Update on our Food Bank Holiday Gift Initiative

Our shareholders and other friends of the farm have gifted 400 boxes of Angelic Organics potatoes and carnival squash to the food-insecure in Chicagoland via the Greater Chicago Food Depository. This is fabulous!

Thank you so much if you have already made a contribution to this campaign.

I still have 300 boxes of squash and potatoes that I would like to move out of winter storage and into the kitchens of those who need it.

I will donate a box to this cause for every two boxes that are purchased from now on for our Food Bank Holiday Gift Initiative.

In other words, I will donate up to 100 boxes to match your gifts, 1 for 2, until our whole 700 box goal is met. If you purchase two gift boxes, I will match it with one gift box. If you gift 10 boxes, I will match it with 5 boxes.

I want to help send even more delicious organic potatoes and winter squash to food banks later this week. (I would like to beat the snow and ice that will arrive soon or sooner.)

From a Shareholder

“John and Crew, I love this idea of getting Angelic Organics surplus veggies to those who truly need it! What a great way to nourish the body and soul!”

Today Is Best

Thank you for considering making a gift to the food bank. We would love to wrap this campaign up very soon, so we can get the delivery ready during this mild weather.

Extra Crops for Chicagoland Food Banks and Pantries

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.)

And remember, for every two boxes that are gifted, from now on, I will add in an extra box, so the next 200 boxes gifted will amount to 300 more boxes that will be delivered.

Who Will Receive these Gift Boxes?

The gift boxes will be delivered to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, most likely late this 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 made available 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.

Please Make a Donation Today, or As Soon as Possible

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.

Today, Tuesday, we are washing and grading potatoes for this initiative.

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. Many of our shareholders and other farm supporters have already made donations of these 10-box bundles.

And Remember the Match

200 gifted boxes will become 300, due to my pledge of a 1 for 2 match.

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.

Feel Free to Share this with Your Friends

You can share this opportunity with your friends, even people who are not Angelic Organics shareholders. If a non-shareholder wants to donate a Food Bank Holiday Gift, they can simply click on the button above, and create a CSAware login 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