The grant we received in September is to be used very specifically per the proposal we wrote, to help us increase the market for local agriculture. Our proposal included advertising, and additional cold storage with a new walk-in cooler, both of which are actively under way.
Many of you have heard the NPR and Radio Arts Foundation ads on the radio. We are also pursuing a variety of sponsorships, presentations and booth participation at area events and businesses, in the hopes of building our Fair Shares Delivered Program. Having an inside connection with a business is a tremendous help in getting a foot in the door. We’re excited to share that with the efforts of long-time member Amy Knoblock-Hahn, we’re beginning delivery to a couple of the VA Hospital locations this week. Many thanks for her fabulous work and organization. Amy put together a PowerPoint presentation that she’s allowing us to update and customize, so if anyone would like us to give a presentation at their workplace, just let us know!
We’re planning for the new walk-in project to begin in a month, when we take our March break. The plan is to remove the old walk-in and replace it with a new, larger walk-in just outside the garage door in front of which the current walk-in resides. This will free up a bit of room in the building while doubling our cooler space, an absolute requirement if we are to organize delivered shares and increase membership.