Just a few weeks ago, early May 2008, Sarah was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. In an attempt to ease the financial burden both of Sarah's treatment and the reduced time that can be devoted to their farming business, friends and neighbors are raising funds.
A fund raising event will be held at Barr Mansion Thursday May 29th 2008 at 7pm. Guests will be offered tastings of dishes prepared by leading area chefs using ingredients from many Austin area farms. More detail soon.
As of 5/29/8:
Participating chefs/restaurants include:
Asti (John Bates),
Fino (Emmett Fox),
Wink (Eric Polzer),
Mars (Thomas Reeh),
BlueStar Cafeteria (R.J. Spade),
34th Street Cafe (Justin Raiford),
Aquarelle (Terry Wilson),
Fete Accompli (Quincy Erickson),
Cissi's Market (Deegan McClung),
Thai Fresh (Jam Sanitchat),
The Leaning Pear (Matthew Buchanan),
Lake Austin Spa (Terry Conlan),
Teo,
Trio at Four Seasons (Todd Duplechan),
Texas Culinary Academy (Gary Ackerman and John Mims).
Beverages include:
Maine Root, Treaty Oak Rum. Katz Coffee,
Barefoot Botanicals herbal tea, Saint Arnold Brewery beer, Live Oak
beer, Nile Valley Hibiscus Mint tea, Tito's vodka, and more.
Participating markets and growers include:
Angel Valley Farm,
Boggy Creek Farm,
AustinFarmers Market vendors,
Sunset Valley Farmers Market,
GreenlingOrganic Delivery,
Tecolote Farm, Green Gate Farm, and more.
Music by: Brian Byrne and
Borrowed Time
Download pdf flyer for the event.
Austin
Chronicle story of 5/23/8
Fox 7
story of 5/28/8
Donations of $20 or more are suggested for event entry. You may
donate at the door or through PayPal below. There will be a list of
donors at the door but the queue might move faster if you had in hand a
printed PayPal receipt.
For those not able to attend the event but still wishing to contribute,
you may donate through the PayPal icon or mail checks to:
Hairston Creek Farm
4300 Co Road 335
Burnet, Texas 78611
Contact for event
organization
Contact for this website
5/31/8 Preliminary event report
The event seems to have been a great success. Estimated attendance is
500. Estimated total donations: $25K. The entire Rowland family was
able to attend. More details and photos later. We will leave the
PayPal donation mechanism active for at least a week longer.
6/30/8
I've been intending to to wrap this up before now. I invoke the excuse
of peak-of-the-season harvest and selling pressures on my farm. Total
donations through PayPal have been about $7,900; all has been conveyed
to the Rowlands. Donations at the event, as I recall, were about
$19,000; all has been conveyed to the Rowlands. Donations made directly
to the Rowlands are not known by me, but I believe $10,000 or more.
Since we continue to get donations every week or so, I will leave the
donation mechanism up through the month of June.
Reports are that Sarah is responding well to weekly chemo treatment;
she is eating solid food and gaining weight. Activity is limited by
chemo induced fatigue.