Join us August 26, 2007 in Sonoma County as we form The Farmer Veteran Coalition.

Elim Lutheran Church

504 Baker Street and Stanley St.

Petaluma, CA 94952   contact: linda@farmsnotarms.org

Speakers including:
Nadia McCaffrey, Gold Star Mom and founder of Veterans Village;
Donna Jacobs, Founder and President of Not This Time Vets;
Carolyn Reuman, California FarmLink;
Sharon Kufeldt, National VP Veterans For Peace, healer;
Ted Sexauer, Veterans For Peace; Shepard Bliss, local author, farmer, veteran;
Mathew Hevezi, Iraq vet, founder Camp Vets;
Tonia Sargent, wife of injured Iraq vet and advocate for victims of Traumatic Brain Injury;
Joseph Bobrow PhD, Director, Coming Home Project;
Kristin Van Huysen, founder WELLsville Veterans Project;
Eli Paintedcrow, Iraq vet and Woman’s Vet Advocate; S
hannon Kissinger, Iraq Veteran Outreach Coordinator, Swords to Plowshares;
Michael O’Gorman, Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo;
Jim Cochran, Swanton Berry Farm and other North Coast farmers;

Those of us at the June 10, 2007 meeting at the Santa Cruz Veterans Hall were moved - by the emotional testimony of the veterans, their advocates and their families. We were encouraged - by the positive response and constructive programs the farmers began to offer. And we were inspired - by the thought of the two communities coming together, on the land, to help heal our country and ourselves.

Since then a lot of positive things have happened.

Donna "DJ" Jacobs from Not This Time Vets, and Tonya Sargent, the wife of the injured vet from San Diego, have been traveling the state talking to the public, the politicians and the press on the needs of returning veterans, particularly those with traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

Nadia McCaffrey, Gold Star Mom and founder of Veterans Village has been taking her message of creating healing retreats for veterans on farms around the country and overseas. Veterans Village is moving forward with their farm project in North Carolina and are now looking at a 300-acre farm in Upstate New York.

The farmers are moving too. California FarmLink has opened up their aspiring farmer program to returning vets. They will be contacting landowners and farmers throughout the state to determine who would be interested in working with veterans in some capacity.

ALBA (Agricultural Land-Based Training Association) is including a veterans training opportunity in their six months Small Farmer Education Program which starts in late October.

Both the staffs at the renowned UC Santa Cruz Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems and the board of the Friends of the UCSC Farm and Garden are encouraging veterans to apply for next Summer's intern program and Farms Not Arms has offered to work with them to help raise scholarship money. One Iraq vet, PCV Matthew Mccue, has gone through the program and is now teaching Agriculture for the Peace Corps in Africa. He wants to help promote this project.

Farms Not Arms continues to try to hook up veterans with farmers offering work on their farms and is working to set up a Farmer- Veteran Coalition website. We have also begun looking into the possibility of setting up a financial umbrella to promote the work of the coalition and its individual groups.

Now we need to all work together to spread the word of these noble projects and turn them into reality. A meeting is planned in Sonoma County on Sunday, August 26, with a format similar to the one that inspired us all at Santa Cruz on June 10 - allowing for both veterans and farmers to address the public.

Please join us at this next meeting. Add your group as a sponsor or offer someone to speak. Spread the word to your friends and your mailing lists. Do whatever you can to promote this unique and necessary endeavor.

Michael O'Gorman

Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo