From my bountiful inbox:

In April, 2004, on seven acres of garden, field and forest, tucked into Tryon Creek State Park, a small group of committed individuals saw boundless possibility. And they planted the seed that would become Tryon Life Community Farm (TLC Farm), a sustainability education and demonstration center serving the Portland community. At the same time, on the same seven acres, Brownstone Homes, Inc. saw a 23-unit housing development. In fact, Brownstone Homes owned the rights to buy the land for $1.5 million dollars.

Undeterred, the group of individuals that made up TLC Farm moved forward with their plans to open the land to the public as an education center and resource, trusting that the rightness of their vision would bring the necessary support.

And they were right! Over the past year and a half, TLC Farm has grown into a thriving, all volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with an inspiring list of accomplishments:

- In March, TLC Farm raised $125,000 to buy out the developer’s rights to purchase the land, giving TLC Farm the opportunity to purchase the land as a land trust.

- TLC Farm has educated over 2000 people, including hundreds of students from over 20 schools, colleges, and at-risk youth programs, about food systems, natural building, native habitat restoration, community building, organic agriculture and permaculture.

- As a demonstration of more sustainable urban living, TLC Farm has six examples of natural building techniques, has transformed 2500 sq. ft from lawn to garden and has an extensive native habitat programs (including 5 blackberry eating goats!).

- TLC Farm has raised over a million dollars towards purchasing the land, from hundreds of donors and supporters, including grants from the City of Portland and Juan Young Trust, contributions from over 600 individuals, and a loan from ShoreBank Pacific.

Now, TLC Farm has less than 14 days left to raise the final $150,000 needed to purchase the land, which will then be held by the Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust. This is the last leg of an inspiring grassroots campaign to save this special land for the public good, and you have the opportunity to help it succeed! Their deadline is January 10; if all the money is not in hand by then… all this will be lost.

In this season of giving, please consider how you are able to contribute your energy and resources to TLC Farm. Perhaps you or someone you know are able to financially support the land acquisition (every dollar helps!).

Perhaps you are able to talk to others about the project. TLC Farm has
been able to come so far in the past year because the small group of committed individuals has been joined by friends, neighbors, students, teachers, politicians, and so many more. And together, we are changing the world.

To contact Tryon Life Community Farm and send your tax-deductible donation, the address is 11640 S.W. Boones Ferry Road, Portland OR 97219. You can also donate and get more information online at www.tryonfarm.org, or call (503) 245-3847.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 8th, 2006 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.