Two friends in Pittstown, New Jersey would like to help put an end to hunger. They have launched a website, hoping to raise funds to purchase a farm dedicated to growing food to fill empty pantries.
(PRWEB) January 19, 2006 -- Two friends in Pittstown, New Jersey would like to help put an end to people faced with the decision between paying for heat and buying groceries.
www.helppetebuythefarm.com is a website looking to raise money to purchase a farm dedicated to providing food pantries with fresh produce. This year Pete Ashey and Chip Paillex helped “Second Harvest” over 24,000 pounds of produce during a program started by Chip and the Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown, NJ.
“Maybe it was the sun but, we just started to focus on the larger goal of having our own farm says Pete Ashey. The idea of “Help Pete Buy the Farm” hit me when I saw the “Million Dollar Webpage”, if a student could pay off his university bills in a few months through generous donations by complete strangers, why couldn’t we raise enough money to help feed the hungry for the next 30 or 40 years using the same concept?”
“Leveraging and expanding our current network of volunteers coupled with the public’s compassionate support through pledges and donations will enable us to turn a dream into a reality, the eventual eradication of hunger…society’s silent killer”, says Chip Paillex.
The farm’s mission will be to eliminate hunger in our area and help support other like minded organizations do the same. We will distribute fresh produce through a network of local food pantries and plan to increase public awareness of the current hunger crisis.
BACKGROUND/OVERVIEW:
Bethlehem Presbyterian Church began this program three years ago, when one of it members (Chip Paillex), learned of a plea from the Flemington Food Pantry, who was requesting fresh produce for its current Food Assistance recipients.
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050604/NEWS02/506040323/1004
Current Project Comments
Madelyn Alessandrini, the Director of the Flemington Food Pantry says, “We appreciate the Fresh Produce so much as we mostly provide dry goods”.(paraphrased…)
Chip Paillex, Developer of the Project says “It’s a great way to support the Food Assistance recipients, while at the same time developing a sense of caring and responsibility amongst our youth through their hands on participation. Most people don’t realize that hunger is an issue within this country and how it painfully affects all different lifestyles and ages. Now is the time our youth need to learn to take care of our neighbors, and I think a program like this will last within them for a lifetime and reap rewards that will be passed down from generation to generation.”
Anonymous Quotes from the Food Assistance Recipient’s:
“Please come back again, my family and I depend on this food”
“I just want to say thanks…I wasn’t always like this…I ran into hard times”
“God Bless you, for your caring”
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