Farming with Friends

01/14/2026

Thank you so much to Kalyani Consulting https://kalyani-consulting.com/ and the Elevate’ED Leadership program for helping us build our program with purpose, clarity, and sustainability guiding our decisions. It has been so very helpful! ❤️🤟

01/13/2026

🚑 CPR & First Aid Training = Inclusion in Action

When people with disabilities receive CPR and First Aid training, they’re not just learning skills. They’re also building confidence, responsibility, and workplace readiness.

Prepared people create safer workplaces. Inclusive training creates stronger teams. 💪

Our crew had so much fun at CPR / First Aid Training at Old Trail School yesterday! (Alex named the baby "Edmund"!)

01/09/2026

Come pick our Executive Director (Ginnette)'s brain about your 2026 home gardening goals and techniques! 😁

New at gardening or want to expand your knowledge? Learn about planning your garden space, crop selection, and tools and resources to bring your vision to life at Winter Garden Prep, Wed., Jan. 21 at 6:30 pm at Highland Library. Register at mcdl.info/WinterGarden

01/05/2026

THANK YOU! This community showed up in a big way 💚 Thanks to your generous end-of-year donations, we raised over $6,000—enough to support a farm hand and continue creating meaningful, inclusive work on our farm. Your support makes a real impact, and we are so grateful to have you as part of the Farming with Friends community.

To learn more about Farming with Friends and our mission, visit our website.
https://farmingwithfriends.org/

12/31/2025

🌿 Final End-of-Year Appeal: Grow With Us in 2026! 🌿

As we wrap up another amazing year at Farming with Friends, we are so grateful for the friendships, learning, and meaningful work that blossomed on the farm this season. Together, we are building a community where people of all abilities can learn, contribute, and thrive. 💚

And the best part? We’re just getting started. 2026 will bring more opportunities, more connection, and more ways to Empower All Abilities to Grow Together—and we’d love for YOU to be part of it!

Here are some beautiful ways to get involved next year:

🌻 Come visit! Take a tour, meet the crew, learn our story, and see the impact firsthand.
🌱 Volunteer with us. On the farm, behind the scenes, helping with admin, or planning events—there’s a place for you here.
🌼 Join us for events & workshops. Learn, celebrate inclusion, and build community with us in 2026.
💚 Donate. Your generosity helps create accessible, meaningful opportunities for people with disabilities.
✨ Monthly donors make a HUGE impact! A small gift each month helps us plan, expand programs, and say “yes” to more opportunities all year long.

If you believe in inclusion, purpose, and community—we’d love to grow with you. 🌱

Thank you for helping make Farming with Friends a place where everyone belongs.

👉 Donate, volunteer, or learn more at farmingwithfriends.org
👉 Share this post to help spread the mission!

12/30/2025

🌱 Growing Understanding, One School Day at a Time 🌱

One of the greatest gifts of having our farm at a school is watching students interact with individuals with disabilities every day. When kids see people of all abilities working, contributing, laughing, and belonging, something powerful happens… stigma fades, empathy grows, and true community takes root.

Students don’t just learn about inclusion. They experience it. They see individuals with disabilities as teammates, teachers, and friends. They watch them lead tasks, solve problems, and proudly contribute to our farm’s success.

Through simple moments of shared work, children discover these important truths:
💛 Every person has value
💛 Every person deserves dignity
💛 Every person has gifts worth celebrating

These students will grow up to be neighbors, coworkers, leaders, and community members. Because of experiences like this, they’ll help create a kinder, more inclusive world.

This is why our work matters.

We’re not just growing food. We’re helping grow a generation that sees the dignity and worth in every human being.

You can support our work today at https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE🌻

12/26/2025

🌿 Growing Community, Side by Side 🌿

This season, our farm reminded us of something powerful: when people of all abilities work together, barriers start to fade and real community begins to grow.

We were grateful to welcome so many typically abled volunteers — students, families, coworkers, neighbors, and friends — who rolled up their sleeves and worked alongside individuals with disabilities throughout the season. Together, they planted, harvested, laughed, learned, and shared stories in between rows of vegetables and flowers.

Something meaningful happens in that kind of shared work. Misconceptions disappear. Stigma breaks down. And people begin to see one another for who they truly are: capable, valued, and full of gifts to share.

On our farm, inclusion isn’t a program.
It’s people showing up for one another.
It’s friendships forming naturally.
It’s a community growing stronger because everyone belongs.

💛 To every volunteer who joined us this season: thank you for showing what integration, compassion, and true community look like in action. You helped grow far more than food — you helped grow understanding, connection, and hope.

Help us grow these connections by donating today! https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

12/24/2025

🌱 Growing Purpose, Inclusion, and Community 🌱

This season, our farm was filled with so much more than vegetables. It was filled with friendship, pride, and connection.

Individuals with disabilities and groups from local day programs volunteered alongside us all season long. They planted seeds, tended crops, harvested food, and helped prepare produce for our community. But what truly blossomed was confidence, purpose, and belonging.

On our farm, every person matters. Every task has meaning. Everyone is part of the team.

