September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Join us at Blue Fox Drive-in theater on Whidbey Island for our "Veteran Variety Show" supporting Growing Veterans.

Happening on September 25th we invite you take a break from isolation. Featuring entertainment, veteran pop-up market, great food, beer, a car raffle(tickets will be for sale at the event), go-karts, & games:

Arrive Early for Tailgating

Starting at 4:00 pm- Gates open. Come and shop from local veteran artists & craftsmen who will be donating a portion of all proceeds to support Growing Veterans Farm.
current vendors include:
-Blue Fox Prints
-Pioneer Sticker Shop
-Hanna Dunn Art
-Lima Whiskey Leather Goods
-West Wire Bending
-Salty Acres Farm (donating 100% of proceeds)

Buy Raffle tickets and enter to win a one of a kind classic 1964 Ford Falcon lowrider.

At this time you can also enjoy Blue Fox's famous hand-cut fries & challenge your buddies to a go-kart race.

The Main Event - 7:00pm

See local talent like you never have before Ronnie Nix (singer songwriter), Vanessa Dawn (comedy), Wren & Della (Bellingham Circus Guild), Dalgarn Family Band, Chris Laxamana (film maker)

Just for the grown-ups- 8:45pm

Tell the kids to hop in the back and go to sleep for this side splitting comedy special showing of TROPIC THUNDER released in 2008,

In the action comedy "Tropic Thunder," a group of actors shooting a war movie is led by Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), a pampered action superstar, Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), an over-the-top Australian-born method actor who has gone to extremes to get into character, and Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), a gross-out comedy star.
This film is rated R (for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material)

"At Growing Veterans our product is healthy thriving humans- Yes, we do grow healthy organic produce & that is a piece of our program but what most people don't know is that people are our product, food is the byproduct of this good work which we are happy donate to community food banks."

-Tonneli Gruetter, Manager of Growth & Communications

To say 2020 has thrown us a curve ball would be an understatement. In response to covid-19 our organization was forced to make many changes. Key fundraising events such as our annual spring plant sale were brought to a near complete loss, commercial outlets for our produce were forced to close themselves have been unable to purchase the regular orders on which we rely to fund our farm, even our volunteer operations were forced to close to the public for a portion of this season. After regrouping we were able to enact social distancing guidelines conducive to realities of keeping our farmers safe. We have also pivoted our produce to a 100% donation model. We are proud to now send nearly 100% of our field harvested premium organic produce to the Bellingham Food Bank & North Whidbey Help House free of charge. According to the nonprofit Feeding America projects it is expected 18 million children could be food insecure in 2020. In our communities we have the power to say no to hunger, by supporting Growing Veterans you too are making this pledge to feed our most at risk community members including seniors, veterans, and young families.

Farming is the activity which galvanizes our commitment to wellness & mental health. It is a stark set of facts that even prior to to isolating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, roughly 22 veterans would go on to commit suicide each day in the USA. This statistic knows no age as mental health wellness effects veterans of every era.

According to organization, The National Council

30 percent of active duty and reserve military personnel deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have a mental health condition requiring treatment – approximately 730,000 men and women, with many experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression.
Less than 50 percent of returning veterans in need receive any mental health treatment.
The Veterans Administration reports that approximately 22 veterans die by suicide every day.
Lengths of deployments are associated with more emotional difficulties among military children and more mental health problems among U.S. Army wives.

Now more than ever we hear your call & we are here to answer it.

Commit yourself to the fight against isolation with Growing Veterans as we heal through farming , peer based support, & feeding our communities. Learn more about how our program works in the video below:

Our Story, Growing Veterans was founded by a combat wounded USMC veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, Christopher Brown, and a former mental health counselor turned farmer, Christina Wolf. Together, they agreed using the farm as the catalyst for human connection and veteran reintegration could have a powerful impact on the health and well being of not only vets returning home, but the world. They were crazy enough to believe it could happen, and just smart enough to pull it off.

Today we work from our main farm in Lynden, WA. Situated in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, between the Cascade Mountain Range and the Puget Sound, our certified organic farm serves as the cornerstone for Growing Veterans. This is where our peer-support and community engagement ethos come to life. We invite folks from all over the community to come and join us, because it’s impossible for a veteran to fully come home without being an active member of their community again. Vet's are welcomed home, stereotypes are broken, and friendships are formed.

In 2020 we launched our first "outpost" farm on Greenbank Whidbey Island, WA located just 20 minutes from NASWI.

Questions? Want to volunteer? Contact our Farm Manager, Sean Dalgarn: dalgarn@growingveterans.org

*In 2018 Growing Veterans was awarded the Guidestar Platinum rating . The highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, the Platinum Seal of Transparency, demonstrates our focus on measuring outcomes year over year, as well as sound financial transparency and integrity. Your support of Growing Veterans is met by our continued stewardship of this mission.

Veteran Variety Show, a night of fun at Blue Fox Drive-In Theater

Join forces to end the isolation & stigma of Veteran Suicide

Team Members