By Sally Voth -- Daily Staff Writer

MAURERTOWN — Two Shenandoah County charitable agricultural institutions are talking about joining forces.

Representatives of the Volunteer Farm and the county farm task force have discussed expanding the Volunteer Farm's acreage to include farmland the county owns in Maurertown.

The task force was set up by the Board of Supervisors to come up with a long-range plan for the county farm and alms house. The alms house, which is in a serious state of disrepair, has long housed homeless residents. The task force is recommending that it continue to do so.

Part of the task force's mission is to promote compatible uses and sustain the county's rural character.

The Volunteer Farm was founded in Woodstock four years ago to raise vegetables for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and now needs more farmland, said its founder, chairman and CEO, Bob Blair.

Administered by the World Foundation for Children, the farm is on land that Blair once used to grow Christmas trees.

He said Lee Jette, the foundation's chief financial officer, has been meeting with the task force to discuss the possibility of using part of the county farm to raise food for the hungry. He said Jette is out of the country.

The proposal is still in the preliminary stages, Blair said.

"We have here 65 acres, and this year we're planting 40 acres," Blair said. "We need more land. The number of hungry people has grown tremendously in the last six months or so. It's up about 30 percent."

That's why the Volunteer Farm has expanded the acreage farmed from 28 last year to this year's 40. The expansion has exhausted almost all of the farm's arable land, Blair said.

The county farm site would be great for raising cattle, he said.

"The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank has asked us if we could provide meat, whether it's lamb, goats or beef," Blair said.

The idea fits in with the county farm's mission, task force facilitator Raymond Powell said.

"But, we haven't come to a final resolution on that," he said. "It's one of the points that we're considering, but we're looking at a variety of them. It's a viable [proposal] to use a piece of it, because that matches up with the deed.

"[The alms house and farm were] deeded in 1798 for the sole purpose of caring for the poor."

There are about 150 acres of tillable farm land, which is being leased along with pasture land, Powell said. Some of the land could be used for 4-H and FFA projects, he said.

Wherever the Volunteer Farm expands, a 10-year lease that is basically free would be needed, Blair said. The volunteer base would have to be expanded, too.

"We wouldn't rob Peter to pay Paul," Blair said.

But he's confident enough volunteers can be found.

"With the economy the way it is, a big question mark is what kind of funding would we have from the community," Blair said.

This year, there is a $25,000 budget shortfall, he said.

The farm's budget of more than $200,000 includes

funding for volunteer recruitment.

"We get volunteers from all over," Blair said.

Last year's 2,300 volunteers came from 42 states and 25 countries. Nearly three-quarters were under 18.

For more information about the Volunteer Farm, or

to make a donation, call

459-DIRT (3478) or visit

worldfoundationforchildren.com.

* Contact Sally Voth at svoth@nvdaily.com