The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the January 2021 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.
This month’s newsletter has short articles about the 2021 Pick.Click.Give. donation period opening, a Preserving Alaska’s Bounty online class series, an invitation to join the Sitka Local Foods Network’s board of directors, and an item about the 2021 SLFN sponsorship program. Each story has links to our website for more information.
You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the newsletter image in the right column of our website and filling in the information. If you received a copy but didn’t want one, there is a link at the bottom of the newsletter so you can unsubscribe. Our intention is to get the word out about upcoming events and not to spam people. We will protect your privacy by not sharing our email list with others. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, like our Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).
As 2020 draws to a close, many Alaskans already are thinking about applying for their 2021 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend check in January. As usual, Alaskans can share their wealth with a variety of Alaska nonprofits, including the Sitka Local Foods Network, through the PFD’s Pick.Click.Give. program.
This is the seventh year the Sitka Local Foods Network will participate in the Pick.Click.Give. program, which allows people to donate in $25 increments to their favorite statewide and local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations when they file their PFD applications from Jan. 1 through March 31.
When you choose to donate part of your PFD to the Sitka Local Foods Network, you support the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, education programs about growing and preserving food, the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, Sitka Community Gardens, matching dollars at the Sitka Farmers Market for SNAP/WIC beneficiaries, the sustainable use of traditional foods, the Sitka Community Food Assessment, the Sitka Food Summit, and a variety of other projects designed to increase access to healthy local foods in Sitka. We recently launched the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest to try and inspire entrepreneurs in Sitka to work more with local foods.
In 2020 Alaskans contributed $2.96 million to 622 Alaska nonprofit organizations, and more than $27.0 million has been donated since the program started in 2009. Some Alaskans choose to donate to just one group, while others may spread several donations around to many groups. There now are 611 total 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations participating in Pick.Click.Give. for 2021 (including multi-location nonprofits), including 21 from Sitka. In 2020, Alaskans donated $86,025 to Sitka-based nonprofits (note, total includes some nonprofits that are based in multiple cities).
So how do you make a donation to the Sitka Local Foods Network through the Pick.Click.Give. program? First, starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 1, go fill out your Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application at http://pfd.alaska.gov/. When you get to the section of the application asking if you want to participate in Pick.Click.Give. Charitable Contributions program, click on the PCG link and search for the Sitka Local Foods Network. You also can look for us by using the town search for Sitka.
The Pick.Click.Give. program is available only to people who file their PFD applications online, and not to those who file by mail. Even though you can’t file a new PFD application after March 31, you can go back into your application and update your Pick.Click.Give. donations through Aug. 31 each year. In 2020, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividends were released in July instead of their usual October, and the last day for editing was moved up to June 17 from Aug. 31. We don’t know yet if there will be similar adjustments.
You still can donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network if you aren’t from Alaska or aren’t eligible for a 2021 PFD. To donate, send your check to the Sitka Local Foods Network, 408-D Marine St., Sitka, Alaska, 99835. You also can donate online by going to our online fundraising page on MightyCause.com, and clicking the Donate button to make an online contribution. You also can send in a check or make an online donation if you are trying to make nonprofit donations before the end of the 2020 tax year. In December 2020, we just ordered a new high tunnel so we can grow more fresh, local produce at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm to sell at the Sitka Farmers Market and other events. Please let us know if you need a receipt for tax purposes. For more information about donating, you can send an email to sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.
Thank you for supporting our mission of promoting and encouraging the growing, harvesting and eating of local foods in Sitka and Southeast Alaska.
Did you have a productive garden or catch a lot of fish this year? Did you struggle with how to save the food so it doesn’t go bad? The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service is offering its Preserving Alaska’s Bounty online course this winter via Zoom.
Online classes will be held from 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays, from Jan. 4 to Feb. 20. The fee is $128 per household, and fee waivers are available.
For more information, please contact Sarah Lewis at 907-523-3280 x1. To register go to: http://bit.ly/PAB21.
It’s time to make the doughnuts. It’s time to make the doughnuts. Or at least it’s time to learn how to make the doughnuts.
The Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen will teach a two-part online class on how to make doughnuts at home. This family oriented class will be taught by Beak restaurant chef-owner Renée Jakaitis Trafton and takes place from 7-7:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 28, and from 8:30-10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 29, using Zoom. This class is a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch.
