The holiday season can make us aware of all of our blessings, and it can especially remind us of those who are in need.

An Opportunity to Help a Local Food Bank and the Farm

You can now purchase a holiday gift of organic vegetables from Angelic Organics Farm to be delivered to a local food bank this holiday season.

Extra Crops

We have a surplus of carnival squash and potatoes. Why? I typically grow extra crops each season, mindful that we might get a surge of signups after the season starts, and we had better have crops in the ground by then to take care of those needs. I am also mindful that we might need this overage in a bad crop year to satisfy our regular shareholder commitments. If neither of these occur—the late signup surge or a bad crop year—I then plan to wholesale the overage. 

This year, I thought, why go into the wholesale markets when we can direct these crops to those who need them most? Hence, this idea for the Food Bank Holiday Gifts, in which: those who are food insecure receive fresh, organic, hearty vegetables; our shareholders and friends have a chance to contribute to an important cause, and the farm benefits by getting paid for the work and expense that went into growing the crops—a triple win.

We have come up with a way to offer this surplus bounty to a local food bank while also ensuring that the farm is compensated for its work—The Food Bank Holiday Gift initiative.

Your Price for a Gifted Vegetable Box to the Food Bank

Our regular CSA box is 3/4 bushel. This box had a value of $40 in 2022 (going up to $45 in 2023). Your price for a 1 1/9 bushel gifted box is $40. The gifted box is 1/3 larger in volume than the 3/4 bushel CSA box. 

One gifted box will contain about 40 pounds of organic carnival squash, red potatoes or russet potatoes. (In case you are not familiar with carnival squash, it is a delightful, hearty cross between sweet dumpling and acorn squash, typically weighing about 2 pounds.)

Who Will Receive the Gift Boxes?

The gift boxes will likely be delivered to the Greater Chicago Food Depository late next week. (Details are still being worked out for getting them into the holiday pipeline.) From there, they are sent out to food pantries throughout Chicagoland.

The contents are then put on display along with other food choices, and people can select according to their needs and preferences. To be clear, a whole 40-pound box of potatoes or squash is not offered to a family as a unit; the contents of the box are offered by the item.

Your Gift is Not Tax Deductible

At this point, your gift is not tax deductible. You are simply purchasing discounted vegetables from the farm which will then be distributed to those in need.

Last Day to Make a Donation is Monday, December 12th

Boxes may be gifted through Monday, December 12th. Sorry for the late notice, but I just recently came up with this idea, and now we need to get these vegetables into the holiday pipeline. We have the equivalent of about 700 boxes worth of vegetables to clean, inspect, pack and deliver. We plan to pack the squash and potatoes early this coming week, and hope to deliver them by the end of the week.

Your Donation Options

You can choose to donate a single box at $40 a box, or donate multiple single boxes up to 20 boxes.

If you would like to make a larger donation, there is also the option to select a bundle of 10 gift boxes for $350, and you also have the option to donate multiple of these 10-box bundles. 

How to Donate One or More Food Bank Holiday Boxes

Click on the link below to donate a Food Bank Holiday Gift.

If you are an Angelic Organics shareholder, be sure to log in to your CSAware membership account before checking out. 

If you are not an Angelic Organics shareholder, you can still donate by clicking on the button below and creating a CSAware account to check out.

Thank You

Thank you so much for considering a contribution to our Food Bank Holiday Gift initiative.

Happy Holidays,
Farmer John