During Plenty’s most recent board meetings in July, a renewed and reinvigorated spirit of community was felt and shared by everyone who attended. Many old acquaintances as well as newly interested friends moved in and out of what amounted to four days of meetings. After the week concluded I asked to be reappointed to the Board of Directors and I have now volunteered to spearhead the Fundraising Committee. In the intervening months I have tried to consolidate what Plenty is, what is unique about it, and how to encompass its vision into a distinct and understandable message.

Plenty began because the members of The Farm wanted to reach out to other communities that might benefit from the relationship. Early on we believed that the experiment that was The Farm could produce technologies and ways to interact and resolve conflict that could translate to other communities. If you examine closely Plenty’s projects over the years you will see this as a consistent thread. "Kids to the Country" a core project of Plenty today has carried the spirit of community sharing to The Farm’s close neighbors in Nashville. Our ambulance project in the late 70’s and early 80’s was a direct conduit of our medical expertise into the heart of the South Bronx community.

Plenty’s projects in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Mexico have applied multiple village technologies including nutrition, water, and soy micro-enterprises to support many small villages and towns in their development. Volunteers from Plenty have assisted the Pine Ridge Reservation for many years and received much in return. All of those who have in some way benefited from Plenty have blessed the larger Plenty community in return.

The Farm, in its earlier days, was dirt poor. Why did a community struggling financially itself decide it must reach out and try to help? Why did the Cakchiquel Indians of San Andres Itzapa Guatemala bring us sacks of black beans when they noticed our Plenty crew was only eating corn for a time? What is that impulse to give when you have very little? It’s not for profit. The joy of giving and sharing is real and may not be rare. But it is the underlying spirit of those who work quietly and continuously with Plenty. I know first hand their unselfishness and dedication and am honored to rejoin them.

Statistics show that 85% of funding for non-profits in the US comes from individual donors. That is why the Fundraising Committee wants to focus on expanding our individual funding base. It is also clear that foundation grants can carry with them a cumbersome set of demands that occupy and influence the direction of the recipient organizations. Individual donors should be family - or at least members of your extended community. The Farm produced many long-term friendships that continue to return assistance to the Plenty community. Plenty itself has also made life-long friends who are very much active participants in this Community of Sharing. It is this community of like-minded individuals that we wish to expand and nurture. You, as a Plenty donor, are part of this community. We want your advice, input and your help to move forward. The Fundraising Committee would also like to be able to contact you if we are planning an event in your area. If you wish to contact me with your ideas or input you may do so through the West Coast Plenty office at (831)484-5845 or email me at tomwartinger@redshift.com or via plenty@plenty.org.

And please continue to give – we respect any size donation and will strive to share it appropriately.

Thomas Wartinger
Fundraising Committee