By Janice Bedan
In the earliest days of the Sierra Harvest Farm to School program, volunteer Sandra Barrington saw children get excited about eating fresh fruits and vegetables, and encouraging their classmates to just try it! She immediately understood the impact of this program.
“Good health starts in childhood, where good habits can influence your entire life.
If you have a next generation that has fewer chronic illnesses because they’ve been taught to eat healthfully, that changes the nature of health care in the future.”
Sandra thinks a lot about the health and well-being of our community in her capacity as Associate Director of the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Foundation, so it’s no surprise that she has been a longtime volunteer and donor of Sierra Harvest. When Sandra made a gift in her will to the Sierra Harvest Heirloom Legacy Circle, she was clear about her priorities:
“What keeps me engaged with Sierra Harvest is the future impact on our children’s health and how we can influence the next generations through healthy food.”
When Sandra speaks of influence on the next generations, she’s talking about the generations she will never even know. When she created a will to make sure her daughter would be well taken care of, Sandra also took into consideration her community’s well-being, leaving a gift to secure the good health of future generations.
“I consider that my community is a part of my greater family, and you have to think about taking care of everyone.”
Sandra helps the local food movement take root, grow, and blossom, because this is true grassroots health care reform. Her planned gift to the Sierra Harvest Heirloom Legacy Circle reflects her commitment to holistic health care through fresh, local food—now and well into the future.
If you are interested in knowing more about the Heirloom Legacy Circle, please contact Executive Director Aimee Retzler aimee@sierraharvest.org