Dear Friends:
As we look forward to 2024, we have an exciting opportunity with a new strategic partnership. While exploring different options for last year’s summer education program and getting our horticulture area ready for the 2023 growing season, I was introduced to an innovative composting business based in Boston with operations in Rhode Island, the Berkshires, and the mid-Hudson Valley. Bootstrap Compost has done fantastic work as a community resource in Eastern New England. They were instrumental in providing affordable compost for us last spring to jumpstart our gardens on a site that was previously a horse ring.
WE ARE EXPANDING OUR RELATIONSHIP, AND I’D LOVE YOUR HELP!
Starting this winter, the leaders of Bootstrap have committed to:
Help with our school field trips - starting with our first in early December!
Provide consulting services to CHARM on our horticulture programs and composting practices
Speak at and help to develop educational programming collaboratively for the Northern Berkshire community - with a particular emphasis on educators and schools
Provide products to promote the value of home composting and the role of farms in composting
Bring their impressive worm castings and compost to events in our region to support hands-on learning at events
Successful fundraising will allow us to welcome more community partners to participate in our composting and horticulture programs - and to expand those opportunities to more educators in the region.
Throughout the past year, many individuals in our community have expressed their interest in tangible steps we can take to address environmental challenges. The World Wildlife Fund estimates, "In the US alone, the production of lost or wasted food generates the equivalent of 32.6 million cars’ worth of greenhouse gas emissions.” CHARM’s partnership with Bootstrap Compost will help our Northern Berkshire community address this global challenge!
Please plan to attend either the in-person or virtual presentation announcing our new partnership planned for December 5th at 3 pm after we host our first field trip! In-person attendees will learn more about the tremendous benefits of diverting food waste from the waste stream and won’t leave home empty-handed!
Thanks!
Jane Swift
Sponsorship opportunities available:
Sponsor a school visit: $ 750.00
Sponsor a community event: $ 2500.00
Sponsor a Garden Upgrade at CHARM: $ 1500.00
Sponsor a Hunger Garden: $5000.00