Dear friends, customers, and members of our extended community:

My name is Amber Hernandez, and I am excited to be in the process of purchasing Samish Bay Cheese.

After more than 27 years of building and caring for this organic farm and dairy business, Roger and Suzanne Wechsler are ready to begin the next chapter of their lives. I have spent the past several years helping lead and grow Samish Bay Cheese, and it means a great deal to me to step forward and carry on its legacy, not only for this community, but for my own children and grandchildren.

Samish Bay Cheese is a cornerstone in the farming and organic community. We are part of a broad network of small, sustainable farms and food producers that help keep local food available across the Puget Sound region. Supporting this change of ownership means supporting a model of agriculture that values local organic production, quality food, and community connection at a time when many small farms are facing increasing pressure.

Small farms face closure every day despite being important assets to a healthy community. When I was a child, there were 150 working dairy farms in Skagit County; today, there are only about 12. I am reaching out to ask for your help to prevent the loss of one more dairy.

This transition is already underway. I have secured a personal bridge loan and am working through USDA financing to complete the purchase. As is common with farm transitions, the purchase does not include operating cash. This campaign is intended to provide short-term working capital to help maintain operations during the transition period and support 20 employees and their families, while keeping the Samish Bay brand strong during this transfer of stewardship.

If you are in a position to contribute, your support will help ease this transition and ensure Samish Bay Cheese continues producing the organic cheese, yogurt, and farm products that so many people rely on.

A brief message from Roger and Suzanne:

As pioneers, working full time in the organic and natural food industry for over 50 years each, we are proud of what we created and nurtured over the past 27 years. We are fortunate and honored to have Amber take over the dairy. We have confidence that she will continue to operate the business in the spirit we helped create and will grow Samish Bay successfully with the great team here.