 Ross |
Hidden Villa has received a $50,000 grant from the Noble and Lorraine Hancock Family Fund to sponsor a healthful eating collaboration with Community Services Agency (CSA) of Mountain View to distribute organic produce to needy clients.
The program, “Healthy Food, Healthy Families,” will contribute nearly 35,000 pounds of vegetables and fruits to CSA. Agency volunteers will pick up the food twice a week, sort it and distribute it at the agency’s Food and Nutrition Center in downtown Mountain View.
In November, Hidden Villa will host a Gleaning Day for volunteers to pick, sort and distribute the last of the season’s harvest.
Shareholders in Hidden Villa’s Community Supported Agriculture can enjoy the remaining Hidden Villa produce.
“Our goal is to work with community organizations, using our resources as an organic farm to address issues in a way that is responsive to local needs and has deep impact,” said Hidden Villa Executive Director Beth Ross. “CSA is an ideal partner. We share the same concerns over childhood obesity, diabetes and the importance of healthful food for everyone. They have the means to distribute the food that we have the means to grow.”
CSA Executive Director Tom Myers said, “This project is unique because it is not a distribution of leftover or surplus food.”
Hidden Villa has worked with CSA to identify produce that is culturally relevant and will solicit input from clients to improve and expand selection.
Hidden Villa is an educational organization that uses its organic farm and 1,600-acre wilderness preserve as the context for teaching and learning.
Founded by Frank and Josephine Duveneck, Hidden Villa has offered hands-on learning and encounters with natural wonders since 1945, and continues to explore innovative ventures to bring nature and environmental education to underserved populations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
CSA has been providing vital services to at-risk and low-income residents of Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills for nearly 50 years.
For more information about Hidden Villa’s or CSA’s programs, visit www.hiddenvilla.org or www.csacares.org.
