Smile Farms started in 2015 to aid the great unwashed with developmental disabilities . " We started Smile Farms in 2015 to help people with developmental disabilities , but our experience with the community dates to our childhood . Our brother , Kevin , was hold with such a impairment , and one thing we remember from early in life is how significant our parent ’ response to that was , " the company excuse .
" At the time , there was very little public supporting for people like our comrade . Educational services , at least where we lived , were short . "
" In 1994 , Kevin move into a group home operated by Independent Group Home Living Program Inc. , ( IGHL ) a Long Island organisation that provides services and sustenance for masses with developmental handicap . When IGHL ’s executive director , Walter Stockton , pointed out the difficulty many developmentally handicapped mass have in find jobs , we offer to facilitate .
We had been look for the right establishment to crop with and had been supporting IGHL . It move around out the affair we had been seem for was just under our nose ! We soon see meaningful employment for hoi polloi in this community of interests is heavy to happen . The IGHL squad is passionate and commit , and the partner government agency and military volunteer permit us to bear on our player and their families .
In response , we spread our first yr - round greenhouse operation at IGHL and called it Smile Farms . Today , Smile Farms has dilate to 10 campuses . We provide utilisation , vocational training and educational inspection and repair admit integrate piece of work - based learning . "
Jim experience that work is about a mass more than a payroll check . It ’s about who we are . It ’s about fulfillment and engagement , a sense of give and it ’s societal too . One of the thing Chris values most about the programme is that it creates sustainable business model . investment company generated from the sale of Smile Farms plants are used to digest computer programming . He place out that at the end of the daylight , Smile Farms lift people ’s hopes because it works .
Smile Farms is the signature philanthropic cooperator of 1 - 800 - FLOWERS.COM , and we endure the organization with donations , volunteers , guidance in business operations , and help with merchandising campaigns . It ’s also very much a personal commitment for us and our family . At 67 , Kevin continues to work at Smile Farms and is thriving .
The go on challenge and Smile Farms ’ responseJob training and positioning are critical for this residential district . According to a 2020 study , just 39 % of the great unwashed with disabilities who experience in group homes were employed . That ’s less than half the employment charge per unit for the general universe .
" We are attached to being part of the solution , and we ’re expand the biotic community . For illustration , Smile Farms is collaborating with Family Residences and Essential Enterprises Inc. ( FREE ) , to deliver fresh produce , along with other groceries , PPE and medication to over 300 individuals with disabilities and other home - bound Long - Islanders in need . victuals education will also be provided to encourage healthy feeding and overall health .
And Smile Farms is in the terminal stages of bring its own hot sauce to market . This spring , all seven Smiles Farms partner are planting pepper on their campuses , which will result in 10 garden growing about 2,500 Syrian pound of peppers . By the fall , we bear about 6,000 feeding bottle of the live sauce will be quick to market .
In all this , we receive all the help we can get . We have a vigorous and arise volunteer program , with opportunities ranging from visiting for one - day planting solar day to fundraising . We hope you ’ll have a feel , " the company says .
For more information:1 - 800 - FLOWERS.COMwww.1800flowers.com
