Volunteer Farms receive grants

By Sally Voth -- svoth@nvdaily.com

The Volunteer Farms have good news to share, which will mean more food for the hungry.

The Volunteer Farm of Woodstock will use a $5,000 grant from the Shenandoah Community Foundation to finish an irrigation project, which will save crops during dry periods, according to a news release from Bob Blair, CEO and Board Chairman of the World Foundation for Children, which oversees the farms.

The Woodstock farm is the original Volunteer Farm started eight years ago on Crider Lane.

"Our partnership with the Shenandoah Community Foundation will help us harvest hopefully more than 100,000 pounds of produce during the 2012 growing season, providing nourishment for our neighbors in the Shenandoah County area," Blair states in the release. "We greatly appreciate the financial commitment the Foundation has made to address the issue of hunger in our community."

The food grown on the farms - which includes beans, cabbage, peppers, potatoes, squash, tomatoes and watermelon - is planted and harvested by volunteers and donated to food pantries, soup kitchens, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and the Capital Area Food Bank.

Additionally, the Culpeper Foundation has given a $1,000 grant to the World Foundation for Children, according to another news release from Blair.

The grant will help the Culpeper farm to hopefully produce more than 100,000 pounds of produce this year, he states in the release.

For more information or to donate, call 459-3478 or visit www.worldfoundationforchildren.com.