Open Farm Day organizer says $1,100 raised, seeks more donor commitments

Volunteer organizer Inga Hoteling updated the Suffolk Agricultural Commission on fundraising and materials for Open Farm Day, saying, "As of today, I have raised $1,100 in contributions," and that she was waiting to hear back from six additional businesses who have donated in prior years. Hoteling listed prospective donors including Wally Computer Associates, Allpower, Southwick Insurance, B and E Tool and Beacon Bank, and said checks should be made out to the town of Southwick with the memo "agricultural commission, open farm day donation."

Hoteling also offered in-kind support: her nonprofit will copy promotional pieces, and she proposed placing roughly 50 promo flyers at each farm and a clipboard at every farm to track visitors and safety protocols. On outreach, she recommended a mix of targeted paid ads and social media, noting historical advertising spending and attendance: advertising costs were $1,229 in 2023, $1,007 in 2024 and $637 last year while guest counts were about 1,552 the first year and 1,533 most recently. "If we look at the data of what we've done the past three years, we might want to just think about doing what we did last year and maybe ramping up a little bit more with TikTok and other social media platforms," she said.

The commission thanked Hoteling and asked her to forward proofs and an updated participant list so materials can be printed and distributed in the coming week.