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C1a. Project Name <br />(This will be used as <br />the name of your <br />submission; please <br />keep your project <br />name to less than 5 <br />words. Examples: <br />Tree Planting, LED <br />Lights, Rain Garden, <br />Rooftop Solar) <br />Twin Creeks Farm Expansion <br />C1b. Please <br />describe the <br />proposed project. <br />(300 word limit) <br />One in three children in our county participates in the free/reduced school <br />meal program - 7,000 local kids in need of food. TABLE’s mission is to <br />deliver healthy food and nutrition education to children across Orange <br />County, North Carolina. W e began delivering weekly food to 12 <br />elementary-school children in 2008 and have grown our TABLE@Home <br />program to now feeding 1,125 children, ages 0-20, across Orange County <br />every week - with a waitlist. W e hope to feed 1,250 kids in 2025-26. Each <br />child receives fresh (often local/organic) and healthy nonperishable food <br />every week. <br />Our goal is to take advantage of unused land at Twin Creeks, an <br />undeveloped Orange County Park, to expand a partnership with W ildflower <br />Lane Farm (W LF) to provide local organic produce to children served by <br />TABLE. By utilizing volunteers, W LF and Twin Creeks can supply TABLE <br />with organic produce for approximately 20% of the retail price normally <br />found in local grocery stores. Reducing the cost of high-quality, fresh food <br />allows TABLE to: 1) provide nutritious food to kids that need it, 2) serve <br />more children, and 3) direct more dollars to local farms. <br />This project will benefit the environment by greatly reducing food miles, <br />reducing food waste, using no-spray organic farming practices, growing <br />oxygen-rich and pollinator plants, and reducing soil runoff. Beyond feeding <br />kids, we will truly improve the local climate and air quality through this <br />project! <br />C1c. Please <br />describe your <br />project’s benefits, <br />including those that <br />are quantifiable. (150 <br />word limit) <br />A successful project at Twin Creeks will: <br />1. Increase the amount of produce that TABLE supplies to our kids. <br />Currently, about 35% of our produce is sourced from local farmers. This <br />provides the best quality produce for kids, increases access to fruits and <br />vegetables for food-insecure children, promotes a plant-based diet, <br />provides fresh produce to more children, and improves children’s health. <br />Our goal would be to source about 40% of our produce locally. <br />2. Support a sustainable local food system by providing a source of fair, <br />stable revenue to farmers and safer working conditions (free of chemical <br />pesticides). A farm partner shared, “If every farmer had a partner like <br />TABLE, there would be more farmers.” <br />3. Decrease the number of “food miles” from thousands of miles to just 5 <br />miles from farm to TABLE, reduce the carbon footprint, and reduce our <br />environmental impact by utilizing safe and healthy growing practices. <br />Docusign Envelope ID: 607995AB-FD72-4B81-91C2-2C0A73A91963