Mortgage Lifter Fundraiser a Spectacular Success
Gary Ingram and Anza Muenchow hold the signed deed for the SW Tilth property as of December 23, 2020.
by Andréa Linton
Spring 2020, amid our worries with the pandemic and our concerns with running a safe farmers’ market, the South Whidbey Tilth council wanted to plant seeds of hope for the future. Many years ago, we had the opportunity of buying the Tilth campus at Thompson Road on very favorable terms due to the generosity of Caroline Gardner. Caroline has been a dedicated council member, vendor and supporter of Tilth. We are deeply appreciative. This year, our spring fundraising letter proposed the goal of paying off the mortgage on the Tilth land six years early. Achieving this landmark would free Tilth to focus more closely on our core mission of promoting an environmentally sound and socially equitable food system.
This island community is home to many wonderful people, people who commit their talents, time and resources to supporting the projects and ideals of which they are passionate. South Whidbey Tilth has many members who reflect these commitments. A phone call from one such member, Nancy Nordhoff, presented the council with the very generous challenge gift of $15,000 if we could raise another $15,000. We gave ourselves a year to meet the challenge. Nancy said, “It will be fun.” We thought, “It’s going to be a busy year!”
The plan was to send out four donation request letters between Fall 2020 and Summer 2021. Our heartfelt desire was to celebrate a successful year of campaign fundraising at our annual August dinner in 2021 (pandemic permitting).
And then our members and community handed us a spectacular success by donating $15,000 in matching funds within the space of four months. Our first contribution came from Holly Muenchow, daughter of council member Anza Muenchow, on the first of August—before we had even sent out our first appeal letter. That letter was mailed in early October; by mid-November, the entirety of the matching funds had been donated.
It is with immense gratitude and delighted astonishment that the council thanks each donor for their support. We look forward to celebrating this wonderful achievement with all of you. The coming year brings with it the hope that we will once again be able to meet, hug one another, and eat tomatoes together—for the emblem of this campaign is a tomato—the Mortgage Lifter tomato that helped many a grower in the 1930s pay off their mortgages. Whether one grows or buys tomatoes, whether one likes them fresh with basil and mozzarella, whirled into a gazpacho or preserved as a pasta sauce for winter months, tomatoes are the embodiment of a successful growing season. Ripe, warmed by the sun, with that fragrance that is like no other, tomatoes signal the end of a successful summer season and effort well spent.
Our Mortgage Lifter had a fruitful yield. Thank you!