Earlier this month, we said goodbye to Carrie Ferrence, our fearless leader and City Fruit Executive Director for the last 3 years. We are immensely grateful for her leadership, perseverance, and infectious enthusiasm that helped grow our team and fruit sharing community. Thank you, Carrie! We look forward to seeing you at many orchard parties in the near future!
As one chapter ends another begins. We are excited to welcome Laura Skelton as our Interim Executive Director! Laura brings 13 years of experience in non-profit leadership, and will help us make a smooth transition into another successful season of harvest, orchard stewardship, and community building. Laura can be reached at laura@cityfruit.org.
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A message from Carrie
Hello friends,
This will be my final letter to the City Fruit community – after three years and countless moments of joy, I am reaching out to say goodbye.
My departure is certainly bittersweet. The work that I have been able to dig into, with the City Fruit team, our board, and this incredible community of support, has been some of the best work I have ever done.
When I joined City Fruit, I shared a poem by Marge Piercy, called To Be of Use, which includes this passage:
I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.
Three years later, those words mean even more to me, in reflection of all the work that this team and our incredible community of volunteers and supporters has done, month in and month out, across orchards and in trees across this city. Together we have shared 120,000 lbs of fruit; hosted 1500 volunteers; cared for hundreds of trees; and connected thousands of neighbors to this city’s land and food, many for the first time ever.
I could not be more proud. And, I could not be more excited for what is ahead for this organization.
Thank you for all the ways you show up to share in Seattle’s harvest.
I hope to see you again, out in Seattle’s trees and communities.
– Carrie Ferrence
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A message from the Board
The City Fruit board would like to express our sincere gratitude to Carrie Ferrence for her exemplary service to City Fruit during her time as Executive Director. Every aspect of her leadership was an honor to witness: her passion for the organization’s work, support of its amazing staff, and fortitude in advancing City Fruit’s mission across our fair city. It has been an inspiration working with Carrie and seeing how she has led City Fruit in putting our urban orchard to its best and fullest use so everyone in our community shares in the value of fruit. On behalf of the Board of Directors, we wish her all the best in future endeavors — we know we’ll be seeing her around Seattle’s public orchards!
During this time of transition, the Board has named an Interim Executive Director, Laura Skelton. We count on our community for your sustained support, so that we can continue to deliver on our 5-year plan, with a focus on sharing fruit with all of the communities that count on us. The organization’s future is bright as we aim to deepen our connection with our orchard neighborhoods, while growing and protecting the harvest across all of Seattle.
– Patrick Gordon
City Fruit
President – Board of Directors
– Lamai Cox
City Fruit
Vice President – Board of Directors
