Empower Miss Pat & Iva's Mission for Island Agriculture

Hi! My name is Iva and I have been serving as a full time volunteer manager at the Daufuskie Community Farm nonprofit on Daufuskie Island, SC.

To set the stage, the community on this little bridge-less sea island is extremely close knit with well preserved history of Native American and Gullah cultures. Travel here must be by boat and many residents are at the whim of a volatile ferry service. We have no grocery stores and limited options for fresh food.

Because our limited resources, local agriculture is extremely important. We have a unique opportunity here to show what a sustainable food system can truly look like- where residents can get quality food within a few miles of their home anytime they want. In addition to food security we also strive to provide meaningful experiences and a life skills by hosting educational events and hosting volunteers from all over the world. Our farm houses 7 Nubian milking goats (for milk and cheese), about 100 combined chickens, ducks, geese and guinea fowl for eggs and fertilizer, an orchard/food forest, sawmill and wood shop, pottery studio, garden, greenhouse and dairy barn. Because of our geographic location, we value creative solutions to logistical issues and strive to make our community more sustainable. We mill our own lumber for all our buildings and projects, take residential and restaurant food scraps for compost and preserve the food grown at the farm.

The farm was started by 'Miss Pat' in 2010 with these goals in mind. As she looks to pass on her legacy she hopes that the farm will continue as a community hub and be able to support a paid farm manager.

I ended up here by extreme coincidence, some may say a miracle. One year ago my husband got married and I were planning on serving in the Peace Corps as agricultural volunteers. One week before we were to fly to Africa we were medically decline for service. We struggled during the ensuing months to get on our feet financially and figure out our true purpose. We volunteered to work here for 3 weeks through the Wwoof program. Miss Pat and this community took us in as their own immediately and we knew this was the place we were meant to be. We have been here now for 5 months living and sharing meals with different community members and putting all of our time and effort into the Community Farm and do not regret a thing. We have a huge passion for sustainable agriculture and see the amazing potential this farm has as a resource and educational tool.

Miss Pat is constantly encouraging people to dream big and supporting those efforts on the farm. However, for her legacy to continue on, our bills need paid, our animals need fed and we need the finances to justify an employee. Because we want to produce our products at a fair price to island residents, we must outsource some of our donations from generous, passionate people like you. This financial goal reflects our minimum yearly baseline to function. Your money will go directly to keeping this farm running including chicken food, transportation costs of materials, bills and repairs.

Thank you so much for your support and interest, please follow along with our journey and the work we are putting in to preserve this genuine gem for generations of dreamers, artists and farmers to come.

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