The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the November 2015 edition of its newly launched monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.
This edition of the newsletter has brief stories about Giving Tuesday on Dec. 1, the Sitka Local Foods Network being listed in the Good Food Org Guide 2015, an appeal for new Sitka Local Foods Network board members, and an appeal for new first-year gardening families for the garden mentor 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 registration form 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.
Giving Tuesday, also listed at #GivingTuesday (known as #GivingTuesdayAK in Alaska), is a day for people to celebrate generosity and give to worthy nonprofits who support the local community. This year, the Sitka Local Foods Network is launching its own Giving Tuesday online fundraiser to help us meet our mission of increasing the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans.
When you donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network you support us as we host the Sitka Farmers Markets during the summer, grow food at the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden, and teach people about gardening and food preservation through our education program (which includes a garden mentor program for beginning gardeners). We also help with other local-food-related projects in town, such as Fish To Schools (which puts more locally caught seafood in school meals), our fruit tree project (where we got more community apple and cherry trees in town) or the Sitka Community Food Assessment (which gave us baseline data on food security issues in Sitka).
It’s easy to donate to our Giving Tuesday fundraiser through our secure donation page hosted by Razoo.com (an online site that collects donations for nonprofit organizations). The minimum donation through this site is $10, but we appreciate whatever you can give. A donation of $1,000 will provide all the materials, lessons and mentoring needed for a summer with one of our garden mentoring families (we usually add three new families each year, and we offer the families two years in the program).
For those who prefer to donate the old-fashioned way, you can send a check to the Sitka Local Foods Network, 408 Marine Street, Suite D, Sitka, Alaska, 99835. For those looking for end-of-the-year tax deductions, we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and our EIN is 26-4629930. Please let us know if you need a receipt.
We thank you for supporting local foods in Sitka, Alaska. Your donation is greatly appreciated. If you need more information about our organization or a receipt for tax purposes, you can email the Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors at sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.
The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the October 2015 edition of its newly launched monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.
This edition of the newsletter has brief stories thanking our Pick.Click.Give. donors, an appeal for new Sitka Local Foods Network board members, information about upcoming garden and cooking education classes, and an update about the Sitka Farmers Market ranking as the top market in Alaska in a national vote.. Each story has links to our website for more information.
You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the registration form 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.
The 2015 Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors. Front row, from left, Alli Gabbert, Lisa Sadleir-Hart, and Jennifer Carter. Middle row, from left, Maybelle Filler and Michelle Putz. Back row, from left, Charles Bingham, Brandie Cheatham, Matthew Jackson, and Beth Kindig (note, Beth Kindig resigned from the board and was replaced by Kathy Jones).
Are you concerned about increasing access to local food for all Sitka residents? Are you worried about rising food prices in Sitka, or do you want to advocate for more community gardens in Sitka?
Then consider joining the board of directors for the Sitka Local Foods Network for the 2016 calendar year. Due to the pending retirements of a couple of long-time board members, we are trying to build up a pool of possible replacements to help keep us moving into the future.
Board members help direct the Sitka Local Foods Network, a non-profit that promotes the harvest and use of local food in Sitka. In addition to setting the focus of the group, board members also help on a wide variety of projects such as the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, garden education and mentoring, Sitka Kitch, Blatchley Community Garden, Let’s Grow Sitka, the Sick-A-Waste compost project, the Sitka Community Food Assessment project, Sitka Fish-To-Schools, other school education projects and more.
To apply for a spot on the board, please fill out the application linked below and submit it to sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.org. For more information, contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985.
We also are looking to increase our pool of volunteers who will help out during the various projects hosted by the network each year (no formal application needed, just send us your name/contact info and what types of projects you enjoy).
The next Sitka Local Foods Network board meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, at the See House behind St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church (611 Lincoln St.). The board usually meets from 6:30-8 p.m. on the second Monday of each month, except during the summer when board members are busy working with the Sitka Farmers Market and St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden.
Click here for a copy of the Sitka Local Foods Network board of directors job description. Click here for a copy of the board application.
The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the September 2015 edition of its newly launched monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.
This edition of the newsletter has brief stories about the Sitka Sound Suppers fundraiser, the Sitka Local Foods Network recruiting new families for the garden mentor program, an update on the Sitka Farmers Markets, and information about saving seeds. Each story has links to our website for more information.