We watched people learn new skills, build independence, laugh together, and take pride in their work. That’s what true inclusion looks like — people of all abilities growing, contributing, and being valued side-by-side.

💛 To every volunteer who joined us this season: thank you.
You didn’t just grow food, you helped grow community.

As we look toward next season, your support helps us continue creating meaningful, inclusive opportunities like these. If you’re able, please consider making an end-of-year gift to help our mission thrive. 🌻

👉 Support Farming with Friends here: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

12/22/2025

🌶️ Joe didn’t just grow hot peppers this year—he grew confidence, connection, and community.

Joe poured his heart into his peppers this season, proudly tending them from seed to harvest. He loved finding brave friends willing to taste a hot pepper (and took great joy in their reactions! 😅).

When his peppers were ready, he shared them with a local Chinese restaurant, where they used them to make hot sauce. That simple act turned his passion into purpose and built real, joyful community connection.

Joe represents what Farming with Friends is all about:
🌻 Inclusion • 🌻 Purpose • 🌻 Belonging

Help us spice up 2026 with more stories like Joe's! https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

12/20/2025

🌱 Spotlight Story: Sam Bloomed! 🌱

This year on the farm, Sam grew far more than flowers. 🌸

Sam is a valued member of the Farming with Friends community, and this season he jumped into our flower program—learning how to grow, harvest, and carefully dry blooms that will last long after the season ends. From bold colors to delicate textures, Sam took pride in every step of the process.

But when we asked Sam what he learned this year, his answer went beyond flowers.

💬 “I learned about sociability and communication—how to talk with all different kinds of people.”

On the farm, that meant greeting visitors, working alongside volunteers of all abilities, collaborating with staff, and building confidence one conversation at a time. Over the season, Sam became more comfortable speaking up, asking questions, and connecting with others—showing curiosity, kindness, and growing confidence in his work.

And he’s already looking ahead. 🌱
Next year, Sam wants to focus on developing his leadership skills—helping guide others, sharing what he’s learned, and continuing to grow into his strengths.

Sam didn’t just learn how to grow and dry flowers.
He learned how to connect.
How to communicate.
How to see himself as a leader.

💛 These moments matter. They represent confidence, belonging, and possibility—and they show what can happen when people of all abilities are given the opportunity to grow together.

Sam represents the heart of Farming with Friends:
🌻 Inclusion, not isolation
🌻 Growth, not limitation
🌻 Community, not charity

As we close out the year, your support helps make stories like Sam’s possible—creating meaningful vocational opportunities and empowering all abilities to grow together.

👉 Give before December 31: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

🎁 Your Gift Makes a Real Impact
• $75 — Provides paid employment for a team member with disabilities
• $500 — Covers seeds and plugs for the entire growing season
• $2,000 — Supports one Farm Hand Trainee for a full season of hands-on training

Every dollar helps grow confidence, purpose, and inclusion—right here on our farm.

Thank you for believing in our people and our mission. 💛
— Ginnette Simko & the Farming with Friends team

Click here to donate and help more stories bloom: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE🌸

12/19/2025

🌱 Spotlight Story: Mr. Dennis 🌱

As we close out the year, we’ll be sharing stories that highlight the heart of Farming with Friends — the people, purpose, and partnerships that make this work possible. These are the stories your support makes possible.

💛 Meet Mr. Dennis 💛

This year on the farm, Dennis grew far more than vegetables.

Dennis is the Farm Assistant at Farming with Friends. He has autism and often says he lives with one foot in the world of people with disabilities, and one foot in the world of typically abled people. That thoughtful perspective reflects exactly what we strive to grow every day: inclusion, integration, and friendship.

This season, Dennis:
🌿 Learned new technical farming skills
🌿 Strengthened his problem-solving abilities
🌿 Gained confidence, independence, and flexibility
🌿 Became a trusted member of our small but mighty farm crew

But Dennis didn’t just become a better farmer. He became part of a community.

At our host site, Old Trail School, Dennis helped distribute weekly produce bundles and proudly shared the harvest he helped grow. And many mornings, preschoolers greeted him on their daily hike: “Hi Mr. Dennis!” He always replied with a huge smile and his signature, enthusiastic: “Howdy!”

Those moments may seem small, but they are everything.

They represent belonging, visibility, and what’s possible when people of all abilities work side by side.

Dennis represents the heart of Farming with Friends:
🌻 Inclusion, not isolation
🌻 Integration, not separation
🌻 Friendship, not charity

As part of our end-of-year fundraising campaign, your support helps ensure more stories like Dennis’s can grow in 2026 and beyond. You can help create meaningful, paid work and authentic community connections.

💛 Your gift makes real impact:
• $75 — Provides a day's paid employment for a team member with disabilities
• $500 — Covers seeds and plugs for the growing season
• $2,000 — Supports one Farm Hand Trainee for a full season

👉 Give before December 31: https://givebutter.com/J7PNbE

Thank you for believing in the power of inclusion — and for helping our farm, and our people, continue to thrive. 💛🌱