Members of York's Coastal Clovers 4-H Club, including Abby and Maggie Schofield and Haleigh and Carly Osgood, pictured here following a recent harvest at their field at Zach's Farm, have been hard at work since April, growing fresh produce to help area residents in need.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - From forums on energy costs and a community celebration benefitting York Community Service Association to a local 4-H club's commitment to helping stock the shelves at area food pantries, the push is on, in these difficult economic times, for residents to help their neighbors in need.
On Aug. 30, Graystone Builders of Maine hosted its Sixth Annual Beach Bonfire and BBQ - this year to raise funds for the YCSA Fuel Assistance Program.
With fuel prices up significantly over last year, efforts have been underway throughout the summer to help raise funds for the organization, which provides assistance to local residents who will be struggling to pay the costs associated with keeping their homes warm once the temperatures begin to fall.
To those ends, local legislators and officials, too, have been working to raise awareness of energy concerns and to help residents find ways to keep those costs down.
York's Mary Andrews, a former state representative and senator who is seeking a return to the Maine Senate in November's election, recently hosted a forum to help residents facing staggering fuel costs this winter.
And, coming up on Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m., another community forum on energy-related issues will be held at the York Public Library.
Sen. Peter Bowman, D-Kittery, and Rep. Dawn Hill, D-York, will host the event, which is scheduled to feature a panel discussion with the Maine State Housing Authority and York County Community Action Corp. on programs including Low Income Heating Assistance Program and the Home Energy Loan Program (HELP); Efficiency Maine reviewing rebate programs such as the state's solar thermal rebate program; the York Fire Department on important safety tips to consider when it comes to home heating, and the York Energy Efficiency Committee discussing what is happening at the local level. Others invited to attend include York officials, Rep. Windol Weaver, R-York, and representatives from York Community Service Association, York General Assistance and the Code Enforcement Office.
"The talk around town is focused on this winter and what people can do now to prepare," Bowman explained in his announcement of the upcoming event. "It is important we work together to do what we can before the temperature drops."
However, local officials, business owners and adult members of the community are not the only ones who have been offering helping hands this summer.
York's own 4-H group, the Coastal Clovers, which has a dozen members ranging in age from 5 to 12, has been hard at work growing fresh produce through its Food for Families project.
Russell Osgood, the group's leader, explained that the young members of the Coastal Clovers, with the support of their parents, raised 1,693 pounds of food as of the end of August, which is just 307 pounds short of their goal of 2,000 pounds before the harvest is at an end.
The majority of the donations have benefitted the York Food Pantry, but the club was even able to send some of its produce to the Good Shepherd Food Bank.
The total value of the donations to date is $4542.79, based on information from the N.H. Weekly Market Bulletin using Seacoast Farmers Market pricing estimates.
The project began on April 27, when York's Coastal Landscaping donated of over 1,000 seeding plugs to the effort. With a grant from the Pine Tree 4-H Foundation, the club purchased the supplies needed to transplant the plugs into growing trays and raise them in a makeshift greenhouse until the spring temperatures regulated. Then, on June 1, the Coastal Clovers transplanted their seedlings into a one-acre field, lined with two rows of plastic mulch and featuring an irrigation system, donated by Zach's Farm.
"John Zacharias, the owner of Zach's Farm, has truly been an inspiration," Osgood said. "He has not only given over an acre of land but has donated his time, equipment and knowledge to this effort. We will never be able to thank him enough."
Osgood said that in addition to Zach's Farm, Coastal Landscaping and the Pine Tree grant, support has come from Paris Farmers Union, Lebanon Seaboard Corporation, Preen Weed Preventer, Home Depot and Eldredge Lumber & Hardware.
"Our project could not be possible without the support of local and corporate businesses," he said, "and the parents that come to help with the upkeep alongside their children."
The 4-H members and their families made their first harvest on July 11. Despite the rainy summer, the watermelon, cantaloupe, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, zucchini and now even pumpkins have helped local residents fill their refrigerators with delicious, healthy fresh food.
And this project has not gone unnoticed in the 4-H community. The Coastal Clovers won a first-place award for their project at last month's Acton Fair.
Taking a short break from their most recent harvest at Zach's Farm, Osgood's wife Lynn and daughters Carly and Haleigh said the Coastal Clovers plan to continue the project again next summer.
As Carly put it, "I feel like I'm helping feed the whole world."