You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the registration form 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.
Eating local in Sitka can be an amazing experience. We have wide variety of high-quality seafood, including five types of salmon, halibut, blackcod, dozens of varieties of rockfish, ling cod, Alaska king crab, Dungeness crab, scallops, spot prawns, yum. There also is Sitka black-tailed deer and other wild game. And there’s nothing like the taste of fresh produce from the garden, and our berries are exquisite.
Now you can experience the best of Sitka’s local food scene with Sitka Sound Suppers: A Chef-To-Table Experience, a fundraiser for the Sitka Local Foods Network. (NOTE: Please see the update below.)
Three Sitka chefs — Kathy Jones (Westmark/Dock Shack), Edith Johnson (Fly-In Fish Inn), and Jackie Barmoy (former owner of Loaves and Fishes in Seattle) — have volunteered their talents to prepare a totally local meal that will be brought to your Sitka home for you to enjoy.
Donate at the $500 level and you receive a local Sitka dinner for two people.
Donate at the $1,000 level and you receive a local Sitka dinner for four people.
Donate at the $2,000 level and you receive a local Sitka dinner for eight people.
We are planning on preparing just one special dinner at each donation level, so get in on the promotion early. (UPDATE: We have decided to allow multiple dinners for each donation level instead of a single dinner. We didn’t know how many people would respond, so didn’t want to overtask our chefs, who are donating their time and talents to this promotion. So, even though we already have a donor at the $500 level, we can accommodate a second and/or third donor at that level.)
The Sitka Sound Suppers fundraiser launched on July 16 and ends after our final Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Sept. 12. The winners of our meals will be connected to our chefs, so they can agree on a menu and date for the meal during the Fall 2015 harvest season (late September to November). All meals will be prepared and served in Sitka, Alaska. You can learn more about the Sitka Sound Suppers fundraiser by watching this video.
The funds raised by this promotion will help the Sitka Local Foods Network continue its work promoting local foods in Sitka and Southeast Alaska through the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden, and our education programs. As the organization has grown and matured, we’ve reached a point where we need to hire a part-time staff person to handle some of the daily duties of our organization. Your donations will go into a fund to help us eventually be able to hire that staff person.
Your support for the Sitka Local Foods Network is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
By the way, if you want to contribute to the Sitka Local Foods Network but not receive one of the Sitka Sound Suppers, you can go to our main fundraising page on Razoo.com (a fundraising/crowdfunding site for nonprofit organizations) and donate in any amount over $10 there. Your online donation is secure and tax-deductible (we have federal 501(c)(3) nonprofit status). Thanks again.
The Sitka Local Foods Network education committee invites Sitkans to take part in Sitka’s first slug races.
“Do slugs move into your garden faster than a speeding bullet? Are you sure your slugs are breeding with Olympic runners and pole vaulters? Could you have the next winner of the Triple Crown? The Sitka Local Foods Network invites you to come and put your fastest slug to the test against Sitka’s best!” race organizer and SLFN board member Michelle Putz said.
The SLFN education committee will hold its inaugural Sitka Slug Races at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at the fifth Sitka Farmers Market of the summer at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall (235 Katlian St.). Registration for the race is from 10 a.m. until noon.
Those interested in participating will pay $5 per slug entered into the race. Participants are encouraged to bring their own fast slugs, but “rental slugs” will also be available at the race. The participants with the three fastest slugs in Sitka will be crowned and awarded a certificate and commemorative pin.
“Slug races help to support Sitka Local Foods Network’s mission to increase the amount of locally produced and harvested food in the diets of Southeast Alaskans,” Michelle said. “By getting slugs out of our gardens and into the race arena, we are saving valuable cabbage, kale, onions, and other foods from their hungry mouths. And we’ll find out which slugs were tromping to and through our gardens the quickest!”
We ask those who bring slugs to only bring black slugs, which are not native to Sitka, and not the California banana slugs which are native (can grow to three inches or longer, usually yellow or shades of green). Also, please don’t release your slugs in new places. We don’t want to introduce any invasive species, and the black slugs (sometimes brown or gray) are pretty destructive to Sitka gardens.
Funds raised will be used to support the network’s projects and activities including family garden mentoring, garden education classes, the Sitka Farmers Market, and the St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden.
For more information about helping with the race or the SLFN education committee, please contact Michelle Putz at 747-2708.
