Support SPF's 2010 Challenge Grant through Year-end Giving and Gifts of Membership

A Message from Allen Rozema, SPF Executive DirectorYou make a difference as a member of Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland!With your support, SPF serves as a respected voice for Skagit agriculture – a voice that is strengthened by your generosity and commitment to keep one of the world’s richest and most productive valleys viable and intact forever.Even with economic challenges over the past several years, your trust and confidence have made it possible for SPF to advance its mission through public awareness programs and the protection of key farmlands. SPF’s accomplishments are the direct result of your support! This past year alone our small but mighty organization made great progress.

  • With the leadership and support of Senator Mary Margaret Haugen, SPF saw the unanimous passage in both the state House and Senate of SB6211, which designates nearly all of I-5 through Skagit County as Washington’s first Agricultural Scenic Corridor.
  • In partnership with Eddyline Kayaks and Skagit Farmers Supply, SPF redesigned our popular Crop Identification Signs, making it easier for residents and visitors to see and learn about what’s growing in the Skagit Valley, and easier for our volunteers to maintain.
  • Talking Fields, a new educational program for the community created in partnership with Washington State University’s Northwestern Research & Extension Center (NREC), launched last spring. Two pilot sites are operating, one at WSU’s NREC in Mount Vernon, and one at the Mesman dairy farm near LaConner. Our goal is to develop up to 15 sites by 2012 with programming about the unique environmental conditions, generational farm history, crop information and artisan traditions of the Skagit River Valley.
  • Thirty-two acres of prime farmland, strategically located at the Conway freeway interchange, were protected in SPF’s number one priority area, the I-5 corridor south of Mount Vernon. SPF was pleased to support this latest project of Skagit County’s Farmland Legacy Program (FLP). Since 2008 SPF has partnered with the FLP to protect more than 204 acres in this critical corridor. Overall more than 7,000 acres have been protected in Skagit County!

I hope you agree that SPF members are key to sustaining and strengthening our impact on preserving the Skagit River Valley’s agricultural stability and longevity. Members are literally the backbone of our organization, beginning in 1989 with five local farm families who joined together to establish Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland. Today SPF supporters.This holiday season, I invite you to make a difference once again by supporting SPF’s 2010 Membership Challenge. A generous donor has pledged a $15,000 challenge grant to encourage both existing members to increase their giving and new memberships. Here’s how you can help SPF meet the challenge:

  • An increase of $100 or more from your 2009 year-end gift or from your previous membership contribution to SPF will be matched 100 percent.
  • Give a gift of membership to SPF, starting at just $25, and encourage others to join. All new membership gifts will be matched 100 percent. Family, friends and colleagues who share your support for sustainable, local agriculture would love to be members of SPF!

With your support the Skagit River Valley will continue to play a vital role in the Puget Sound’s delicate balance of beauty, tranquility and fresh, local and safe foods—providing sustainable sustenance for the region and the world.Thank you for all that you do! On behalf of the SPF board and staff, I wish you a very safe and happy holiday season.You may donate securely online at the link below; mail contributions to SPF, PO Box 2405, Mount Vernon, WA 98273; or call the office at (360)336-3974, weekdays, 8:30am - 5 pm.Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. We never share donor information with other organizations.Visit Link

This Just InAllen Rozema