2023 LFWF Grant Recipients
Shroom-Mates - Gourmet Mushrooms
Shroom-Mates, based out of Minneapolis, KS, provides gourmet culinary mushrooms to businesses and individuals in Saline County. They currently provide mushrooms to businesses including Seraphim Bread, Renaissance Café, Smoky River Meats and
Prairieland Market. Their main goals for 2023 were to increase their grow/harvest capacity, dramatically cut costs by setting up in-house
operations for cultivating mushroom cultures, and increase their customer base by connecting with local businesses through personal interaction and with individuals through the farmer’s market and other means of marketing.
Through the LFWF grant, Shroom-Mates was able to improve their cultivating equipment, farmers market equipment and provide ready-to-grow mushroom kits for the community. By improving and increasing their farmers market equipment, they were able to attend both farmers markets in Saline County. They were also able to grow the number strains of mushrooms they have available for businesses and individuals by improving their sterilizing equipment.
2021 LFWF Grant Recipients
Salina Emergency Aid/Food Bank- Garden Education Classes
Salina Emergency Aid/Food Bank's mission is composed of three parts. Their goal is to engage the community to provide emergency needs for food, shelter, and well-being. They accomplish this by 1. addressing hunger needs throughout Saline county, 2. homelessness prevention, and 3. educating adults and youth in ways that improve their future food security.
Through the LFWF grant, the Salina Emergency Aid/Food Bank was able to provide six educational programs to the Food Bank Gardens that ranged from tree care tips and tricks to monarch migration to farming to grocery best practices. They were also able to hand out 35 micro-green kits to attendees with instructions on how to grow micro-greens at home.
2019 LFWF Grant Recipients
Prairieland Market - CSA Delivery Program
Prairieland Market began operating a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in 2016. The CSA negotiates with local crop producers and distributes their products weekly to member subscribers.
Through the LFWF grant, Prairieland Market expanded the CSA program to offer delivery within Salina city limits. Prarieland offered the service to 10 low-income families for a period of 16 weeks. Participants applied to the program through the Salina Area Food Bank.
K-State Extension - Community Garden
The K-State Extension Community Garden project brought together collaborators from the Salina Emergency Aid Food Bank, North Salina Community Development, K-State Research and Extension, The City of Salina Community Gardens, Extension Master Gardeners, Horticulture Club, and local volunteers together for 3 main goals:
1. To provide hands on gardening education for children through the Food Bank Children's Garden in partnership with Cottonwood elementary school.
2. To provide increased access to fresh food donations to the food bank during the growing season.
3. To add a new community garden featuring raised bed accessibility and opportunities for children and adult education to the City of Salina Community Garden program.
2018 LFWF Grant Recipients
Christi Janssen
Christi applied as a representative of the winter's farmer's market and Salina farmer's market. Christi's main objective for using the grant funds is to increase awareness of both markets through new and improved marketing and publicity.
Tyler Gallagher
of Seraphim Bread
Tyler received 1,000.00 towards a new awning. The awning is the first step toward outdoor patio seating at his restaurant and will also help improve street visibility. We are proud to have Seraphim, an artisan bakery and bistro, in downtown Salina. They are open Tuesday-Saturday from 7am-3pm and Sunday from 7am-Noon at 228C South Santa Fe Ave in Salina.
Teresa and Larry Brundgridge
Country Home Berries
Farmers out of Concordia, KS, the Brundgridges are active in the Salina market and are brimming with excitement and ideas. Teresa and Larry used the 1,000.00 grant to complete their produce washing packing facility, essential to be able to work year-round. Country Home Berries provides strawberries, blackberries, watermelon, tomatoes, sweet corn and much more produce - and is looking to expand! Their fresh fruit and vegetables are available at Prairieland Market in Salina and during the summer months they can be found at: The Salina Farmer's Market on Saturday at Waters True Value as well as at the 9th Street Farmer's Market (next to the Dairy Queen) on Fridays. They also sell their produce at Concordia Farmer's Market on Thursdays and melons to Kiers Grocery Store in Clay Center.
A huge thank you to the Thelander family of Thelanders' Acme Farm who was instrumental in applying to the Bayer Grant on behalf of the Local Food Works Foundation in 2018.
