Farmers Market launches first fundraiser

Last week, the Ithaca Farmers Market (IFM) launched its first fundraising campaign, meant to help raise funds to support the market through COVID-19 hardships and beyond.

The market, which has been around for nearly 50 years and consists of more than 100 vendors, has been contemplating the idea of a fundraiser such as this for many years, but it was COVID-19 that finally made it come to fruition, according to a recent press release. The goal for the campaign is to raise $20,000 in 2020.

The market has set up a donation page on its website, where users can donate any amount directly through PayPal to benefit the organization. The “Market Hero” program, as it’s called, also rewards anyone who gives more than $30 with a limited-edition tote bag with a logo designed by market vendor Laurin Ramsey.

“Since COVID happened, a lot of our Market Hero program money will actually go to supporting the general operating expenses of the market and making sure that we can really put the health and safety of our market community as the number-one priority while still maintaining the wonderful market that we have and making sure that we’re not putting that burden on the vendors,” Executive Director Becca Rimmel said.

While the market has been open during the pandemic, much has had to change from years past. According to the release, Sunday and Wednesday markets opened a month late, and both Saturday and Sunday market vendors had been limited to 50% normal capacity to help with social distancing.

“In the beginning, no artisans could come,” explained Marketing and Events Coordinator Laura Gallup. “The rules in the beginning were super strict. Everything had to be packaged up, similar to what’s happening right now, not touching anything, wearing a mask. And so, that’s where we were in April, and then recently, we’ve opened for Sundays as well.”

Rimmel said that the numerous restrictions and ensuring public safety meant a substantial economic loss for the IFM. In addition, the IFM still can’t host pavilion rentals, which makes up a large portion of the market’s revenue streams.

“When we had to limit the number of vendors at market, we were basically cutting in half our daily selling fees, which vendors pay, which make up a large majority of our market budget,” she said. “So, that was affecting general operating costs as well.”

At the end of 2019, the organization was awarded $339,150 in grant money for infrastructure improvements as part of statewide Regional Economic Development Council funding. The grant is set up as a reimbursement grant – meaning that IFM must spend money first and get paid back later. The drop in revenue during 2020 has made things tricky moving forward with a grant that’s been years in the making.

Rimmel said she and the market board have worked to find the best solution for everyone involved.

“We’ve had to kind of rework our budget to make sure that those expenses aren’t being placed on the vendors that are selling at market,” Rimmel said. “And they’re facing a lot of challenges today.”

Market vendors’ experiences certainly measure up to that assertion. Leslie Muhlhahn, owner and chef of Just Desserts, said COVID-19 changed a lot about her baking and selling process.

“It’s a very different market,” she said. “I just made pastry, and for the first several weeks, I did that all by myself so that I was literally the only person that touched your food, which was hard for me. I’m 58. I’m used to having staff that I couldn’t invite back to work because everything was really uncertain.”

The market also required that everything be pre-packaged, rather than the traditional format of vendors bagging products for customers on sight. The result was added time for vendors like Muhlhahn.

“The packaging takes a lot of time, and it’s time that we didn’t used to have to figure in,” she said. “So, I normally used to begin at 3:30 or 4, and I think last year was about 5. And this year, I was in at 2:30. And now, I come in at 3:30. And it’s still a little bit of a race to get everything done. But now I have a half hour of packaging before we leave for market.”

Vendor Peter Larson, owner of Just a Few Acres Farm, said COVID-19 actually drove up demand for his farm’s livestock, but that didn’t mean everything was easy.

“In general, it’s been good for business,” he said. “It’s been stressful for us because we have a lot more to keep track of now as far as people ordering ahead and making sure we don’t miss something as far as serving customers, and plus having to deal with all the safety issues. We have a range of customers, some of them apparently nonchalant about virus, and some of them are very worried, understandably.”

With all of these challenges stacking up, it was clear to the IFM leadership that the fundraising campaign was greatly needed.

“We were just thinking about money and doing the fundraising campaign and all the changes that we’re going have to make in the next few years, like to our pavilion and our parking lot, and then when COVID hit and we lost a huge amount of revenue, it’s just kind of all came together,” Gallup said.

Muhlhahn and Larson both shared support for the campaign, saying it helps to support a vital resource in the county.

“We’re a staple,” Muhlhahn said. “It’s good timing for [the campaign] because it shows, I think, that we are a serious, important part of this food chain here and for the team to be able to support even more as is a good thing.”

Special deals and promotions will run later in the year for tote bag holders. For those who want to support in a different way, the market is now also selling branded merchandise online for the first time ever, including the famous cookbook.

Now that New York state is reopening, expect some changes at the market. After a change earlier this month, all 88 market booths are allowed to be filled during market days. Market staff have been enforcing a “one person per household or group” rule, but that has now been raised to allow two people per group.

By Independence Day, the market will resume normal hours and will allow hot, prepared food for takeout only, Rimmel said. The number of customers inside the building will still be closely monitored to allow proper social distancing. Visit ithacamarket.com/2020/06/22/market-updates for more information.