2023 – John Bonaparte

Agriculture has always been a part of John Bonaparte’s life, with a focus on horticulture over the last seven years. John is involved in a multitude of pursuits throughout our community.  Since 2019 he has volunteered for the Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener program where he works to promote good gardening and environmental practices, and support those in need of gardening guidance. Additionally in 2019 John helped start the Akwesasne Farmers Market, where he still serves as a market manager. He also runs Bare Bones Farm in Bombay, NY, a diversified farm focused on ethically growing food and providing space for future Mohawk farmers to learn a variety of agricultural skills, and works with Akwesasne Seed Hub and a group in the Hudson Valley of New York to encourage the growth of traditional Haudenosaunee produce varieties on Mohawk ancestral farming lands, aiming to bring seeds and food back to Akwesasne. In the fall of 2020 John was nominated to serve as a member of the Cornell Cooperative Ag Advisory Committee in Franklin County, as well as serving on the leadership council of Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance. His tireless work ethic, boundless respect for the land, and passion for regenerative agriculture is an inspiration to growers young and old.

2022 – Philip Harnden

Phil Harnden began publishing The North Country Gardener in 1990, a bimonthly newsletter with the aim of dispensing useful cold-climate gardening information. The help of veteran North Country gardeners, together they offered workshops about cold-climate gardening, tailored towards “novices like himself”, under North Country Garden School. Realizing that most gardeners grow an overabundance of food, Phil began encouraging attendees at workshops to donate their extra produce to local food pantries. Harnden was dedicated to connecting gardeners with local food pantries to donate their overabundance of crops. In May 2001, GardenShare was incorporated as a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger, and in December, the IRS recognized GardenShare Inc. as an official 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. It’s thanks to Phil’s efforts that have shaped the organization into what it is today.

2020/21 – Community Food Heroes

Congratulations to all our heroes and a huge thank you to everyone who submitted videos and stories. We hope you enjoyed getting to learn a little bit about the heroic work that’s been happening in our county during the pandemic. You can view who the full honored list on Facebook and YouTube.

2019 – Laurell Brault

Laurell Brault, founder and coordinator of the Potsdam Snack Pack program, initiated this program around her dining room table in 2017, preparing 40 snack packs weekly for students in need. Just two years later, and with the help of a cadre of community volunteers recruited by Laurell, the program now organizes, stocks, and distributes nearly 300 snack packs to hungry children every week. Laurell is also a GardenShare volunteer at the Potsdam Farmers Market, helping make sure local families on a limited food budget have access to high quality local food.

2018 – Gloria McAdam

Gloria McAdam spent her entire career dedicated to alleviating and fighting hunger. Gloria step down from her role as Executive Director, but it was our profound honor to present her with this award and thank her for her lifetime of advocacy and hunger relief efforts. Three years ago she moved back home to the North Country and took her place as the Executive Director of GardenShare where she has been a champion of the anti-hunger movement in St. Lawrence County.

2017 – Edwards-Knox Central School District

The 2017 Growing Community Award recipient is the Edwards-Knox Central School District. E-K has participated in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) since the 2016-2017 school year, with support from their Board of Education, administration, faculty and staff, and entire community. CEP allows income-eligible schools to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Access to free, nutritious meals supports school success for every student and eliminates a variety of burdens such as concerns about lunch accounts.

E-K Superintendent of Schools Ronald P. Burke says, “A lack of nutritious food is an unfortunate economic reality for many families. Our participation in this program not only allows us to help meet this most basic human need, it also lessens the economic pressure faced by many in our community. By ensuring that every child has access to nutritious meals our district is better able to help each child succeed academically.” 

2016 – Local Living Venture

Local Living Venture is a nonprofit responsible for spreading knowledge throughout the community regarding affordable and sustainable solutions that local people can implement in their daily lives. They are especially concerned with local food, clean energy, northern forest, green building, simple living and homesteading skills. Through hands-on, learning workshops Local Living Venture implements healthy and low-cost living styles for community members as well as strengthening local community ties.  

