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The following was submitted by Sandy Thompson:
When Isobel Magee’s pandemic project “Scones by Isobel” was sufficiently established to merit a booth at the Winchester Farmers Market in the summer of 2023, a whole new world opened up for the London, UK transplant who had called Winchester home since 2011.
Like many town residents, she had frequented the market but didn’t know much about what went on behind the scenes, or about Anna’s Fund, the food insecurity arm of the Winchester Farmers Market.
The Winchester Farmers Market runs like a well-oiled machine, bursting onto the Town Common each year on the second Saturday in June and running for 21 Saturdays until November.
Like many other volunteer-led, community-driven enterprises, what customers experience is the cumulation of countless hours of planning, vendor liaison, logistics troubleshooting and fund raising. Fundraising, for what?
Winchester Farmers Market is the flagship program of the Winchester Farmers Market Community Hub and is on a mission to bridge a rising food insecurity gap.
While some market customers receive SNAP benefits, there are many others who do not qualify for SNAP but who don’t have enough for food after paying for housing, transportation and health care. It is those customers who are served by Anna’s Fund for Food Assistance, the Farmers Market’s food insecurity fund.
Each week customers from Winchester or Woburn who show up with proof of residence can receive $15 in market tokens to buy fresh food. And that’s where the fundraising comes in.
Anna’s Fund, set up in memory of beloved market supporter Anna LaViolette in 2019, is funded entirely by local businesses and neighbors. With an annual budget of around $30,000, the market anticipates assisting around 90-100 people per week.
This year, as food insecurity in the community has increased, so has demand for support: in just the first two weeks of the market, Anna’s Fund distributed more than in the first five markets last year.
“Anna’s Fund is in desperate need of contributions,” says Fred Yen, market manager and executive director of the Winchester Farmers Market Community Hub. Yen says it has been depleted to the point where it will run out by mid-July. “Normally we receive donations throughout the season from individuals, businesses and faith communities, but we need help now.”
