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Historic Lewes Farmers Market thanks community

August 24, 2020

It now seems like a dream - In March we were excited to celebrate 15 years of eating fresh, supporting local farmers, helping those in need, and coming together to enjoy our community at the Historic Lewes Farmers Market. We had a Farmraiser planned where we could eat, dance and celebrate while raising funds to help support another market season.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The Farmraiser was canceled. The opening of the market was delayed. We watched as farmers in various states plowed crops under because they couldn’t get to market or because the schools and restaurants that had been their customers were closed.  We watched as the lines of cars at food distribution points in Delaware grew longer every day. 

Our planned year of celebration was looking more like a year of survival - for the market, for the farmers we support, and for our neighbors in need who had come to rely on the HLFM as source of fresh local food. Then something wonderful happened. 

Despite canceling our Farmraiser, our presenting sponsor, the Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, and the many local businesses and individuals who were also sponsors, all committed their continued support. We send a heartfelt thank you to all of our sponsors: Artisans’ Bank, Atlantic Bay Mortgage, Baird, Mandalas & Brockstedt, Beebe Healthcare, Diana Beebe, Cape Gazette, Sumner and Bonnie Crosby, Dewson Construction Company, the DiSabatino Family, Rich Weissmann and Patti Drago, Faw Casson, Griswold Home Care, Inn at Canal Square, Maplewood Dental Associates, Kevin and Kath McGuiness, Robert Perri and John Mini, R&L Liquors, and Wilgus Associates.

We thank Crooked Hammock Brewery for continuing to sponsor our Wednesday market at their location.

Working with the farmers who sell at our market, our board of directors and board of advisors developed approaches to open the market in a way that is safe and meets all Delaware COVID-19 protocols for farmers markets.

Next, our volunteers, who tirelessly give of their time, agreed to work in new ways to help get the market open safely. Our volunteers are too many to list, but please know that we thank each and every one of you. You stepped up when we needed you the most!

On May 30, we opened the market, a month late. It is different in many ways: the layout is physically slightly larger to support social distancing; masks are mandatory; and there are no large group gatherings around demos or children’s story time. Other things are the same: a focus on local food, support of local farmers, protection of local farmland, and a $20 match of SNAP. Our friendly volunteers still welcome people to the market, but now, in addition to a smile and a hello, they offer a squirt of hand sanitizer. 

Seeing the growing lines at food distribution points as more people lost their jobs or were furloughed, we knew that we needed to do more. While we have always collected food at the end of the market to donate to the Casa San Francisco food pantry in Milton, we recently added a program that enables our customers to donate fresh food from the market to the Epworth United Methodist Church Food Pantry in Rehoboth. 

We might be tempted to say that it was our motto - ‘Where fresh food is rooted in community’ - that came to our rescue during this pandemic, but in fact it was just one word in our motto that made all the difference, and that is COMMUNITY. 

We are still working to fill the gap created by our canceled fundraiser, but we are open and still giving back, whether through food donations, farmer scholarships or matching SNAP dollars. 

Thank You, Lewes Community. Together we are all stronger.

Helaine Harris
president
Historic Lewes Farmers Market
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