12 Oct 2014

Puente gets ready for first Community Health Fair and Bike Rodeo, October 19

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A breast exam. An eye doctor. An STD test. These are all reasons someone on the South Coast might drive 25 miles to the nearest health clinic. Fortunately, anyone who comes to Puente’s inaugural community Health Fair on October 19 will have access to all those medical services – for free.

“There is so much need in the community for preventive services and screenings,” says Molly Wolfes, Puente’s Community Health Coordinator, who has organized the fair.

That will change for good once Puente and its partners at the San Mateo County Health System introduce a new mobile health clinic in 2015.

But in the meantime, the Health Fair will have nearly everything on offer, including Puente’s annual flu vaccination clinic, which will no longer occur during Dia de los Muertos. Professionals will be on hand for hearing tests, skin screening, blood pressure and diabetes screenings, family planning, and referrals for everything mentioned above. Information will also be available about health insurance coverage, CalFresh, and the many programs for which eligible South Coast residents can enroll at Puente.

Puente has invited a number of experts to present workshops as well as to lead exercise sessions on yoga and Zumba. Topics include spiritual health, disaster preparedness, repetitive stress injuries, and preventing harmful pesticide exposure for farm workers.

No Puente event would be complete without healthy snacks, and there will be plenty on hand for kids and adults. Thanks to Kaiser Permanente, Puente now has two blender bikes so attendees can take turns pedaling the blenders to make smoothies. Puente will also raffle off cool donated fitness gear.

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Kids will be happily entertained by a Bike Rodeo, courtesy of the San Mateo County Bike Alternatives Program, Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance, Silicon Valley Bike Coalition, Siena Youth Center, and BikeSmart.org. Anyone who does not own a bike helmet will be given one to keep.

Puente needs your help to make the Health Fair a success. Before October 19, Puente needs to find an optometrist willing to donate four hours’ worth of free eye exams. Puente also needs two people who can help act as Spanish-English translators; a portable massage table; and additional volunteers to help cook healthy food the day before the Health Fair.

 

 

Contact Molly Wolfes to help: (650) 262-5989. The Puente Health fair is October 19, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., Pescadero Elementary School Multi-Purpose Room, 620 North St.

 

11 Oct 2014

Guests and Goats Mingle at Harley Farms Fundraiser

Sunshine, goats, ocean air, handmade gourmet food, and big smiles all around – by that measure alone, Puente’s first-ever Fall Harvest Fundraiser was a consummate success. It also achieved its primary objective, raising $32,000 for Puente’s youth programming.

The fundraiser, held September 14, brought 106 Puente supporters to the sunlit pastures of Harley Farms, Pescadero’s acclaimed goat dairy. Unlike most visitors, these special donors had the run of the farm – and a great deal of happy chatter and goat petting ensued.

“Everybody was just so happy to meet everybody else,” recalls Kerry Lobel, Executive Director of Puente.

Supporters also enjoyed a mouth-watering menu of finger foods, prepared in-house by Harley Farms chef Jim Harrington. Dishes included artichoke frittata, stuffed jalapeno peppers, pulled pork from Markegard Family Grass-Fed, lemon cucumbers with Harley Farms tomatoes and thyme, and duck crostini with melted onions and Farmstead quince.

“We had a fabulous afternoon with wonderful people supporting Puente and their involvement in our community. It was a pleasure to host the event and to be a part of our diverse and happy village! I hope we will have the opportunity to do it again,” says Dee Harley, founder of Harley Farms.

Lobel made some remarks inside the farm’s beautiful big barn, along with Program Director Rita Mancera and board members Laura Franco and Mary McMillan. The women updated guests on important goings-on at Puente, including progress on the mobile medical clinic bound for the South Coast in 2015 and Puente’s emerging early literacy programs.

About half the money raised came from foundations and sponsoring corporate partners, and half from individuals. All new and increased donor gifts, and gifts from donors who had not given to Puente in the previous 12 months, will be matched by the Sobrato Family Foundation.

