Help VEGGI buy a new van!

First off, THANK YOU so much for visiting our fundraising page! We appreciate you taking the time to read about our current needs for a new van. 

You may or may not know, but on Tuesday morning, March 2, our van was stolen from the Marigny neighborhood. Someone had broken our driver side lock, pulled out the starter, and wired the ignition to steal the van. We were fortunate enough to find the van in Jefferson Parish, but not without the thief taking a few crucial, and valuable, parts from the engine.

At this point, we have put more money into the van to keep it running, than the amount we paid for it. We recognize times are hard and can completely relate, however we realize it is time to turn to our community and ask if you could help us buy a new van. (( We're offering some super cool rewards too, so please keep reading :D))

We absolutely love providing naturally grown greens, herbs, and produce year around to you, our New Orleans community. It brings us so much joy to operate our annual CSA program, and to live in a place where our farm is abundant year around. We are dedicated to empowering growers in the Greater New Orleans area, starting in New Orleans East and by selling at farmers markets we provide income for our 5 Vietnamese farmers; Thanh Nguyen, Tham Nguyen, Canh Ngo, Xuan Nguyen, & Phuc Nguyen.

Our work within our community doesn't stop here. Our cooperative model enables us to build strong and sustainable relationships with other growers and food producers in the Greater New Orleans area, who provide produce and value added products to our weekly CSA boxes and table at the farmers markets. On a weekly basis, our table features 5 other farmer or food producers items for sale. Our relationships enhance the quality of life of communities throughout our region, while also increasing local food access.

We are a small team of 3 and the van is a huge part of helping us operate our cooperative. 
Here's a breakdown of the crucial role our van plays...It makes VEGGI's existence possible:

-Provides transportation for staff to pick up crop in New Orleans East 3 days a week at our farm
-Gets us to 4 different farmers markets a week,
-Ensures we're able to deliver CSA boxes to New Orleans residents, 
-Produce deliveries to restaurants around New Orleans.

In full transparency, we are in the process of figuring out which route we will take for getting a new van. Any and all funds raised through this campaign will go towards purchasing a new van, leasing from another grower or local business, or building a more reliable van using the van we have now. 

We appreciate any and all donation amounts, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Your donation will help make our VEGGI work possible, and support the growth of our small but mighty Cooperative. 

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, introductions to people who may also care about this project, comments, concerns, anything! We are so grateful to serve you through our Cooperative. 

We ask that you please share this project with your friends and family to help make a new van for VEGGI possible.

REWARDS FOR DONATING!

$10 = a loofah from our VEGGI farm in New Orleans East. (local & non-local availability)

$30 = VEGGI stickers with a newly designed logo. (local & non-local availability)

$50 = newly designed VEGGI t-shirt. (local & non-local availability)

$75 = recieve 10% off 3 VEGGI CSA orders. Discount will be email to you. (New Orleans residents only)

MORE TO COME!!


Many thanks!
From the VEGGI team --

Khai Nguyen, Tom Nguyen, Maddiy Edwards