The nonprofit Jackson Park Community Association, a group of committed Jackson Park residents striving to support the neighborhood through inspiring communal participation and providing safe activities, has put together the community’s inaugural Jackson Park Farmers Market (JPFM) in partnership with the Milwaukee County Parks System. “Because the neighborhood is wrapped around a beautiful park, Jackson Park, and the Kinnickinnic River Parkway, we are somewhat segmented,” says JPFM committee member Marsha Voeltner. “The vision is a place to meet weekly with family, friends and neighbors, to support small businesses and nonprofits, and to be a good steward and connect with the broader community, all in the setting of our beautiful backyard, Jackson Park. It is one of the best kept secrets in the city and is a natural gathering place anyway. Our neighbors love to walk and bike and now they can have a destination in mind.”
Each week the market, which takes place Thursday, 4-7 p.m., from June 11 to Oct. 15, will feature a local small business as well as host a nonprofit, providing the organization a free table and the opportunity to raise awareness. June’s featured nonprofits are Milwaukee Free to Breathe, Notre Dame Schools of Milwaukee and Mothering the Mother; July includes Infallible Helping Hands Inc., Milwaukee Kickers South, American Diabetes Association-Wisconsin, College Possible Milwaukee, Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful; August organizations are Playworks Wisconsin, Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast, Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center Inc. and the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum; September features Ex Fabula, Life Navigators, Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers and Milwaukee Homeless Veteran's Initiative; and October closes out with IndependenceFirst, Children’s Hospital Community Services and the Wisconsin Humane Society.
“The other committee members, neighborhood volunteers and Jackson Park Community Association are not only the type of neighbors who look out for each other and are eager to lend a helping hand, but are also committed and engaged in our neighborhood and community at large,” says Voeltner.
To learn more about the Jackson Park Community Association, the JPFM, volunteer opportunities and/or to become a future featured small business or nonprofit, call 414-687-0938, email JPFarmersMarket@yahoo.com or visit jacksonpark.us/farmers-market.
