Mary Thompson and Kyra Ramsey
Apple Seeds
Picnic on the Farm
Who: Apple Seeds
What: Local food, drinks, live music, children’s farm games, silent auction
When: 4-7 p.m. June 3
Where: Apple Seeds Teaching Farm at Gulley Park in Fayetteville
Tickets: $5; 3 years old or younger get in free
Attire: Picnic
Information: appleseedsnwa.org
Co-Directors
Tell us about your organization:
•Mission: To inspire healthy living through garden-based education.
•Services provided: Apple Seeds provides educational programs in area schools and at our Teaching Farm, including Farm Lab field trips, school cooking classes, Farm to Table cooking classes and garden workshops for teachers and community members. These programs educate and excite young students about healthy food while increasing access to healthy foods.
•Service area: Our programs reach schools across Northwest Arkansas.
•Average number of people served annually: In 2017 Apple Seeds reached nearly 7,000 students through partnerships with more than 60 schools and local agencies.
How is your organization's mission unique? Apple Seeds is all about educating! We teach students about the benefits of eating more fruits and veggies, equip them with the skills to garden and to cook healthy food, and inspire them to make healthier food choices when they're in their own kitchens.
Why do you work or volunteer for a nonprofit organization? Do you have a personal connection to the mission? If so, what is it?
Mary: I've always wanted to build a career out of making the world a better place. It is so important to me to build health around the food we eat as a preventative form of healthcare. Sharing this knowledge as well as providing access to healthy food to thousands of students in Northwest Arkansas is very rewarding.
What part of your job fills the most of your time?
Kyra: Most of my time is spent building relationships with people in the community so that there's a greater awareness of what we do and an understanding of how they can get involved and make an impact.
Mary: I spend a lot of my time building the vision for our farm and our programming. This includes grant writing, working with our amazing team to reach our goals, and working with people in our community who help us realize our vision.
What have you learned on the job that you didn't expect? We've learned how many people really care about this mission and are willing to go to great lengths to assist us. We live in an amazing community full of people with a willingness to make a change in our culture.
What challenges face your organization? We're expanding our programs, and we need to simultaneously grow a larger pool of dedicated volunteers who want to be a part of this week after week.
Are there volunteer opportunities in your organization? What are they? Always! We have opportunities to volunteer in the garden and in our programs. More information can be found at appleseedsnwa.org.
What upcoming fundraisers and/or other events does your organization have planned? We're hosting our Picnic on the Farm on June 3 from 4 to 7 p.m. This is a picnic like no other with extreme farm games along with great food, drink, live music and a family fun silent auction. On Oct. 13, we're hosting our Evening on the Farm fundraiser. It has limited seating, and tickets go on sale this summer.
-- Carin Schoppmeyer
cschoppmeyer@nwadg.com
NAN Profiles on 05/20/2018