Local food (and those who grow and make it) is very important to us. It’s right in the second line of our mission statement: “We are a cornerstone of a vibrant community in south-central Wisconsin that provides fairly priced goods and services while supporting local and organic suppliers.” The local vendors who sell to us have a source of income during these difficult times, but some vendors rely on sales at farmers markets, to restaurants, to schools, and/or to CSAs. When local farmers are hurting, it hurts all of us. That’s why Willy Street Co-op is matching donations made May 1–31 to the programs below, up to a maximum of $5000 donated to each.

Dane County Farmers’ Market/FairShare Emergency Farmer Fund

The Dane County Farmers’ Market and FairShare CSA Coalition have established a GoFundMe crowd-funding campaign to assist member farms and food producers whose income has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Member farms can apply to the fund and applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis by a third-party partner. Farms will be able to apply funds to essential loan and mortgage payments to ensure they can stay on their land and keep their businesses afloat, as well as support employee wages. The DCFM and FairShare aim to raise $50,000 to provide emergency aid to a minimum of 100 total farmers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

To donate to this Fund, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-farmer-fund

REAP Food Group and Roots4Change Farms To Families Emergency Initiative

REAP Food Group (REAP), Roots4Change Co-op (R4C), and Rooted launched the “Farms to Families Fund/ Fondo de Granjas a Familias” initiative to work with regional family farms impacted by loss of wholesale customers to bring fresh, healthy, locally grown food to Madison-area Latino/Indigenous residents and families hard-hit by job loss, food insecurity, lack of access to social services, and federal anti-immigration provisions. Together, REAP and R4C plan to purchase fresh food from local farms in the Farm Fresh Atlas network and minority farmers and distribute it to a network of 200 Latino/Indigenous families, many of whom work in the heavily impacted food service and hospitality industries. This initiative provides home delivery of a weekly “resilience box” of fresh, nutritious, and locally grown food to serve up to 200 families (up to 1000 adults and children) identified as most vulnerable according to R4C’s screening process and informed by their on-the-ground work with families as community health workers and doulas.

To donate to this Initiative, visit: http://reapfoodgroup.org/farms-to-families/