Celebrate the #GivingTuesday 2020 by supporting the Indy Winter Farmers Market

GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement, unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and their world. GivingTuesday will kick off the generosity season this year by inspiring people to give back on December 1, 2020, and throughout the year. 

Since opening in 2008, the Indy Winter Farmers Market (IWFM) has helped bridge the gap between the local community and Indiana farmers and food producers. The market provides a venue for Indiana's sustainability-minded family farms and food producers to sell products throughout the fall and winter, improving the community's year-round access to fresh, local foods. 

As an initiative of Growing Places Indy Inc., the IWFM is more than a typical farmers market. The market works in tandem with Growing Places Indy’s vision to build a more just and equitable food system in Indianapolis through urban farming, food access, mind-body education, and entrepreneurship. The market has long served to increase food access in the Near Eastside, which is considered a low-income area and supports small farmers and local businesses while bolstering a healthy, locally empowering economy.

Unique to the IWFM, we offer the Triple-Match SNAP Program, made possible by donors and community partners, donations from our yoga classes, and individuals who care about seeing the program succeed. The Triple-Match SNAP program allows us to turn $20 into $60 for SNAP recipients. That means when a person comes to the IWFM and swipes their SNAP card for $20, they receive an additional $20 of market tokens and $20 of Fresh Bucks checks. The first $20 can be spent on any SNAP-eligible item, and $20 of Fresh Bucks can be spent on produce.

It’s a simple idea that everyone deserves access to fresh, local produce. This program will increase the spending power of shoppers using SNAP benefits during the market season. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of households receiving SNAP, otherwise known as food stamps, increased for families and individuals experiencing falling incomes and rising food needs. Supporting access to local, fresh foods is more important than ever, but we need your support! 

This Giving Tuesday, we hope you consider supporting our market with a small donation. A donation of $100 will help us feed five families by tripling their dollars when they shop at our market.