During this class, students will learn to make a delicious and special treat you can share with your family over the holiday break. On Monday evening, participants will make the dough and let it sit overnight. On Tuesday morning, the workshop will continue with completing the donuts and making three different icings for a variety of flavors (simple glaze, cinnamon sugar, and chocolate buttercream).
This is a virtual class taught from the comfort of your own kitchen via Zoom. The class cost is $40 for each household, and families are encouraged to participate together. Ingredients are not provided; however a list of ingredients and equipment needed will be sent to all who are registered on Saturday, Dec. 26. The recipe used in class will make about 14 donuts.
Renee Jakaitis Trafton is the chef and owner at Beak Restaurant, and a frequent teacher of Sitka Kitch cooking classes. She stumbled into making donuts as a special for Alaska Day in 2017, and has been making them for Sunday brunch at Beak ever since.
Current (paid) members of the Sitka Food Co-Op are now able to attend the online classes for $30 each (the co-op will cover the other $10 of your class fee). Please use the Sitka Food Co-Op ticket when you register and send an email to sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com letting them know you’re in the class. (NOTE, Only one person per Co-op household may use the Co-op discount per class. Please name that person when you register so the name can be checked against the Co-op membership list.)
The registration deadline is 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 26. Space is limited, so register early to secure your place in the class. You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on the Sitka Kitch EventSmart online registration page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Chandler O’Connell or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment.
For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440. We occasionally offer scholarship spot(s) per class for people with limited incomes, provided we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Chandler at SCS for more details about the scholarship.
The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday the week before for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.
The Sitka Local Foods Network in recent years created a sponsorship program to help promote our mission, and Sitka businesses and individuals are welcome to join for 2021. The goal of the sponsorship program is to make the projects we undertake (Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, gardening education, food business development, etc.) more sustainable.
“Sitka has a precarious position when it comes to food security, and the Sitka Local Foods Network is trying to improve our food security through our mission to increase the amount of locally harvested and produced foods in the diets of Southeast Alaskans,” Sitka Local Foods Network president Charles Bingham said. “Sponsors of the Sitka Local Foods Network are working with an organization and a farmers market that values local food and businesses, fun, premium quality goods and experiences.”
In recent years, the Sitka Local Foods Network has hosted seven Sitka Farmers Markets during the summer (from July to September). Due to COVID-19, we had to greatly scale back our 2020 Sitka Farmers Markets, focusing just on produce sales and using an online sales portal, but we did double our number of market weeks. We haven’t set our 2021 dates yet, but we anticipate we will have a more normal market experience this year.
In addition, we grow most of the local produce sold at the markets at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden and a couple of other locations in town. In March 2020 we built a new high tunnel at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, which helped us increase our produce production despite a wet and cold summer, and we’re looking to add another new high tunnel before the 2021 growing season. We usually offer a variety of garden education classes in the spring. And one way we ensured fresh, local produce is available to lower-income Sitkans is through our matching program for WIC and SNAP beneficiaries (the first $20 spent on produce at the market), courtesy of recent grants from the Sitka White Elephant Shop.
In 2018 we launched a new food business innovation contest to inspire food entrepreneurs in Sitka, and have continued the program with the expectation of hosting it in 2021 (our 2020 winners were baker Andrew Jylkka of Southeast Dough Company and mushroom grower/harvester Levi Adams of Forage and Farm). We also have hosted the annual Running of the Boots costumed fun run fundraiser, with 2018 and 2019 in partnership with Youth Advocates of Sitka and canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. In addition, we support other local food projects in Sitka, such as the Fish to Schools lunch program and the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen.
There are four levels of sponsorship available, and each has its own set of perks.
Grower ($2,500-plus) — We’ll hang your banner at ANB Hall during the Sitka Farmers Markets, include your logo and company name prominently in our merchandise and advertisements, and thank you on our social media and web pages. If appropriate for the Sitka Farmers Market, you may set up a free promotional booth.
Harvester ($1,000-$2,499) — We’ll hang your banner at ANB Hall during the Sitka Farmers Markets and include your logo and company name in our merchandise and advertisements.
Planter ($250-$999) — Your banner will hang at ANB Hall during the Sitka Farmers Markets.
Friend ($50-$249) — You are listed on our online sponsor page.
We have limited space for banners at the Sitka Farmers Markets, so please contact us before May 1 to guarantee your spot. To learn more about the sponsorship program, click the link below for details and a registration form. For more information, contact Charles Bingham at (907) 623-7660 or by email at charleswbingham3@gmail.com, or email us at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.
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