We all want a village, but are you a good villager?

I’ve been hearing this phrase on social media in various videos, posts and articles, and it has really got me thinking about how we show up in our community. 

There is a phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child,” and that’s something that I think many ascribe to and understand, but in life, don’t we all want a village and community we can count on to drop off soup when we’re sick? Help us clean out a basement when it’s been flooded, or move an older parent into a nursing facility? 

How do you show up as a villager for your friends, neighbors and coworkers? It takes intentional effort to show up for the village when you have the capacity to do so. 

One of the ways the Wayne County Community Foundation helps facilitate having a strong “village” is with the Farms to Families Fund. If there is a population of people who know how to be good villagers, it is farmers. They are the original “barn raisers”; they show up for one another and are, generally speaking, super generous. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many were struggling with a loss of clients that purchased large orders, due to businesses being shut down. Farmers were having to dump products or compost them in their fields, so we partnered with the Wayne County Commissioners and the Wayne County Pantry Program to establish a fund that would fundraise for emergency food relief and prioritize buying as many local products as possible from our local farmers. A win for everybody. 

This fund has now transformed to be a permanent fund, the Farms to Families Fund, and it continues to purchase local dairy, eggs, produce and sometimes meat to distribute at the five Wayne County pantries, which are spread out across the county. The farmers are so supportive of this initiative that many of them have also helped fundraise within their own networks for the fund. The farmers know that they need a village to operate, and they also know how to be good villagers. 

For more information about the Farms to Families Fund, please visit www.waynefoundation.org, and please consider a contribution. All donations, big or small, make a difference in the lives of our community members in need. 

Ryanne Jennings is the president/CEO of The Wayne County Community Foundation.