Pumpkins For Pigs Foundation

Goal: $5,000.00

Specific Need

Your donation to Pumpkins For Pigs Foundation will fund an education and outreach campaign in Loudoun and Northern Fauquier counties which represent 35 of the 163 Virginia farms, animal sanctuaries, and rescues that we serve. Your generous donation will help us meet the following goals:

Educating the 500,000+ residents on how they can reduce waste in our communities by:
- Presenting and providing materials to HOAs/schools/places of worship to facilitate collecting and donating pumpkins.
- Interviewing and publishing articles about the farms and animal sanctuaries and the impact of donations received.
- Communicating through local media on how people can donate their time and resources to the Pumpkins For Pigs initiative.
Encouraging residents to take actions in their communities by:
- Repurposing unwanted produce and reducing waste in our landfills and the methane it produces.
- Participating in community Farmers' markets and awareness activities to learn how they can get involved.
- Providing donation site lawn signs to increase opportunities to donate and make an impact.
Alleviating escalating food and enrichment costs to farms, animal sanctuaries, and rescues that we serve.

In 2023, Loco and Fauquier's efforts prevented 93,000 pounds of pumpkins, gourds, and other foodstuffs from going to the landfill and prevented 20 tons of CO2 from being produced by using it for feed. 40% of food goes to waste: join us in being part of the solution!

Mission

Pumpkins For Pigs Foundation's mission is to reduce food waste in our communities by diverting viable foodstuffs including pumpkins to farms, animal sanctuaries, and rescues for feed or compost. "We reduce food waste one pumpkin at a time."

Profile

We divert edible foodstuffs that would otherwise be discarded in landfills to animals for feed or compost by providing the general public with a network of donation sites accepting these items. Through this network, non-food items are also diverted from landfills such as hay/straw bails, holiday trees, and kiddie pools. Our educational efforts are intended to prevent food waste before it starts through recommendations on meal planning, buying less, and composting scraps. We create awareness of food waste in the world around us — starting in the communities we live in.

Through this work, we strive to build, bring together, and inspire communities to help each other through collaboration with humans and animals. We aspire to engage the hundreds of small businesses in our communities, through their ingenuity, creativity, and grit, to provide us with amazing food, hand-made products, and so much more...