Ops serves youth ages 12-18 by providing a welcoming, inspiring, dependable, secure environment throughout the summer months. Youth who participate learn how to grow food, sell it at farmer’s markets, articulate and practice their strengths, and socialize with one another and our community members. Many of our youth have shared that our program is their first encounter with growing fresh produce. Every youth in our program discovered, tried, and learned how to prepare a new vegetable during their time with us this summer. Participants report that the most meaningful, impactful parts of this program are learning how to grow and prepare healthy food, and eating together.
We faced many challenges this year: the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, unprecedented heatwaves and drought, and horrible air quality for our outdoor classroom caused by wildfires. Despite these setbacks, we successfully executed two 5-week summer programs: we engaged, educated, and fed 17 youth in the West Central neighborhood at zero cost to all participants.
Highlights of our 2021 Summer Farm-to-Future Program:
We brought in guest experts and mentors to teach about compost, reducing food waste, and other topics;
We organized field trips for youth to visit local farms;
We engaged in environmental stewardship through outdoor activities such as litter clean-up hikes along the banks of the Spokane River;
We created opportunities for local community engagement and volunteered at the no-barrier food bank in our neighborhood.
Our neighborhood, West Central, is designated as a “low income and low access” area. This means that many households live at a greater than 20% poverty rate, and have limited access to grocery stores or even fresh vegetables. Over half of our participants qualify for free and reduced lunch, which indicates a majority of these households experience food insecurity. Our programming directly addresses the causes of this problem and works to solve it by empowering youth to grow their own food.
There is growing awareness that food insecurity is a problem we can solve by teaching young people how to grow and prepare their own food. By teaching youth to choose and prepare healthy meals, we teach skills that they will use all their lives and may utilize in future employment.
Perhaps we met at the farmer’s markets this summer, at one of our urban farms, at the West Central Abbey, or at our Harvest Dinner, but I am a new face here at River City Youth Ops. My name is Stephanie Watson, and I go by Stevie. I have been leading our programming since spring as an Americorps Volunteer.
Now, my goal is to grow our program and partnerships in the community. I am seeking community support from generous donors like yourself as well as grant funding to expand our program so that it spans three seasons, including an after-school program in the spring and fall to foster continuous connections with our youth.
My goal for the 2022 season is to serve at least 30 youth in the West Central neighborhood this summer. I am also eager to increase our pipeline for job training and job placement with farms and restaurants, connecting youth with local partners in the farm-to-table movement and other opportunities to explore their passions—whether it is jumping into the job market or continuing their education.
Will you help us reach these goals?
Thank you for your continued investment in our community and neighborhood. If you would like to be more involved or continue this conversation, I am happy to chat on the phone or get coffee. Please contact me at stephanie.watson@projecthopespokane.org or call/text me at 509-990-3010 and we can set a meeting.
Whether you also reside in West Central Spokane or you are familiar with our neighborhood, you must know this is a special place—and in my experience, this truly is a place where we plant seeds and people grow.
Sincerely,
Stephanie N. Watson (Stevie)
Program Director
River City Youth Ops
509.990.3010
P.S. Our programming truly relies on the year-end funds we raise with this letter and the year end donations we receive. We understand that our budgets are strained this year. If it is not possible for you to make a $10, $15, or $25 donation, there are other ways to help us thrive. Consider making a monthly donation online to spread the donation out over the year. You can also volunteer your time and skills or donate supplies, tools, or equipment.
