A Call To Action For The KC Urban Farm Co-Op

Came to check and do some maintenance to our community Orchard. I wrote a list:

1. Repair irrigation lines.

2. Water raised bed gardens.

3. Spray trees with organic neem oil to repel pests.

4. Pitchfork and wheelbarrow more mulch to base of fruit trees.

I noticed the main gate was missing a padlock...no big deal, maybe parks and rec was changing it out or something. Then I notice that the Orchard's gate lock looked tampered with, nuts were missing from the gate hardware...still I didn't pay it much mind and just added it to my list as another to do item. We first decided to do an inspection and walked row to row observing signs of growth, insects, and fungus. As I got to the last row where the peaches are it seemed if something was off. On second glance it was apparent that our storage trailer was missing! I would not be able to complete any of the tasks on my to do list because all the equipment and supplies I needed were in our storage trailer. "Wow", I said to my fiancée. "They stole the whole damn trailer!"

We are proud to have built the Kansas City Urban Farm Co-Op, the largest urban Orchard in the Midwest! However most of the labor, equipment, supplies and events we throw for the community comes from donations, volunteers and our personal bank accounts (My Dad gifted us that trailer). Just a couple weeks ago 200 people showed up to pick about 80 pounds of organic cherries and we gave away over 100 starter plants to the community. We hold several free community events every year including workshops, music, vendors and children activities.

We couldn't have made it this far without our KC community stepping up, believing in our mission, and helping out. So once again we are reaching out to the community for help.

Here is a short list of items that have been stolen:

• 1 10ft Enclosed trailer (thinking about trying to find a shipping container to store our stuff moving forward)

• 2 Wheelbarrows

• 3 Pitchforks

• 3 Backpack Sprayers

• 100+ Gallons of organic fish fertilizer

• 100's of feet of irrigation lines and attachments

• 3 Shovels

• Seveval bottles of Organic Plant and Tree fungicides and pesticides

• 1 Hand tiller

• 3 Limb shears

• 1 Aluminum Ladder

• 7 Brand new Bee Flow Hives

• 1 Steel Rake

• 50+ 5 Gallon buckets

• Several small hand shovels

• 12 Metal poles(to support trees from leaning)

• 60+ Yards of Landscape fabric

• 100+ small stakes (for landscape fabric)

• 80+ feet of screen (used to wrap around tree based to prevent Peach tree Bores)

• 100's Limb Speaders

• Gloves

• Trash bags

No pity party here. We understand this is a risk we take working in an underserved, poverty stricken area (Our riding lawnmower was stolen out of the orchard last years). We are resolved to continue loving on and healing the community that needs it the most in KC. We believe in what we are doing and we see that our community has our back! Like my Dad would say, "one monkey don't stop the show". The marathon continues.

We look forward to you coming to pick fresh organic blackberries, apples, pears and peaches with us. For free!

We also may be doing a "Night at the Orchard" upscale evnt with live jazz, wine tastings and great food. Stay tuned and like our fb page if you haven't yet: Kansas City Urban Farm Co-Op .

We would like to accept equipment and supplies donations but we don't have anywhere to store it until I find a container that I can secure.

If it's on your heart to help you can donate to our GoFundMe.

Thank you

- Darrian Davis

"The People that Feed Themselves, Lead Themselves".

#KCUFC