All the money raised at the Harley Farms event will underwrite the costs of Puente’s transformational youth summer program as well as its children’s programming. It’s an essential source of support, says Lobel.

“These unrestricted gifts allow us to be the most flexible and do things other organizations would wait for money to do, like create a youth program. It helps us respond quickly to community needs.”

Click here for more event photos by Lars Howlett.

05 Sep 2014

Water squeeze extends to community’s roots

The California drought is a narrative of subtraction.  On the South Coast, some agricultural producers – particularly row crop farmers and those who raise animals – started the season with less water than they’ve ever had and are finishing the summer with even less. Their new goal: ration well enough to stay solvent next year.

Farms that rely solely on water in Butano Creek, which flows from the slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the ocean, are hardest-hit, as are ranches that need rainfall to turn their pastureland green for animal forage. Local berry farms have suspended their U-pick operations because of the berry’s limited supply.

Blue House Farm, which relies on Butano Creek, has been painstakingly hand-watering rows of tomatoes and other produce because there isn’t enough water in the creek to irrigate several rows at once. The farm also recently installed a water tank to ration water from the creek.

Fifth Crow Farm, one of the largest employers in the area, also relies on Butano Creek and has been white-knuckling through the season by using water saving measures such as drip irrigation, watering at night when the creek has fewer water users, and planting crops that don’t require much water, like winter squash and green beans.

Teresa Kurtak at Fifth Crow Farm

Teresa Kurtak, Fifth Crow Farm

“We’re in the process of getting an even smaller pump so that we can slowly draw small amounts of water and continue to fill our tanks without risking running the creek dry,” says Teresa Kurtak, one of three partners who own Fifth Crow Farm.  The farm employs 20 people and Kurtak says reduced production may at some point require workforce cutbacks.

That’s what Kerry Lobel is afraid of.

“The agricutural economy is the heart of South Coast life. If people are not able to sustain making a living, then our way of life will really change. And that’s a bad thing as far as I’m concerned,” says Lobel, Executive Director of Puente.

Rainfall in California since winter 2013 is officially the lowest since 1895, according to scientific records, and conditions have already caused $2.2 billion in damages statewide.

The Coastside has always been a drought-adapted community, and farmers here were spared the much of the pain affecting other parts of the state until very recently, according to San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner Fred Crowder. The county’s latest crop report suggests ranchers are losing production value faster than any other group of farmers. Flower growers and nurserymen often irrigate with potable water, so their supply has not been affected. But “some vegetable growers barely made it by the skin of their teeth,” Crowder says. “This year, if we continue in this drought situation, I anticipate it will see impacts on our vegetable growers.”

Local cattle ranchers and animal farmers were hit hard by the drought as early as March, and have been culling their herds or moving them to another part of the state.

Early Bird Ranch has the capacity to raise 10,000 broiler chickens but is only raising 500 this year, according to co-founder ShaeLynn Watt. “We need more rain to absorb the impact of the chickens so we can use the land more easily,” she explains. “Wind without rain is a concern for topsoil.”

Root Down Farm raises chickens, pigs and turkeys – and vegetables, except for this year. Now the farm is struggling to keep enough water for the animals to drink.

David Evershed and Dede Boies, Root Down Farm

David Evershed and Dede Boies, Root Down Farm

“This is real, people, this is not just something we talk about anymore.  A big reason to why we are raising animals and not growing any crops this year is due to the drought,” writes the farm’s website.

The drought may yet prompt some progress around water issues. Kurtak, of Fifth Crow Farm, says regulators are discussing how to create more off-stream water storage (like ponds and reservoirs) – which she sees as a positive sign. “Many local farms would like to put in more ponds to fill in the winter when water flow is high, but the bureaucracy and red tape are intimidating and costly and hamper those efforts. Maybe this will stimulate the regulatory agencies to figure out how to simplify and streamline that process,” she explained.