Pig Roast for our VFW Riders

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July 23rd, VFW Riders Post 1865 put on a Poker Run benefiting the Freedom Farm for Vets.  Over 100 riders and supporters showed up despite the drenching rain and participated throughout the day into the evening hours.  It sure was a wet one, the VFW even lost power for several hours but that didn’t stop people from hanging out, participating in raffles, all by candlelight! That day we also received our beautiful monument that now sits at the entry gate to the farm. There are not enough words to say thank you for the constant love and support you have given us.

August 28th, we held a Pig Roast at the farm for our VFW Riders as a way to say “thank you” and to have everyone come spend the afternoon at the farm.  Over 30 riders and friends and family came out for the afternoon.  We had roasted  pig sandwiches that had been on the spit since early that morning, homemade potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans. We were also presented a check for $5,000 raised from the Poker Run, as well as we were given an on the spot donation of $300 from the Armed Forces of America Motorcycle Club.  We presented Rob, President of the Riders Group, with our first hand-made donor plaque.  We cannot say thank you enough, there just aren’t enough words, for believing in what we do and for your constant love and support in what we are doing for those who deserve and need it most. Please visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FreedomFarmForVets/photos for all the photos from the event but here are just a few.

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Magic of Kindness Returns in Full Circle

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Many of you may remember Miss Maddie, our little girl whose birthday wish last year was for the money that people would give her to be donated directly to the Freedom Farm.  Friends and family followed her wishes and along with some local businesses who donated as well, a grand total of $1800 was collected and donated to the Freedom Farm. Tempel Farms is who we get our hay and straw from for the horses and chickens, because of Maddie’s generosity; they now completely donate as much hay and straw as we need.

In early July, the farm received a new horse donated by the Alea Roberts, as she was headed off to college and the workforce and would not be able to put in the time to care for Athena.  It was decided that beautiful Athena would be given to Maddie to return the Magic of Kindness in full circle.  This, however was a complete surprise, Maddie had no idea that on a Saturday afternoon when she accompanied her parents up the street to visit the farm, she would receive the gift of a lifetime.

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Summer Update

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The summer started out with a bang, we have had groups volunteering to help on the farm each weekend. The Navy Chiefs have been out every Saturday to help with finishing the Kids Rank club houses as well as clearing the south end of brush and dead trees. We had a group from US Cellular to help with the weeding of the gardens, clearing the south end of brush and the planting of 30 pine trees(see photos). Abbott had two separate volunteer groups out to help maintain our gardens and get the farm ready for the summer sessions. We Thank all the volunteers who help us get the work done, the farm depends on you and so do our veterans, any groups wishing to join our army of volunteers contact us and get on the schedule.
The Farmers Market in Wadsworth began July 15th and goes on through September 30th so come pay us a visit.(located at the village hall on Wadsworth Road) We will be selling our produce as well as crafts made by the kids from Kids Rank,all proceeds go to keeping our farm open for those who need us.
A new pond has been built as a project for an Eagle Scout, a special “Thank You” goes to Bruce Diederich with Waukegan Roofing for donating the liner to complete the pond; this will enhance our bird yard and give our duck a place to cool off, we plan on getting Sally a few more pond mates.
We have added a new horse to our program. This new addition has been donated by a veteran family who gives us their full support and sees the need for our horse program. Thank You Very Much in trusting us with the care of your fantastic horse, she will live  a happy life on the farm and will as all our animals become part of the family.
The Rose Program has been doing Fantastic, our Ladies have been warming the hearts of those in the hospital at the V.A. Each Sunday they vase up the roses and with smiles on there faces  greet the waiting patients, the only visitors some get are our ladies on Sunday. We would like to have more groups participate in our delivery program, it warms the hearts of those involved.The new roses donated for the garden are doing well and provide many fresh blooms for Sunday, donations of roses for the garden are always needed.

July brought us a busy schedule as well, the Farmers Market began, the 23rd was our Poker Run sponsored by the VFW Riders Group from Post 1865 in Kenosha, which was a a lot of fun, thanks to everyone who participated and rode out and in the rain with us.

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Thank You to all those groups and corporate sponsors who help us serve our Veterans, Active Military and there families in any way we can, with out your support our mission would take longer to complete!

Spring 2016 Has Arrived!

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Winter is over! The Freedom Farm is back to regular hours!

Season Six promises to be a very busy year for the Farm. We started off by reigniting our Rose Program, delivering roses to our heroes at the VA (see the Rose Program page for pics from the Valentines Day deliveries.) Our volunteer core will begin spring clean-up starting with the Navy Chiefs on March 25th and continuing once each month throughout the summer season. Along with the Chiefs, the recruits from RTC will also be out once a month to donate time to help us maintain the farm and care for our animals. U.S. Cellular is bringing out a group of employees to help with the planting of our gardens on May 11th.They will be on the farm for the entire day, and we should be able to complete our planting at this time.

We have had a new group extend their arms to help us continue our mission. The VFW Riders from Kenosha Wisconsin is stepping up to raise funds by doing a Poker Run on July 23 (see flyers below). This group of heroes donated our new flags for the season (see pic at the end of this paragraph) and became our first $100.00 corporate members. We were also invited to speak at the VFW District Council Meeting. This support will go a long way in helping our farms as they spread throughout the country.

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New flags for the 2016 season

We have been fortunate to partner with JAIDA Design Corp. a L3C company that intends to employ veterans and special needs individuals to produce the product line. This partnership will give the Freedom Farm a firm funding source with which to carry out its mission, helping veterans and our military & families in any way we can. Look for the JAIDA line in stores in the near future!

The Freedom Farm has gone through many growing pains the past five years. We have experienced turnover in our volunteers and Board of Directors, and this is to be expected in an all-volunteer organization. There is a true vision and plan for the growth of the farm, and we will stay the course. We take pride in the fact that we have spent every donation for our veterans and their families.

All of us who work to make the Freedom Farm operate donate their time – we have no payroll. These are special people, and we do it because we realize that we owe everything to these heroes, and that the highest honor a person can possess is to be a called a veteran. No vote or any amount of money can buy you that honor, each must decide to step up and serve. The staff and volunteers at the Freedom Farm respect and honor these brave men and women, and help them and their families in any way we can..

Stop by and pay us a visit or see us at the Wadsworth Farmers Market every Friday throughout the summer,

“If we don’t try, we don’t do.”

Respectfully,

John Ress

Founder

2016 Poker run flyer Bike Nite 2016

Winter Schedule

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Winter is a slow time on the farm, particularly after the start of the new year.  Consequently, we’re reducing our normal schedule to 3 days a week – Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday from January to the end of March, sunup to sundown.  If you’d like to visit on the other days of the week, call first to let me know, and I’ll arrange a time to meet you.

We’ll continue to help our veterans and families off the farm whenever there’s a need, too.

Stay safe, stay well, and stay warm.  As always, to all our vets and their families, thank you for your service.

John

p. 224-399-7464
c. 847-508-6070