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Date: 7/12/2023
BELCHERTOWN — Two young kids in Belchertown have already started in the world of business of community service after getting the idea from a school project.
For the last four or five months, Quinn and Owen Fafard who are 6 and 9 years old at the time of publication, have raised chicks, set up five chicken coups and hundreds of square feet of gardens in their parents’ backyard to give the produce back to the community.
Quinn and Owen Fafard made their first delivery of lettuce, yellow squash and a couple dozen eggs to the Senior Center on July 1.
“We have a couple of kid farmers just trying to help out the community,” Jillian Fafard, Quinn and Owen’s mother, said.
The idea to give back all came from a school project for Martin Luther King Jr. Day that ask students the question of how they can change the world or how can they make it a better place?
Quinn wrote that she wanted to be able to give people food and decided to make the written assignment a real life possibility.
After discussing the idea with her mother, they decided that they could expand the flock of chickens they already had with the intention of donating all the eggs.
Currently all the eggs are going to the Meals on Wheels program at the Belchertown Senior Center.
According to Belchertown Senior Center Director Jessica Langlois, meals are cooked fresh in-house daily and offered in the dining room to about 30 older adults and via four delivery drivers to approximately 100 residents.
Langlois added, “Donations of food from community members is very welcomed and appreciated. Any food received is used in the preparation of the meals. Our head chef can use anything at all, and nothing is ever wasted. Everything from eggs used for quiche, kale used in soup, or fresh produce used for salads or sides, it’s all a bigger help than many realize. We are truly grateful for donations of any type, be it time, money, or food. It all supports the program and ensures its continued success.”
Most of the chickens in Quinn’s coops just started laying their eggs and once all her chickens have laid eggs, they will probably be looking at 30 dozen eggs a week that she will be able to donate, according to Jillian.
Jillian said, “I was all for the project, Quinn realized that she has to put her volunteer hours too, so she is out cleaning the coops with me, making sure they have fresh water and food every day. She also goes out a couple times a day to check the coops.”
Owen decided that he wanted to join the fun and has over 100 square feet of gardens and approximately 80 raised beds to plant his crops that supplement Quinn’s egg donations.
Owen’s crops include zucchini, summer squash, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, celery, broccoli and more.
“He is out there everyday protecting his plants and making sure there is no infestation of beetles or anything to harm his crops.It is quite a process over here and quite a cool thing that a couple of little kids have decided to do,” Jillian added.
She also said how proud she is as a mother.
“It is nice as a mom to have them out before the sun gets hot doing chores versus on their screens. Don’t get me wrong, we still have screen time, but it gives them a little more of a purpose to get out and do some good. It’s surreal in a way to see as a first grader that Quinn came home with a little piece of paper as to how can we change the world and just a few months later to see the impact they are already having is outstanding,” Jillian said.
Not only has the project been such a “surreal” experience but so has the community support, according to Jillian.
She said, “We ended up approaching Tractor Supply, who is a huge partner for her. They actually secured her a feed sponsorship with Purina. Like how many 6-year-olds have a sponsorship? Purina has also been a huge partner in providing her flock the feed and tractor supply, the individuals have been to the house helping us build coops and have been great partners with her.”
Not only have the businesses in town been a big help but so has the overall community.
“The community engagement has been pretty incredible. They have been saving egg cartons, mason jars because she sprouts lentils and different things for supplementing the chicken’s feed. The overall support of the entire community has been crazy,” Jillian added.
The Fafards have a crate at the top of our driveway where folks can drop off egg cartons and whatever else they may have to help.
To put into perspective how crazy the community support has been, Jillian said they hosted an egg hunt for the community at their house to say thank you and had over 300 children show up for the event.
The community has opened their arms to Quinn and Owen and as a result they want to do something every couple of months to say thank you.
On Saturday, Aug. 5, the Fafards will be throwing a block party style party at for Quinn’s seventh birthday on from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tractor Supply, 30 Turkey Hill Rd.
The event will be a free for everyone and includes carnival games, popcorn, goodie bags, cotton candy, prizes, crafts and more.
Jillian said in the beginning of the year Quinn said she wanted a Tractor Supply/Purina birthday and talking to the store manager at Tractor Supply in town, he was excited to make that happen for her.
No gifts are required but there is a wish list if anyone would like to continue to hep Quinn’s efforts.
Jillian said, “It’s a birthday party but kind of put right in there its our way of saying thanks to the community for supporting her mission. Its not like we are asking anyone to bring gifts or anything like that. We have a wish list at tractor supply, and I had included the link in the birthday party invite. It was more of a please don’t feel like you have to bring gifts, if you feel like you need to do something, you can pick a $5 thing or whatever off the wish list just to keep her whole setup going.”
The Fafards go through several bails a month, Purina feed and more and the wish list includes things that can help keep the production going.
“We have a small wish list that people have been super supported They can go right online and order it and Quinn can be listed as the pickup person and she can go into Tractor Supply once a week and grab all her goodies. She gets excited for them.”
Jillian said both kids have no plans have stopping anytime soon and Owen has already joked about expanding the operation.
She said, “My son already jokes that we have to clear some of our forest he’ll call it for next year’s gardens because they both are so grateful for the opportunity to give back which is cool. [The Senior Center] asked them both what did it feel like bringing your donation in and they were so happy, and both said it felt so good to help somebody.”
Jillian mentioned that not only is it great to see her kids give back to the community but also that she loves the hands-on experience they are gaining while learning about how things in life work.
She said, “We have all put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the project so it is amazing to see it come to fruition and the learning they have had outside of just giving back has been great. To have 6- and 9-year-olds thinking about how to set up a pollinator garden to make sure their vegetables are getting enough and just thinking about the process of where our food comes from and how to grow it. There is a science behind that, and I feel like they are learning a great deal which is really rewarding as a parent.”
Those interested can view the updates of Quinn’s Community Farms and Owen’s Acres on their Facebook page at tinyurl.com/msraduaf.