Hi All,
Erica here! In October, we had our last quarterly meeting with the Brainerd Leadership Exchange. I learned a new word this time: gleaning. That’s what we did as a group! We collected the leftover crops of squash–‘gleaned’ them–from a local farm and donated it to a local food pantry and soup kitchen.
We were fortunate enough to meet in person because we were outside in a large field–the first time we have been in person since our first meeting in January! It was so delightful to see everyone, but I found myself feeling a bit of grief because we were missing about half of our original group of 20. My partner in this Leadership Exchange and good friend, Rachel, moved to Pennsylvania; another person moved away; a few folks had other plans; and one person said they just found themselves not able to commit to all that they had at the beginning of the year when we started. Plus, we were at the end of the year-long exchange we had so many big plans for that did not happen, and I wasn’t sure what was next.
What sparked me to write this blog post two months after we met up was hearing the word ‘gleaning’ come up in a conversation I had this week, except this time referring to the metaphorical gleaning. Like, “what can I glean from this experience?” And that homonym got me reflecting on what I gleaned from this unexpected pilot year of the Leadership Exchange: Because of this year, not in spite of it, we now have new people interested in 100 Rural Women locally and statewide because of our Book Club and Breakfast Club series, two online meet ups that took off during the pandemic. People still want to meet up as a local Leadership Exchange and invite new people to be part of the group for as long as they want, not just a year.
So, the gleaning meet up in October was actually not our last meeting. We’re continuing on, just in a slightly different way. With some of the same people, some people lost, and some new people. I still am grieving not having all our original members here and all the tough changes that have happened for myself and others in our group this year, but we are rolling with the changes because we have to. And the #1 thing I gleaned from this pilot year: no matter the group or how we meet up, the power and importance of rural women intentionally coming together remains important!
And another cool, new thing that came from this particular event: Fallon, a member of ourLeadership Exchange, made this beautifully worded blog way before me. She also was the main organizer of this event with me and wrote this piece for Sprout MN, a women-run food hub in Little Falls and where we had our first Leadership Exchange meeting. Full circle and onward!
Sunday, October 18th
On a blustery Sunday afternoon, eight women and one brave man ventured to Boys n’ Berries Farm in St. Mathias, MN. The afternoon was designated to pick the remainder of the squash that was left in the field and donate the produce to local food relief efforts. These strong souls bundled up, put on their working gloves, and groomed the expanse of the frozen ground. The goal was to find as many undamaged goods as possible, a more difficult task than usual at this time of the year given the early freeze that visited the north. We then dispensed the squash into a wheelbarrow at one end of the field to a trunk of the two car options. Collectively, the two volunteered vehicles were filled to capacity and ready to ride low off the field.
The squash were primarily carnival (a variety of acorn that lives up to its name through the portrayal of vibrant colors and patterns) and distributed to Erich Heppner for the Central Lakes College – Food Pantry, and Matt Ann and to prepare for the Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen. The event was organized by 100 Rural Women and had participation from Sprout staff, Region Five employees, and other members of the community. In this frigid setting, this group found warmth in the company of each other and the generosity of Boys n’ Berries Farm.