Eight years ago Chelsea and Matthew Dischner started down the path of goat herding. Their shared history of community involvement in coaching and mentoring, along with a passion for husbandry and creating food secure communities have lead them to provide educational agricultural demonstrations at the Alaska State Fair for the past 7 years.

For the past year and a half, as Tanaina Folk Farm, Matthew and Chelsea have volunteered farm management services at the Rebarchek Agricultural Park. RAP is a youth demonstration and living farm at the Raymond Rebarchek Colony Farm, a registered National Historic site and the first house built during the settlement of the Matanuska Colony in 1935. RAP seeks to provide an agricultural resource center to increase agricultural awareness, knowledge, and opportunities for the youth of Alaska. As we at TFF move closer to launching our program to the public with the goal to provide hands-on agricultural experiences to youths and adults, we have begun to recognize the scope of our project and the great demand for educational resources in the Mat-Su Valley in regard to agriculture, husbandry, and creating sustainable food networks. In this light, we seek to invest in further tools and resources to meet the need of youth development organizations, private organizations, schools, and individuals to acquire hands on agricultural experience, gain access to agricultural resources, networking, and information, and to develop an agricultural portfolio catered to their own goals and needs.

Money gathered in this fundraiser will be invested in assets for seed starts and micro-green production, processing, and demonstration, as well as livestock and poultry to be utilized in our hands-on educational programs. Any funds beyond our goal will be utilized for continuing education, and a new livestock trailer to help transport our animals to events, project locations, veterinary care, and to haul feed, construction supplies, and equipment. This investment will help provide hands on educational opportunities to thousands of farmers across Alaska, and will bolster Tanaina Folk Farm's operational capacity and efficiency, as well as the safety of our animals during transport.

Thank you for your donation and your support! You can find us @Tanainafolk on Facebook or email [email protected] to stay up to date on youth internship opportunities, new classes, farm events, product availability, and more!