"Hope does not disappoint us"

As summer winds down and fall begins to set in, we welcome the cool evenings at the farm.  It has been a busy and productive summer here, one that has brought many new friends to the farm, reunited friends young and old, impacted many families and for our family personally, taught us how to persevere through some difficult situations outside of the farm while embracing the hope of Harvest Hope Farm.  When situations become difficult, getting our hands dirty in the garden or spending time in the barn always settles our souls and brings us back to our mission of bringing hope to others through connecting them with the farm.  We feel truly blessed to be a vessel of hope for God’s work in serving others.

 

This year, 42 youth attended Harvesting Hope for Others Farm Camp and to date they have harvested just over 700 pounds of produce for others in need in the Fargo/Moorhead area, what a huge accomplishment and we are so very proud of each of the kids. 

 

In addition to the youth attending our traditional Farm Camp, we were also blessed to serve 40 pre-schoolers through Llama Llama Camp and nearly 90 elementary youth through Farm Camp on Wheels which operated weekly in 2 schools in the FM area this summer.  What a blessing it has been to break down barriers and bring hope from the farm to others.  A very special thank you to Liz Johnston for her work facilitating Farm Camp on Wheels as well as Pat Pieri and Shannon O’leary for their amazing work with Llama Llama Camp for the third year.  We could not have either of these programs without them.

 

Speaking of volunteers, we cannot go without thanking the Plant Science Department at NDSU for their work in our Farm Camps this summer.  Led by Marisol Berti, these graduate students connected our campers with science on the farm to extend their learning.  We are very grateful.  We also had a team of dedicated volunteers that helped us weekly during Farm Camp.  Lisa Kadlec, Bonnie Rodenbiker, Jeannie Radke and Maddie Fischer.  To you, we are grateful!

 

This year we are celebrating our 5th year as a non-profit.  We invite you all to celebrate with us and experience the farm on Saturday September 17th 5-8pm.  This will be an event to experience for all ages!  Enjoy a country style meal, silent auction, kids activities and new this year, a barn dance!  We hope to see you all there!                                  

 

Blessings – Lynn and Jason