News From The Field: Investing in Local Capacity

We believe that true sustainable international development is driven, led, and  eventually operated by our local partner communities. We are thrilled to start to see our programs and local capacity of partners in the Philippines begin to take on
this ownership. 

One critical step in this direction is the creation of a truly counterpart NGO in the Philippines. We are excited to have a dynamic group of local Philippine Board Members established and our official registration paperwork is underway. We have spent hours this year facilitating visioning and planning sessions and we are excited to see the Philippines NGO help guide and advise programming, local partner development, and generate local revenue support as we continue to grow our impact and expand our programming throughout the Philippines. 

Philippines Board Member Spotlight: Sir Cesar Galvey 

We are especially excited to have one of our dedicated farmers and seed savers  Sir  Cesar Galvey serve on the Philippines NGO Board of Directors. 

Sir Galvey is the current President of LaTop: La Trinidad Organic Farming Practitioners Association the regions largest organic farming cooperative in the Northern Philippines. Prior to becoming a full time organic farmer and advocate, Sir Galvey served 15 years as a Barangay Official in La Trinidad, Benguet honing in on his community development skills and learning how to interface effectively with a variety of government offices to provide social good services to communities. His advocacy and desire to become an organic farmer began when he saw the adverse health effects that the chemical laced cut flower industry had on himself, his family, and his neighbors. He has been practicing organic farming since 2005 on his 1,000 sq meter farm in Shilan, La Trinidad, Benguet that is a certified organic farm and ATI-CAR learning site farm. 



In 2016 Cesar joined the Friends of ENCA Farm Seed Savers group and began to produce his own organic seeds. Through this work he has been inspired to share his new found seed saving knowledge with a wider community of farmers in the Philippines. He is excited to serve on the Philippines Board and continue to advocate for organic farmers and food security throughout the Philippines. 

Join Us For Our Largest Event of the Year: 
7th Annual Nourish Event 
Saturday, October 14th 11am-2pm  in Denver, Colorado

We hope to see you at our 7th Annual Nourish Event on Saturday, October 14th
from 11am-2pm at the Posner Center for International Development in Denver, Colorado.  The event will feature an exciting silent auction, Filipino Brunch cuisine
prepared by The Orange Crunch, LLC , and more. Join us to celebrate another successful year in supporting food security and smallholder farmers throughout the Philippines.

We are also honored to have special guest speaker from the Philippines, Dr. Padmapani Perez give the keynote during the event. Dr. Perez is our Philippine Counterpart NGO Board President and is an acomplished anthropologist and community development worker. We are excited to welcome her to Denver in October!

Funds raised during the event will support our smallholder farmers and food security programming throughout the Philippines. We are also looking for both in-kind and cash event sponsors. Please contact us to learn more about these opportunities. 


Winner of Judges Award:
  At the  National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) 
Annual Peace Corps Connect Conference 


Friends of ENCA Farm was honored to be selected as one of 6 out of 19 total
applicants to present and make a pitch during the
Social Entrepreneur Competition at the Peace Corps Connect Conference held in Denver August 4th-6th. The competition was envisioned and hosted by the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Colorado (RPCVCO). 

With 6 exciting RPCV led initiatives we were incredibly honored to be awarded the
Judges Choice Award and receive $3,300 to support the start-up phase of the social-enterprise organic seed business we are working side-by-side with the Benguet Association of Seed Savers (BASS) to launch in the coming months. 

During the pitch our Founder and Executive Director Sherry Manning shared the foundation of our ongoing work in the Philippines, which began when she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer there from 2006-2008. Sherry shared that what started nearly a decade ago with one family farm has grown in the true spirit of the Peace Corps Model through: inspiration, initial assistance, and then local ownership we have been building local sustainability of our programs for the last decade.  We are excited to be supporting the BASS Farmers in launching a sustainable business that is farmer, led, owned, and operated thanks to this support. 

Thanks to the RPCV's of Colorado, The many Rotary Clubs of Denver, and other donors that helped make this competition possible. Special shout out to the Audience Award Winner, Bokk Baby  and all the other RPCV contestants. 

Our Executive Director Sherry Manning receives the cash award from Suzanne Smith the President of the 
RPCV's of Colorado.

 Grant Received from Burners Without Borders

For the second year in a row we are excited to have received a micro-grant from
our partners at Burners Without BordersThe Burners Without Borders Community Micro-Grant program started in 2008 and has awarded over $170,000 over the course of its existence. Grants of $100-$1,500 are given to projects aimed at creating positive impact in the world, by leveraging a relatively small amount of money against the mighty power of the community's capacity to make a difference.

This year the program received 55 proposals from all over the world, addressing a myriad of social issues. Friends of ENCA Farm was one of 21 applicants accepted for funding receiving an $1,000 grant to support our farmer to farmer education and training programs. We will be implementing these funds in September when we host a two-day Seed School Training with local Barangay Officials in Tublay and a new group of farmers in the greater region.

Thank you to Burners Without Borders for this generous support for the second year in a row.  To learn more about the other winners please visit their website !
Friends of ENCA Farm| www.encaorganicfarm.com

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