Historic Lewes Farmers Market Society Inc

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“Board signs when joining as a board member, employees sign annually.”

“The human resource committee obtains research and information to make a recommendation to the full board for the compensation (salary and benefits) of the executive director (and other highly compensated employees or consultants) based on a review of comparability data. This data may include the following: 1. Salary and benefit compensation studies by independent sources; 2. Written job offers for positions at similar organizations; 3. Documented telephone calls about similar positions at both nonprofit and for-profit organizations; and 4. Information obtained from the irs form 990 filings of similar organizations.”

“AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST”

“The hlfm is a nonprofit organization committed to nurturing a vibrant local food system in delmarva that is sustainable and socially responsible. We bring together our community and farmers that grow our food. We build delivery networks that connect local growers to the community through our producer-only farmers markets and other food access programs. We focus on empowering emerging farmers and educating our community on the importance of preserving local farmland. Our goal is an equitable distribution system that increases healthy food access, reduces food waste, and benefits our entire community.”

“First accomplishment: farmers market: in 2025, the hlfm (historic lewes farmers market) continued to operate two farmers markets in lewes, one every saturday from may to december and one every wednesday from june-september. These markets provide an accessible, family-friendly community gathering place where consumers may purchase the freshest local foods available directly from local producers. Consumers have the opportunity to learn directly from the farmer how their food is grown/raised, and about the importance of sustainable agriculture in terms of nutritional value. The market also gives small, local farmers/producers an outlet for their products and an opportunity to meet with each other and with the hlfm market team to share ideas and learn best practices on organic and sustainable agriculture and direct marketing. The hlfm organizes weekly demonstrations provided by local chefs, farmers, master gardeners and healthcare professionals designed to educate consumers about healthy lifestyles, cooking techniques and healthy recipes. Also, as part of the market, the hlfm organizes a gleaning program where they take donations of extra produce from vendors at the end of each market, organize the produce, and donate it to casa san francisco in milton, de, a charity which runs a soup kitchen as part of its mission. The hlfm is recognized for its expertise in supporting local farming, sustainable agriculture, and farmers market management. In 2018, hlfm published creating a farmers market living lab: lessons learned in growing a farmers market, which was the result of a 2-year study conducted by hlfm with funding from the usda. Hlfm shared the findings from this study with farmers market organizations in the united states, canada, and europe by presenting at conferences and continues to provide copies of the final publication.”

“Food pantry purchase program: this program benefits both local small family farms and low-income local residents. The market provides funds to pay the small farmers in the market to supply fresh local food which is donated to a large, local food pantry run by the epworth united methodist church in rehoboth beach, delaware. Both the farmers and those without access to fresh local produce, dairy, and meat, benefit. In 2025, the hlfm procured 23,992 worth of food for the epworth food pantry through this program at the saturday market, including directly purchasing 14,150 of fresh local food from farmers, and thanks to a 10,000 grant from the carl m. Freeman foundation. Farm to community program: in 2023, the historic lewes farmers market was chosen as the sussex county partner by the delaware department of agriculture in the local food purchase assistance cooperative agreement program called farm to community. As the sussex county project partner in this two-year pilot program, the historic lewes farmers market received a subaward of 420,000 to procure, aggregate, and distribute produce, meat, eggs, and dairy from delaware small farmers and other local sources to food pantries across sussex county. Small farmers in delaware typically have limited capital and resources, limited acreage, capacity, and production volume to compete in mainstream market outlets, limited marketing, and promotional resources to maintain a consistent customer base. Meanwhile, small farmers produce a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and other food products each harvest season that they sell at local farmers markets and roadside farm stands. This pilot project expands the economic opportunity for small scale farmers to gain entry into additional market outlets and institutions, by developing a cooperative structure focused on marketing and promotion; and initiates a procurement relationship between farmers and distribution outlets serving urban and rural communities in the state. In 2024, the hlfm was awarded an additional 300,000 to expand the program into kent county, de. Unfortunately, this version of the program ended in july 2025 with the termination of federal funding for all projects like this nationwide. However, the historic lewes farmers market received funding from the state of delaware for an additional year of the farm to community program that will allow for the continuation of fresh food purchases from small family farms for collection for pantries through august of 2026. The hlfm received 112,500 in 2025 for the first tranche of state funds for this program. The hlfm continues managing the procurement, aggregation, and distribution of fresh food from 18 local farmers to supply fresh produce, eggs, dairy, and meats to 18 sussex and kent county food pantries, feeding over 6,000 people in need weekly. In 2025, the total amount of food delivered to those in need was 185,670.”