From The South Bronx To Far Rock -

Demetrio and I reported early Tuesday morning to see how La Finca was holding up after the post-Sandy clean-up (thanks to Farmers Wilfredo Gonzalez and Cayetano Reyes).

We decided to harvest tomatoes, our abundant swiss chard, cucumbers and the last of the leeks to donate to community gardeners who are doing a free community kitchen in Far Rockaway - one of our city's hardest hit areas.

We dropped off a large bag of our mixed greens, and a supply of donated non-perishables from our Hootenanny to The Veggie Market on 94th St. and Rockaway Blvd., near a large staging area. The gardeners and activists are helping to keep the neighborhood fed, offering free plates of hot & healthy food created with donations like ours. Kudos for the good work they and other volunteers are doing independent of large organizations like FEMA and The Red Cross, who had just shown up in the past day or two.

We urge everyone to reach out to our devastated communities where families are living in flooded out homes, with no power, hot water, often no stable source of food, and it's a real struggle just to get to work, school, or just basic routines of life. Stay safe during the storms...

With Thanks,

Nancy Ortiz-Surun
Farmer/Director, Creative Educator & Co-Founder
La Finca Del Sur/South Bronx Farmers, Inc.