In nominating Local Living Venture for this award, GardenShare Board member Jan DeWaters wrote, “Since they first formed out of the North Country Sustainable Energy Fair in 2009, this group has emerged as a leading authority in all-things-back-to-basics. By offering a wide array of educational programming, as well as a number of community gathering events, they are filling a need here for teaching people important, often-forgotten skills our ancestors practiced on a daily basis, and are also bringing people together to join in community as they venture forth with putting their newly-learned skills into practice. To me, this group is a unique and valuable piece of our north country community building effort.”
 

2015 – Bob Washo and Flip Filippi, littleGrasse Foodworks 

Bob and Flip are a force in the local food movement in the Canton area, and in educating people about the benefits of growing and eating locally. They own and operate littleGrasse Foodworks, a “garden project” that welcomes all people genuinely interested in gaining more knowledge of food issues, preservation techniques, and gardening skills. Their CSA encourages a meaningful connection with the foods participants consume daily, and requires member involvement in the garden during the growing season. Bob is chair of the Canton Sustainability Committee and served on the steering committee for Local Food, Local Places. He and Flip enthusiastically engage area college students, young children,  and the elderly, helping them appreciate the advantages and challenges of growing and consuming locally.

2014 – The Martin Family

The Martin’s farm is located at 11 Needham Road in Potsdam, where they operate a roadside stand, May through November. To make healthy local food more accessible, the Martins accept payment by debit and EBT/SNAP, as well as cash. On top of that, the Martins also offer an online market that allows shoppers to fill their cart with produce and other goods from local producers, such as natural bath products and yogurt, and pick up their orders on a weekly basis. The Martins supply to local stores and restaurants as well. Produce from their farm is always fresh, great in variety and most importantly, free of chemicals.Their efforts to strengthen food security in northern New York are worthy of praise.

2013 – Brian and Jenny Walker, 1844 House American Bistro

Brian and Jenny have a continuing commitment to sourcing local food for the restaurant, and supporting local organizations. Their efforts has helped countless farmers in our area grow their business, and raised awareness among consumers about the importance of building community. (Read the press release here.)

2012 – Carlton Doane and the Canton Free Will Dinner program 

Mr. Doane spearheaded the Free Will Dinners as his “retirement” project in 1999 because he wanted to feed hungry people. Three Wednesdays a month for the past 13 years, there has been a community supper at Canton’s United Methodist Church. And the more than 50,000 meals he has served have spawned a movement. (Read the press release here.)

2011- Katherine Lang

A longtime champion of wholesome, local food in the North Country, Ms. Lang worked as a nutrition educator and regional food system developer with Cornell Cooperative Extension. She was a founding board member of the North Country Grown Cooperative. From 2003 to 2007, Ms. Lang was a member of the GardenShare board of directors, serving as president for most of that time. (Read the press release here.)

2010 – UShare

UShare is a project of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Canton. UShare is a congregation-wide social action project that, since 2005, has operated two large gardens that grow food for emergency food programs. Their gardens in Canton and Potsdam have donate some 2,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables every year to 17 food pantries in 14 North Country towns. In addition, UShare provides volunteers for GardenShare’s booth at the Canton Farmers’ Market, where shoppers there can use EBT/food stamp benefits to buy locally grown and produced food. (Read the press release here.)

2009 – Julie Holbrook, Keene Central School, and Cindy Harnas, South Jefferson Central School

Under Julie’s leadership, the Keene Central’s organic vegetable garden contributes food to cafeteria lunches. Then after each meal, students, faculty, and staff sort their tray waste for a composting operation that feeds the garden. Cindy has been integral in developing a project at South Jeff that brings healthy food to students and supports local farms. In a typical year, Cindy now purchases over 6,000 pounds of fruits, vegetables, honey, and apple cider from seven local farms.

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