COVID-19 and CLCC - How You Can Help
Dear friends of CLCC,
With the wide spread of the novel corona virus (CoVID-19), I would like to take a moment to provide an update on CLCC; how we are doing, where we go from here, and the impact this virus may have on our organization. I will also outline a few ways you can help our organization.
Current State of Affairs
As of March 18th all restaurants that order microgreens from CLCC have suspended their orders until further notice. We anticipate that this will last until it is safe to gather in places such as restaurants and bars; however at this time, no one knows how long that may last. Due to the restrictions in place for safety, the vocational greenhouse program, Arts in the Afternoon, and our recreational activities have all been suspended until further notice. We cannot meet with our friends who take part in the programs or provide the valuable services, social events, respite activities, and educational endeavors until further notice.
We hope and encourage program participants and parents, where able, to continue to communicate with friends from the greenhouse and we recommend Google Hangouts, Zoom Meetings, Facebook, or Skype.
Fortunately, at this point, the spread of the virus has had little impact on our farming activities in Coventry. Over the next two weeks we have many volunteers, working independently at various times, tending to our chickens, tilling our gardens and putting up our new hoop house! We do fully intend to move forward with our CSA and are using this "downtime" in the greenhouse to focus on production for the farm.
Typically, CLCC generates anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 per month in sales of microgreens; all grown with the helping hands of adults with developmental disabilities. While the loss of revenue will be difficult for the organization, it is minimal as we offer our programs for free, and therefore only losing revenue from the sale of microgreens. We are selling our microgreens to the general public on Friday, March 20th from 9-noon in the greenhouse, while supplies last; cash and checks are accepted in person.
Where Do We Go From Here
Like so many organizations and businesses, this is largely a waiting game. When the time comes where gatherings of 10 or more are permitted and deemed safe, we will re-open our doors! We look forward to that day and are optimistic that it will come soon. We will be in touch with all program participants, will make many social media posts, and update our website when we can return to regular activities.
The week of March 23rd, we will host a virtual Greenhouse Day with our staff. The time is to be determined at this point but we hope that many of our program participants will join us on Facebook for some vocational activities and art programs.
As an organization that has so greatly benefited from the generosity of donors, grantors, foundations, and corporations, we are able to continue or normal administrative operations and farm production at full capacity. As a small staff with lots of work to do, we are fortunate that no jobs are in danger for the immediate future and we do not anticipate any reduction in staff hours at this time.
We are still planning our Farm to Table Dinner, our Annual Golf Outing, and are looking forward to lots of activity on the farm this summer.
How Can You Help
There are several ways you can help CLCC and the wonderful program participants we serve.
For those adults with developmental disabilities, and their parents - try to stay in your routine. If you have some seeds that you can plant, herbs that you can harvest, or plants you can tend to, please do! You can share what you've done to our social media pages and we'll re-post.
For our Arts in the Afternoon participants, we encourage you to keep up with your projects at home and share those as well. We are a community and keeping in contact with each other is key.
For additional project ideas please feel free to email any of the staff:
Arts: Sallie@creativelc.org
Vocational (Greenhouse): Lexie@creativelc.org
Other/General: Pbyrne@creativelc.org
For our loyal donors and supporters we always accept donations to support the general operations during these strained times. You can also support by getting ahead of the game and registering for Farm to Table Dinner or our Annual Golf Outing.
Finally, everyone can help by spreading the word about our programs and services. If you know someone who may be interested, please send them our way.
We hope that you all stay safe, practice social distancing, and on behalf of our entire staff, I look forward to seeing you soon!
Sincerely,
Patrick Byrne
Executive Director