Dear Friends,
You have been in our thoughts over the past few weeks. As we all continue to practice healthy, safe distancing, we urge our Urban Roots community to work together to find ways to support our most vulnerable neighbors and ensure everyone is taken care of during this critical time.
Urban Roots has always been a unique and dynamic organization with a two-part mission: to use food and farming to transform the lives of young people, AND to nourish the Austin community by donating fresh produce to hunger relief agencies and to our neighbors in need. The COVID Crisis put an immediate stop to our youth programming on the farm. We closed our farm to the public to protect the health and safety of our youth, volunteers, and staff. And now, we focus our energy into growing food to deliver to our hunger relief partners and those who are food insecure.
Our small but mighty staff are leaning in and taking over farm production so we can contribute to the community during this time of crisis. We will donate beets, kale, carrots, onions, and more fresh produce to the Central Texas Food Bank, AIDS Services of Austin, Meals on Wheels, and other partners. We will continue to feed others as long as we have the support of the community.
But, we need to be honest and let you know that COVID-19 has hit Urban Roots hard. We are unable to engage youth for farm production, and we have had to cancel our primary fundraising event – Tour de Farm – which is a loss of more than $200,000 for programs and the vital services of the organization.
We are doing the hard work, but we need your help to survive during this extraordinary time. Please help us by making a donation today to our hunger relief effort and to the future of Urban Roots.
The farm will continue to serve as the foundation for the organization as we rebuild our youth programming after this crisis. Right now, let’s grow food!
Sincerely,
Max Elliott
Executive Director
For questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact anyone on the Urban Roots team. Follow us on social media @UrbanRootsATX on Instagram and Facebook.
