FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARM – ON LINE!
BISHOP’S ORCHARDS VS JONES FAMILY FARMS FOR CHARITY
Farmers spend their entire lives cultivating - apples, vegetables, Christmas trees, pumpkins, squash, pears, and these days – Facebook fans. Two popular Connecticut farms are curious as to who can grow the largest crop of Facebook fans by this Thanksgiving.
Keith Bishop of Bishop’s Orchards (www.facebook.com/bishopsorchardsfarmmarket) in Guilford and Jamie Jones of Jones Family Farms and Winery (www.facebook.com/jonesfamilyfarms) in Shelton are willing to put some charitable money where their mouths are that they can find the most fans. Both farms have fan bases of over 1000 fans already on Facebook and are looking to make those numbers grow.
For every fan that joins their respective Facebook pages between Thursday October 22nd and 8:00am on Friday November 27th (day after Thanksgiving) the two farms have dedicated themselves to donate $1 each (up to a maximum of 5000 fans total between the two farms) to charities of their choosing. Those are the numbers the contest will start at. The friendly battle doesn’t end there however. The second place owner will travel to the winning farm and put in a good honest days work during the Christmas season. As of 8:00 AM on Thursday October 22nd, Jones Family Farms had a total of 1119 fans and Bishop’s Orchards had 1437 fans, those numbers are the start point for the contest.
Bishop’s Orchards will be donating to the Guilford Community Fund, while Jones Family Farms has selected to donate to the Valley United Way. Both farms will also donate a portion of the funds to the Working Land’s Alliance.
The Working Lands Alliance is a CT project of American Farmland Trust. Founded in 1980, American Farmland Trust has helped win permanent protection for over a million acres of American farmland. AFT's hard work and sound strategies unite farmers, environmentalists and policymakers.
(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Working-Lands-Alliance/126225149625)
The Valley United Way's (www.valleyunitedway.org) mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of our community. Valley United Way will measurably improve the lives of people in our community through: Philanthropy, volunteerism and collaboration – Working with others to build coalitions that leverage resources to address identified community priorities.
The Guilford Community Fund (guilfordcommunityfund.org) exists to assist the Guilford community by providing a single entity through which donors can make contributions to support those non-profit organizations best qualified to serve Guilford residents in need. The GCF serves 20 non-profit service agencies and organizations. These organizations provide vital services to Guilford and its residents of all ages from babies to senior citizens.
Fans have been flocking to local farms for years and as the world of technology grows, farms and farmers grow right along with it. The use of Facebook for local farms is a great way to get word out to people who truly want to know what’s going on. Whether Jones Family Farms asking fans to post photos of their visits to the pumpkin patch or Bishop’s Orchards spreading the news of their green initiatives, the use of Facebook to talk to their consumers is a priceless tool. Word-of-mouth advertising helps farms thrive and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow the spreading of the word even further. So login to Facebook and show your support for your favorite farm and in the process help out some worthy causes.