Blog Post

A HUGE Thank You to All Our GoFundMe Supporters

Ironwood Farmers • November 13, 2021

Wow wow wow.

We're writing this wayyyy late. We're only just coming up for air as the busy season ends. But the gratitude, love, and thanks are no less felt.

Back in the summer we ran a GoFundMe to raise funds for farm seating. We realized that while we were playing host to many visitors, CSA members, farmers, and families, we had nowhere for people to sit! We wanted to do something about this, and turned to our community for support.

We teamed up with the incredible Cruz Luis from Cruz Luis Wood Products, an insanely talented and go-get-it 15 year old lad from Hudson who started a woodshop business during the pandemic when school was closed. He agreed to build us 5 picnic benches and 6 Adirondack chairs to welcome our visitors.

If you're looking for some well built, locally made, community supporting outside furniture, get in touch with Cruz Luis!

We launched our first GoFundMe campaign to raise the $3,000 to put towards the project, and pay Cruz for his excellent craft. We were a little nervous about this, because we've never done a fundraiser for the farm before. We've always been a for-profit production farm, with every last bit of "profit" invested back into the farm for the next season. Fundraising felt a little awkward, but we just didn't have the budget to do this ourselves.

And wow... the response was absolutely incredible! Within 6 hours we were fully funded. The speed and breadth of generosity was overwhelming. So many people were so generous!

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who donated to this project. You all made this a reality. You helped support a young Hudson lad grow his business, you gave Ironwood visitors and crew a place to rest and eat comfortably. AND you helped enhance our community gathering space. We are so so thankful to you all.

We would also like to give a special shout out to Dave Chicane who is the owner and chef at Hudson Food Studio. Totally to our surprise, Dave came in with a whopping donation that really helped launch the fundraising. This is a BIG deal. Dave's commitment to the farm goes back eight years, back to the first year of the farm. He helped build our first greenhouse! He's been buying and featuring Ironwood vegetables from the start, and LOT of them, which has really supported our wholesale efforts. He offers our crew a discount when they eat at his restaurant. He is one of the most farmer-forward and supporting restaurant operators we know. AND he did this in the middle of a pandemic when business is tough. For all these reasons we literally shed a tear when we realized what he had done. Thank you Dave and the entire team at Hudson Food Studio.

Dave of Hudson Food Studio back in 2014 building an Ironwood Farm Greenhouse

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