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GROW IT FORWARD NEWS,  Dignified access to good food – one seed, one meal, one neighbor at a time. 

By RVL / August 14, 2026

 

 

 Dignified access to good food – one seed, one meal, one neighbor at a time.

 

 

 

A Letter From the CEO

 

Back-to-school season has always stirred something in me. There is so much hope wrapped up in a new school year—fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils, new teachers, old friends, and backpacks filled with everything a child might need for the day ahead.

But some children are carrying something else. Hunger.

 

For a child experiencing food insecurity, Friday afternoon can bring a worry their classmates may never know about. At school, breakfast and lunch are dependable. When the weekend comes, that certainty can disappear.

 

They may not understand why there isn’t enough food. They don’t know that Mom paid the electric bill instead. They don’t understand that Dad’s hours were cut, that Grandma is stretching a Social Security check, or that their family is simply doing everything they can to get through a difficult season.

 

They only know they’re hungry, and that stays with me.

 

Last school year, through Feed Our Future, Grow It Forward reached more than 500 children with nutritious, kid-friendly food to help carry them through the weekend.

 

Five hundred children.

 

Every time I say that number, I remind myself that these aren’t statistics. They are children in our neighborhoods and classrooms. They have favorite colors and best friends. They play soccer, draw pictures, tell silly jokes, dream about what they’ll be when they grow up, and sometimes go home on Friday without knowing exactly what there will be to eat.

 

They deserve the same opportunity as every other child to arrive at school Monday morning ready to learn—not recovering from a weekend of hunger.

 

With school right around the corner, we’re getting ready to fill those bags again.

 

Right now, we are collecting financial resources, food, and supplies so we can begin the new school year strong. We are honored to partner with our local schools and the compassionate teachers, counselors, staff, volunteers, donors, and community members who make this effort possible.

 

There is something beautiful about a community quietly taking care of its children. Most of the children receiving these bags will never know the names of the people who donated the food, packed the bags, wrote a check, or helped deliver them.

 

That’s okay, because tucked inside every bag is something more than food. It’s our community saying: You matter. We believe in you, and while you’re busy growing up, we’ll help make sure you have what you need to grow.

 

As we send our children back to school this fall, I hope you’ll help us fill their backpacks with the things children should carry—books, pencils, dreams, possibilities.

 

Not hunger.

 

— Amber L. Daugs, CEO & Founder

 

 

 

Data at a Glance

 

 

In July, your generous support helped provide the following:

 

– 6525 meals through our pantry

 

– 200 community meals

 

 

 

Harmony Cafe is Coming Home

 

When we opened Harmony Café, we hoped to create more than a place to grab a cup of coffee or a healthy meal. We wanted to create connection, and Harmony did exactly that.

 

Over the years, people walked through our doors as customers and became volunteers, donors, friends, advocates, and some of Grow It Forward’s greatest supporters. Conversations happened across tables. Relationships formed. People learned about our mission who may never have found us otherwise.

In so many ways, Harmony Café has been transformational for Grow It Forward, and now, Harmony is coming home.

Our final day of regular service at 921 S. 8th Street will be Saturday, August 15, as we prepare to transition café operations to our Community Food Center at 1501 Marshall Street.

This next chapter gives us an opportunity to bring more of our mission together under one roof.

 

Over the past several years, we’ve learned a great deal about operating a social enterprise. A traditional café depends on customers walking through the door each day, while we’ve seen growing opportunities in catering, prepared foods, events, and other areas where we can better anticipate demand and use earned income to support our mission.

 

At the same time, the need for our core programs continues to grow. More neighbors are turning to our pantry and community meals. We’re transporting more fresh food. We’re investing in our garden, greenhouse, and hydroponic farm.

 

Bringing the cafe home allows all of those pieces to begin working together.

 

We’re exploring a Community Café model where everyone is welcome, regardless of their ability to pay—a table where a customer purchasing lunch, a volunteer finishing a morning in the garden, and a neighbor receiving a community meal can all belong.

 

There is something about that vision that feels very much like Grow It Forward.

 

We are incredibly grateful to every person who has walked through Harmony’s downtown doors—to every customer who bought a coffee, every employee who cared for our guests, every artist and maker whose work filled our space, and every person who discovered our mission because Harmony brought them to us.

 

You helped make this chapter something special.

 

We’re not saying goodbye to Harmony.

 

We’re bringing its heart home—and making room for an even bigger table.

 

Stay tuned. We can’t wait to welcome you to what’s next.

 

 

 

 

Winter Farmers Market: Growing Through Partnership

 

Beginning with the 2026–2027 season, Grow It Forward is excited to transition the Winter Farmers Market to Visit Manitowoc, bringing Manitowoc’s summer and winter markets together under one team.

