As you may have read in our last entry, we did draw a name out of our hat for the recipient of the CSA Lottery- and for the last week, i have been gathering information about this recipient and trying to write something in my head that could be coherent enough o publish..
For the last two years, Alanna and I have completely given ourselves to KISMET and all that that means to us- and in it we have continued to talk to each other about what our vision of this place is and how what we do here means in the grander picture..
three weeks ago we decided to begin a csa lottery as a way to invoke change and excitement and conversation in our community- we put it out there to our customers, and witnessed an overwhelming response- in just two weeks, we raised 200 dollars and were able to match that with another 200 dollars of profit that we raised from sales to put towards a csa for a deserving individual or family in our community.. we thought that we would be supporting our farmers while educating people about csa's and also providing a deserving person with the gift of local organic food for a season..
then i met nathina..
Nathina Roy is 28 years old, she is a single mother who grew up in williamstown and is currently a working student employeed at Dog River Farm and CCV. When I met Nathina, I was overwhelmed by the fact that I've NEVER SEEN HER BEFORE and that, though we both have boys attending the same school, and have both lived in the same town for the last few years, and are the same age, she was completely unfamiliar to me... this shook me- i instantly wanted to know her and was simultaneously overwhelmed by the situation--- here i was offering her this gift and sitting in the "giving" position, and all the while looking at her knowing that there really was not that much different between us-.. I could see the awkwardness- as if i was interviewing her- asking about her relationship with her child's father-- asking about her history, asking what she studies in school- talking about her financial situation--etc.. what a trip!
Because there really was little separating us..
SO-
Nathina Roy is our CSA Lottery benefactor--
and i am so glad that she is-
she was nominated anonymously, and has no idea who could have nominated her, except for maybe her boss at Dog River Farm-
And when we talked about how the CSA could be most helpful for her, she confided that because she works at a farm in the summer, a summer csa would be generous, but not the sort of help she needs most (especially with the winter on it's way). So we spoke about alternative ways that we could help, and reminded her that we basically have $400 to put towards local organic food for her and her son. If she had ideas of how we could use it, she should let me know.. we looked at Pete's Greens winter csa ($800), and talked about how we could make that happen-
the more we spoke, the more i just wanted to give her boxes of food myself- surely i could buy $400 worth of food and spread it out over 3 months to get her through the winter- or maybe even give her $400 worth of restaurant credit-- who knew- there has to be a way to make $400 go far enough to really help a single mother through a vermont winter!? And, at the same time, i felt like i had such a great experience in this process so far, i couldnt imagine not figuring something out- in many ways i feel like i have been the "nathina" - i am very resourceful, so gifts often have to be modified to my specific needs-and often others have been frustrated with me about that- but i am hoping, instead, that nathina will help us understand how we can help most and put our humble effort in the right direction--
stay tuned for more-
nathina will call tomorrow and tell us how we can feed her most with $400-
