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Local Home School Project Results in GNC Food Program Donation

October 9, 2011

 

Yreka, CA — The Trail family of Yreka describes themselves as “low to no tech” and “zero waste” when it comes to dry farming and raising meat goats for breeding in rural Siskiyou County.

Parents Anna and Marc home school their daughter, Dominique, under the Golden Eagle Charter School program. At age 13 she is a sophomore with a grade point average of 3.96. Her formally approved high school project found a natural segue to the food commodities distribution services of Great Northern Corporation (GNC).

“Dominique wanted to do a project that helped our family business and link it to community service. Although not a requirement, she was raised to keep ‘the big picture’ in mind and saw a way that she could give back to an organization that had helped us over the years,” said her mom.

After losing a prize buck to a urinary problem, the family discovered that nutrition could have been the main health issue. Dominique proposed growing a number of test plots for feed that included wheat, alfalfa, rye grass and other legume hays that could then be used for the breeding stock. At the same time, she “dry farmed” potatoes, onions and other vegetables with the goal to donate them to GNC’s food program.

Marc’s health issues have required the family to become self-sufficient and by choice they lead a simple and modest life that is rich with family ties and a desire to share what they can with others.

The Trails have received food from GNC’s program over the past 10 years and recently observed the increase in numbers of people who needed assistance, and that quantities and quality were not meeting local needs. Dominique wondered why all the helpers were always seniors. “Where are the kids to help with this program?” she asked.

Dominique contacted GNC’s food program manager, Dennis Baldini, and let him know that she wanted to help with food distribution and that as part of her high school project she would be growing comparative organic garden vegetables to donate to GNC’s program.  “I wanted to see what we could produce without a lot of effort or resources,” she explained. “Turns out that although smaller than vegetables that have had organic fertilizer and more water, they still grow and there is plenty to give away. It might be good for people to know how easy it is to grow some foods here in our area.”
GNC staff met the Trail family for the first time in late August to pick up the first round of boxes of vegetable donations from Dominique’s garden. They will be delivered to emergency food pantries throughout Siskiyou County. “There is no reason to ever waste food,” says Marc Trail. “We are proud of our daughter’s ability to practice the values we all share and delight in mentoring her high school project. Everybody wins.”

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310 Boles Street, Weed, CA 96094
(530) 938-4115
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