November 14, 2025

Dear Neighbor,

 

While 2025 was a disruptive year for food security, Waldo County Bounty was there, providing fresh fruits and vegetables to local people who struggle to put food on the table. With more volunteer engagement than ever before, our programs have so far distributed 57,000 pounds of produce and nearly 30,000 vegetable seedlings to 14 food pantries and other food access sites countywide. 

Together, we weathered this tumultuous year. Now we are asking you to help sustain our programming into 2026 by giving a gift as part of our year-end appeal.

Your one-time or recurring gift will directly support access to healthy, locally grown food, benefitting food insecure households and local farmers, who have also been hit with federal funding cuts this year.

In 2025, WCB not only kept our core programs strong—Farm-to-Pantry, Veggies For All Gleaning, and Give & Take—but expanded in meaningful ways to meet the food crisis:

  • We established a garden plot at the County Garden in Swanville to grow more food.

  • We significantly increased gleaned produce and seedling distributions through hundreds more volunteer hours and strong partnerships with local farms.

  • We launched the Waldo County Food Council to improve communication and strategic planning among local food system programs at this moment of great need.

More people are experiencing hunger now than they were during the pandemic, when Waldo County Bounty was founded. In fact, food insecurity rates are the highest they’ve been in 8 years. Our food pantry partners are reporting a dramatic increase in visitors, month after month, while at the same time they are losing federal dollars to buy fresh produce. Your gift will help more than 8,000 people in Waldo County, including 2,000 children, by giving them greater access to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables.

The challenge is daunting, but the power of local produce and local people coming together cannot be underestimated. The joy of sharing in-season peas, tomatoes, and butternut squash begins on the plate and extends community-wide. Please make a gift to Waldo County Bounty today to provide nutritious food to our neighbors in need.

Sincerely,