Dear Donor,

I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Allise, and I am a single mother of 2 young boys, ages 5 and 9, living in South Carolina. I am currently attached to one of the poorest counties in the State, Lee County. I have grown to love this small town and its people, but I also want to help make it better, not just for my 2 boys, but for many generations to come. I am looking to raise a lofty $1,040,000.00 to help me pay for my large-scale dream of “Creating a Better Bishopville” for my 2 sons and future generations. I am trying to purchase land with the specific intent of creating an environment that will foster a love for learning, a desire for community, and an appreciation for nature and all its natural beauty.

A little about how this dream came to be. My now 9 year old son was just 2.5 years old when we were playing outside in the backyard. I watched him dig a hole, and take his 2 favorite superheroes, Ironman and Black Panther, drop them in the hole, and cover them with dirt. I asked him why he buried Ironman and Black Panther. It was his answer that made me realize I had become completely jaded on life and was unknowingly passing on to my child, hopelessness, pessimism, and disillusions from my personal experience. His answer? He wanted to grow more toys. Even though, in the back of my mind, I knew that planting a seed would ultimately grow a plant, a flower, a tree, fruits and vegetables, I associated putting something into the Earth with death, and it was my toddler that had to remind me that putting something into the Earth can also bring forth life. I sat back and I cried to myself because something so small, so simple, and so seemingly insignificant such as perception, caused me to rethink the way I thought about everything. I knew right then, I needed to give others the chance to perceive life from the eyes of a toddler. This was the birth of Harambee Heritage Family Farms.

This journey is not only important to me, and so many others in my community, although they don’t know it yet, but it is extremely necessary. We, as a people, have come so far from what was intended for Man when we were put on this Earth. In our time here, we have disfigured, devastated, and destroyed parts of the Earth, some to the point of no return in our lifetime. This is what we are leaving as the inheritance for our children and our children’s children. Although my journey is a personal one, I want to be able to share it with my community, because I know that just like me, they have been blinded, beaten and broken down by life so badly, that hopelessness, despair, and even death may be considered a sweet relief.

I am writing to ask you to support me and help bring forth this farm not just for my family, but for the families of my community. We have seen so much senseless life taking, and we have put so many lifeless bodies into the ground. It is time that we start bringing life back to our little part of the World. It should be considered a sad day when you realize that there are more places to bury people (cemeteries and funeral parlors) in your town than there are places to feed them (farms). With so much technology and an abundance of “access”, no one should ever go hungry or be thirsty, but they are. There are people starving to death with full stomachs, because the “food” they are ingesting is killing them. Our “Farm to Table” program will help end this cycle.

Your donation will exclusively go towards the purchase of land. Once we obtain the land, we will host a number of fundraisers for the the construction of a small community center where we will offer workshops to educate the community members on healthy eating and living well, a summer campground installation immersed in nature, and a school with an agricultural based curriculum to teach the next generation how to care for this one Earth we have, because we can’t all go to Mars! Any subsequent donations will also go towards the purchase of trees and plants to create a spectacular, one-of-a-kind garden experience for the community to share in. Our farm is meant to be a working and learning farm full of life, love and happiness.

Your donation will help me make a real impact on the lives of those we will serve in our community. I need your support to make this vision, this dream, a reality. I believe that with your help, I will be able to touch the lives of not just those in my community, but families from miles around that will now want to make our little town of Bishopville a stop on their next vacation. I truly appreciate your consideration and hope that you will join me on this once in my lifetime mission.

I am committed to transparency throughout this campaign and through our future website, I will provide regular updates on our progress and milestones achieved. You will also be able to follow our progress through social media channels, once established. I intend to recognize all donations, even those that are given anonymously, with either an engraved brick on our buildings or garden pathways, a plaque of recognition on or near a tree, or a bench placed on the property. I am also offering corporate and private sponsorships of different levels that will receive recognition throughout the property as either a form of “Sponsored By:” advertisement or appreciation acknowledgement, along with many other incentives. You have the option to support the farm and garden from this vantage point as well. All donors will receive an engraved leaf on our Giving Tree that will stand at the front entrance of the property.

I'd like to thank you in advance for your generosity and contribution. You have no idea how much it means to me to have your support.