For some, this season of thanks and celebration conjures thoughts of cheerful gatherings with family and friends around a table of bountiful food. What does that look like for those in our community, yes, our neighbors, who are food insecure? Neighbors who have to choose between buying medicine or food; neighbors that go without so that their child can eat; neighbors who rely on cheap processed food because it rids their hunger pangs; neighbors whose rent has skyrocketed and every dollar goes towards keeping a roof over their family’s head. Every day their worries cycle and before long, fresh healthy food becomes a luxury. These are truly your neighbors, regular folks who are hardworking community members, struggling right now to put food on the table.
Food is a basic human right. No person should go hungry when we can lessen that burden and rid the shame of food insecurity.
Prescott Farmers Market (PFM) has been connecting communities with local food for the past 26 years, and since March 2020, our Feed Your Neighbors (FYN) program has filled the gaps in emergency food systems by purchasing produce from local farms. With assistance from individual donors, community partners, volunteers, and partnering organizations, FYN has fed that local produce to thousands of food-insecure individuals in our community.
However, FYN began a waitlist in September 2023, for the first time since its inception, because the volume of requests outpaced charitable donations. Our goal is to sustain funding so that no one who requests assistance has to be placed on a waitlist or turned away.
Today, we are asking you to bolster the FYN program by making a charitable donation. With your support, we can not only lift the waitlist for 6 new households (12 adults, 6 minors), but continue being a lifeline to fresh, vibrant, and healthy food for those in our community who need it most.
Currently, there are 50 households (103 adults, 60 minors) regularly spending FYN Food Vouchers at the market. They benefit from fresh, healthy food and are empowered to make the best food decisions for their family. The vouchers pay for goods from 28 PFM vendors who are local farmers, growers, ranchers, and bakers.They are paid fairly for their product and their small family business is supported.
A FYN Food Voucher recipient shared, “It’s very fresh, wholesome, and nourishing. I am more grateful than you know. The PFM staff is always friendly and happy to help. The food helps me survive. It helps lower grocery costs. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Your gift of $841, which happens to be the new AZ Charitable Tax Credit limit for couples, would provide a week’s worth of vouchers for all 50 households in need!
FYN also fills a gap in both nutrition and access by purchasing produce from local farmers and delivering food boxes to homebound individuals. On average, each FYN box contains about $50 worth of local vegetables, and fruit too, when available, and feeds a family of four for a week. Currently, FYN distributes boxes to 32 households and serves countless more through community partnerships with Bagdad Food Bank, Prescott Community Cupboard, and the Yavapai College Food Pantry.
Please consider a gift of $50 per month, because a box of fresh produce can be, as one recipient said,”… like opening the best present ever! I know the food is fresher than anything I could buy at the store, plus it was lovingly grown by local farmers working hard to raise their families, just like I am.”
Remember, when you support FYN, you’re not only providing fresh food to those who are struggling to put food on the table, but you are also supporting the small family business of our farmers, ranchers, and producers, and, in turn, boosting the local economy. Your gift will be put to work immediately, feeding your neighbors.
We’re grateful to be a part of a community that cares deeply for its neighbors. Your commitment to supporting FYN will make a life-changing difference to so many. Thank you for donating today!