By GreenHouse17

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Our agency’s goal during this year’s special month was to engage the community in activities that support survivors. In addition to providing healthy food and nature-based healing, this is also a goal of our farm program.

So, it only made sense to encourage the community to get their friends together, grab their favorite flannel shirt, and drive out to our farm for some flower-pickin’ fun during a special Domestic Violence Awareness Month U-Pick Day on the farm!

Dozens of beautiful flower varieties were still growing in our fields. And for the $10/person entry fee, event guests could pick as many flowers as they could fit in a mop bucket. It was a family- and dog-friendly event. Rain or shine. Luckily, the rain stayed away until later that evening…

Because hundreds of people arrived to the farm ready to pick!

While people waited in line to make their payment and grab a bucket, our staff mingled and chatted about the mission to end intimate partner abuse. Having conversations about how our farm program helps to nurture lives harmed is among our favorite things to do.

It just all makes sense when you’re standing by the pavilion, looking over the beautiful land, with the fresh breeze filling the air with the aromas of dirt and flowers.

Our little farm has potent healing powers. We get to be witness to this everyday, but events like this month’s U-Pick Day give the community a chance to experience the healing, too.

Although we’ve been coordinating U-Pick Days over the past couple of years, this month’s was our most-successful to date! More than 200 people came out to pick flowers during the three hour event. We raised almost $2,500 to support survivors that day.

Maybe more important, so many new supporters learned about our approach to our work to end intimate partner abuse. Then, they raised awareness about the mission by sharing beautiful photos of their flowers on social media after the event.

Did we mention the event helped clear our fields for the season in the process?!