 

For years, Grow It Forward has been proud to nurture the Winter Farmers Market as a place where local farmers and food producers can connect with our community beyond the traditional growing season. What began as an idea has grown into something vendors and shoppers can look forward to throughout the winter months.

 

This transition creates an exciting opportunity for greater year-round continuity for vendors and shoppers, while strengthening access to FoodShare and Double Up Food Bucks across the market seasons. For Grow It Forward, that’s especially meaningful.

 

Our work has always been about more than operating programs. Sometimes our role is to recognize an opportunity, plant the seed, nurture it, and build the partnerships that allow it to continue growing and reaching more people.

 

We are incredibly proud of the Winter Farmers Market and grateful to the vendors, shoppers, volunteers, partners, and hosts who have helped it flourish over the years. Every market day, every purchase from a local producer, and every FoodShare dollar spent with a farmer has helped strengthen our local food system.

 

As Visit Manitowoc carries the market into its next season, Grow It Forward looks forward to continuing to support the food-access work that is so closely connected to our mission—helping ensure that fresh, locally produced food is accessible to more of our neighbors.

 

We look forward to seeing the Winter Farmers Market flourish with Visit Manitowoc and to the opportunities ahead for strengthening local food access throughout our community.

 

 

 

CNH Invests $10,000—and Plenty of People Power—in Our Community Garden

 

 

Some investments grow far beyond dollars.

 

This year, CNH has made an incredible investment in Grow It Forward—both through a generous $10,000 gift and through the time and talents of employees who have worked side-by-side with our team in the community garden, and there is a lot growing because of it.

 

Our community garden is entering an exciting new chapter. With renewed investment in the space, increased volunteer involvement, and an experienced horticulture team leading the work, we’re continuing to transform our two-acre garden into a place that grows much more than vegetables.

 

We’re growing food for our neighbors. We’re creating opportunities for people to learn. We’re bringing volunteers together. We’re strengthening our greenhouse, fruit trees, growing spaces, and connection to our hydroponic farm.

 

Most importantly, we’re creating a place where people can experience firsthand what has always been at the heart of Grow It Forward: good food has the power to bring a community together.

 

CNH employees haven’t simply supported that vision from afar. They’ve shown up, gotten their hands dirty, and helped us build it.

 

That means a great deal to us.

 

The $10,000 investment from CNH will help us continue building on that momentum and growing the garden as a source of fresh food, education, connection, and community for years to come.

 

To everyone at CNH who has volunteered, encouraged, supported, and invested in this work: thank you for growing alongside us.

 

We can’t wait to see what we harvest together.

 

 

 

Coming Full Circle: Comcast, Sportsman Channel & Grow It Forward Feed Our Community

 

 

Some partnerships have a way of coming full circle.

 

More than a decade ago, when Grow It Forward was just beginning, Comcast employees worked side-by-side with us through Comcast Cares Day to help build our community garden—one of our organization’s very first programs.

 

This month, we found ourselves side-by-side again.

 

Grow It Forward was honored to partner with Sportsman Channel and Comcast to bring Hunt.Fish.Feed. to Manitowoc, welcoming our neighbors to our Community Food Center for a special community meal.

 

Created by Sportsman Channel in 2007, Hunt.Fish.Feed. is a national outreach program that travels to communities across the country, using natural resources and donated game to help address hunger while bringing people together around the table.

 

Executive Chef Dave Munroe joined Grow It Forward staff and Comcast employees to prepare and serve the meal, alongside local community leaders and partners. For us, it was a natural fit.

 

At Grow It Forward, we believe everyone deserves dignified access to good food—and there are few things more powerful than people coming together to prepare a meal and share it with their neighbors.

 

The day became even more meaningful when Comcast presented Grow It Forward with a generous $10,000 gift on behalf of Sportsman Channel to further support our work addressing hunger in Manitowoc County–and an additional $5500 was received from attendees at the event!

 

Years ago, Comcast employees stood beside us as we built a garden and planted some of Grow It Forward’s earliest seeds. This month, they stood beside us again—this time in our Community Food Center, helping prepare and serve food to the people that garden and this organization were created to serve.

 

A lot has grown between those two moments. So has the partnership.

 

We are deeply grateful to Sportsman Channel, Comcast, Chef Dave Munroe, the volunteers, community leaders, and everyone who helped make Hunt.Fish.Feed. possible in Manitowoc.

 

Thank you for sharing our belief that good food can do more than fill a plate. It can bring a community together.

 

To Comcast, thank you for continuing to grow alongside us—from some of our very first seeds (pictured below) to the thousands of meals we share today!

 

 

 

 

Want to Help?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grow It Forward

1501 Marshall Street

(920) 645-9467

 

 

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