CCF Recipient Feature: Fauquier Education Farm

The Fauquier Education Farm (FEF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational farm based in Warrenton, Virginia. Their mission is to advance agriculture and agriculture-related education through best-method demonstrations, classroom instruction, on-farm workshops and hands-on learning. The FEF was awarded a Charitable Contributions Fund (CCF) grant from Farm Credit of the Virginias in 2023, which they have used to broaden their impact and outreach within the community.

FEF raises ten acres of vegetables each year which serve as an outdoor teaching lab for educational programs, meeting the needs of a diverse audience, from pre-school aged students to adults. Each year, they see more than 1,000 children on the farm with school groups, church groups, Scouts, 4-H and other clubs. Many more children visit the farm as volunteers with their families. FEF has a free workshop series for adults on the production and conservation practices they use in the field. They also offer two multi-week classroom lecture courses geared toward beginning farmers, as well as a New Farmer Incubator Program.

The farm has one full-time employee (the executive director), and two part-time seasonal helpers. Most of their labor force comes from volunteers of all ages. Volunteers help prepare the soil; plant, maintain and harvest the crops; and clean up afterwards. These volunteers are motivated by a desire to gain a direct hands-on learning experience for themselves and their families, and to support the farm’s mission. Everything grown on the property is donated to food banks across Fauquier, Rappahannock, Culpeper and Prince William counties.

During the 2023 growing season, FEF grew and donated over 54 tons of just picked, high quality, fresh produce for these area food banks. This equated to 108,488 pounds of healthy nutrition, delivered to help those in need within the immediate community. Over the last ten years, FEF has donated over 680,000 pounds of produce, worth over one million dollars. 

FEF’s ability to continue to serve the community through their educational and volunteer opportunities, as well as their donations of many tons of healthy nutrition to the area food banks each year, depends on the community support they receive through grants and donations. “The Charitable Contributions Fund grant we were awarded by Farm Credit of the Virginias provided crucial support of our mission and served as important recognition from one of our great community partners,” shared Executive Director, Jim Hankins. 

If you would like to learn more about the Fauquier Education Farm, visit their website, FauquierEducationFarm.org, or find them on Facebook.