Alexa/Moonlight Farm Bailout

My name is Chelsy Iorio and I am launching this fundraising campaign for my best friend, Alexa Helbling.

Alexa Helbling is 28 years old and lives on Marrowstone Island off the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. She is the owner/operator of Moonlight Farm which she began with her partner Nina Sajeske in 2012. Moonlight Farm produces high-quality, pasture-raised pork, chicken, and eggs.

I have known Alexa for 11 years, and I can say with confidence that she is the hardest-working person I have ever met in my life. So, it is of no fault of her own that she has fallen on hard times financially and needs help.

As the result of a necessary shift in her life/career (more details below in "The Backstory") which involved moving her entire farm to a new location and ending her relationship of 8 years which had offered her considerable support, combined with a seasonal lag in income over the winter from Moonlight Farm, she has been treading in dire straights for the past 3 months. She needs our help.

The purpose of this campaign is to keep her afloat until the income from the Spring season starts to kick in. 

I had offered to launch this campaign for her from the start, but she didn't want me to (I say this to emphasize her humility). After some convincing and a few months of hardship, she is now humbly willing to accept the help from her loving community.

Taking money as charity from others is a really big deal to Alexa, and her decision to allow me to conduct this fundraiser was not taken lightly. I am grateful that she has agreed to allow her community to catch her with our love and support. I know I speak for everyone who knows her in saying that we are all eager to watch her thrive, and are thrilled to be welcomed into being a part of her journey in realizing her dream.

Alexa basically needs money right now. Actually, like yesterday.  She is on food stamps, but still barely has enough money to feed herself. This GoFundMe campaign will be an immense blessing, but it won't benefit her immediately, and GoFundMe takes a cut of whatever is raised using this campaign. So, if you can, I urge you to contact me to arrange for a personal donation by check or cash. The sooner the better.

I am arranging for payments to be made to me for the sake of ease for her. She is very busy and will not have the wherewithal to correspond with a bunch of people right now. 

To make an immediate donation to Alexa, you can contact me using the contact information contained on this campaign page.

Furthermore, while donations of money will be the greatest help to her right now, there are other ways in which Alexa can use assisitance from her community.

Since moving to her new location, Alexa has been working NON-STOP to get her farm established. She barely has time to take care of herself. Therefore, I have compiled a list below of some of her other needs which anyone who is interested can step up to help with. Anything that you can do for Alexa would help, but please try not to demand too much of her time. 

In addition to money, Alexa would benefit from the following:
- Help with farm chores (she hasn't had a day off in who knows how long)
- Hot meals delivered or cooked for her at her house (gluten and junk free please)
- Donations of food ingredients for her to cook with (gluten and junk free please)
- Dog food (she has 4 dogs!)
- Donations of services such as massage or other self-care modalities to help her body maintain stamina


The Backstory:

In January of this year, Alexa came upon an opportunity to lease 40 acres on Marrowstone Island. In February, she set out to move her farm to this new location. It became time for Alexa to fully pursue her own business and focus all of her time and energy on the Herculean task of moving her entire farm to it's new location and getting it established there. To do this, it was necessary for Alexa to quit her job of 8 years at Dharma Ridge Farm so that she could fully devote herself to focusing on her business in light of this new opportunity.

She suddenly found herself with no income and faced with huge expenses associated with moving her farm.

From the start, she knew she was taking a big leap, and she knew the move would be costly, but her friends and family encouraged her to take the plunge  and realize her dream of having her own land to farm.

By mid-March, the farm was completely moved, but the income from the weekly farmer's market had still not begun to flow yet. Then, things began to shift in her relationship with Nina, her partner of 8 years who she started the farm with. It became evident that their relationship was no longer sustainable, and so Nina left the farm to live elsewhere. Nina had offered support not only with farm chores, but also with splitting the cost of living. This only added more strain to Alexa's struggling financial situation. 

Now, we are just a couple weeks into the farmer's market season, and Alexa is still finding it difficult to keep the bills paid. She needs a little lift to keep herself and her farm afloat so that she can thrive in her new environment.