We celebrate commerce on Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday the next day and Cyber Monday two days later. So why shouldn't we set aside a day the week after Thanksgiving to contribute to worthy local causes? That's why the Sitka Local Foods Network is hosting its third annual Giving Tuesday (aka, #GivingTuesday or #GivingTuesdayAK in Alaska) fundraiser on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017.
The Sitka Local Foods Network's mission is to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans. We do this by hosting the Sitka Farmers Markets during the summer, growing food at the St. Peter's Fellowship Farm communal garden, and through our garden and food preservation education program. We also need funds to help us match the first $20 of produce purchases at the Sitka Farmers Market by WIC and SNAP (food stamps) beneficiaries, so we get more healthy, local produce into the hands of lower-income Sitkans. In 2018 we hope to launch a Sitka food business innovation contest to inspire entrepreneurs in town using local food.
We also help with other local-food-related projects in town, such as Fish To Schools (which puts more locally caught seafood in school meals), the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, our fruit tree project (where we planted dozens more community apple and cherry trees in town) or the Sitka Community Food Assessment (which gave us baseline data on food security issues in Sitka).
Even a small donation of $10 can help us buy seeds to grow fresh produce to sell at the Sitka Farmers Market. Larger donations mean we can do a whole lot more to bring more local food to Sitka. The minimum donation on our #GivingTuesday fundraiser on Razoo.com is $5, but you can give more. You also can use your mobile phone to donate.
So after three days of commerce (Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday), please donate to a worthy cause, such as the Sitka Local Foods Network, on #GivingTuesday. While #GivingTuesday is set for Nov. 28 this year, we have set this fundraiser to accept donations through Dec. 31. To learn more about our nonprofit, please go to http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org/. We thank you for your support.