If you’re like most Alaskans you probably filed your 2015 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) application before the March deadline. But did you know you still can add Pick.Click.Give. donations to your 2015 application through Monday, Aug. 31? If you haven’t already, please consider making a Pick.Click.Give. donation to the Sitka Local Foods Network.
Here’s how to add or change your Pick.Click.Give. donations. First, go to the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application website, http://pfd.alaska.gov/, and find the green “Add A Pick.Click.Give. Donation” bar in the right column. Click the green bar, and follow the directions. You’ll need to enter your driver’s license number, Social Security number, and birthday to access your application, but once on the page you’ll be able to see your current Pick.Click.Give. donations (if any) and you can add or change them. Click here for an FAQ page about making Pick.Click.Give. donations.
Unfortunately, new donations made after the March 31 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend filing deadline do not qualify for entry into the Double Your Deadline Sweepstakes, where 10 lucky Alaskans will win the equivalent of a second PFD. However, this year’s PFD is expected to be around $2,000, so please feel free to share the wealth with the more than 500 Alaska nonprofit organizations participating in the Pick.Click.Give. program.
This is the second year the Sitka Local Foods Network is participating 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. 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, Blatchley Community Gardens, the sustainable use of traditional foods, the Sitka Community Food Assessment, the Sitka Food Summit, the Fish-To-Schools program, and a variety of other projects designed to increase access to healthy local foods in Sitka.
You still can donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network if you aren’t from Alaska or aren’t eligible for a 2015 PFD. To donate, send your check to the Sitka Local Foods Network, 408 Marine St., Suite D, Sitka, Alaska, 99835. Our EIN is 26-4629930.You also can make an online donation through our Razoo.com crowdfunding page. 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 to everybody making a Pick.Click.Give. donation to your Sitka Local Foods Network. We appreciate your support.
Eating local in Sitka can be an amazing experience. We have wide variety of high-quality seafood, including five types of salmon, halibut, blackcod, dozens of varieties of rockfish, ling cod, Alaska king crab, Dungeness crab, scallops, spot prawns, yum. There also is Sitka black-tailed deer and other wild game. And there’s nothing like the taste of fresh produce from the garden, and our berries are exquisite.
Three Sitka chefs — Kathy Jones (Westmark/Dock Shack), Edith Johnson (Fly-In Fish Inn), and Jackie Barmoy (former owner of Loaves and Fishes in Seattle) — have volunteered their talents to prepare a totally local meal that will be brought to your Sitka home for you to enjoy.
Donate at the $500 level and you receive a local Sitka dinner for two people.
Donate at the $1,000 level and you receive a local Sitka dinner for four people.
Donate at the $2,000 level and you receive a local Sitka dinner for eight people.
We are planning on preparing just one special dinner at each donation level, so get in on the promotion early.
The Sitka Sound Suppers fundraiser launched on July 16 and ends after our final Sitka Farmers Market of the summer on Sept. 12. The winners of our meals will be connected to our chefs, so they can agree on a menu and date for the meal during the Fall 2015 harvest season (late September to November). All meals will be prepared and served in Sitka, Alaska. You can learn more about the Sitka Sound Suppers fundraiser by watching this video.
The funds raised by this promotion will help the Sitka Local Foods Network continue its work promoting local foods in Sitka and Southeast Alaska through the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm communal garden, and our education programs. As the organization has grown and matured, we’ve reached a point where we need to hire a part-time staff person to handle some of the daily duties of our organization. Your donations will go into a fund to help us eventually be able to hire that staff person.
Your support for the Sitka Local Foods Network is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
By the way, if you want to contribute to the Sitka Local Foods Network but not receive one of the Sitka Sound Suppers, you can go to our main fundraising page on Razoo.com (a fundraising/crowdfunding site for nonprofit organizations) and donate in any amount over $10 there. Your online donation is secure and tax-deductible (we have federal 501(c)(3) nonprofit status). Thanks again.
The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the August 2015 edition of its newly launched monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.
This edition of the newsletter has brief stories about the Sitka Sound Suppers fundraiser, celebrating National Farmers Market Week by going to the Sitka Farmers Market, an update on the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen and some canning classes, and information about a grant awarded to the Sitka Local Foods Network from the Alaska Community Foundation.. Each story has links to our website for more information.
You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the registration form 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.
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