Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

The 2 Forks Club was formed by Slow Money founder Woody Tasch and Carbondale resident Susan Brady. After Slow money successfully inspired dozens of investment groups around the nation after Woody's best selling book "Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money", Woody and Susan got together to discuss how the model could be expanded and streamlined to be a philanthropic endeavor while solving for profit investment road blocks that have historically restricted clubs from getting too big (due to SEC regulations), restrictions that do not apply to 501(c)3's. In the last year, Woody wrote another book "SOIL" which discusses (amongst other things) the model utilized by the 2 forks loan funding program. Since, the program has received national recognition, and now been replicated many times!

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Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

The 2 Forks club is unique in that each member (donor) gets one vote (on which loans to fund), despite their level of donation. We have members that contribute $50K annually, and farmer members that contribute $150 annually, but everyone gets the same voice in the organization. The majority of our membership is women, and over half of our loans have gone to women- led business.

Begining Farmers (those with 10 years of experience or less) make an average $25K / year gross (based on census data), which lands them pretty deep into poverty. A number of our members are well off philanthropists, and having our farmers siting at the same table begins to break apart socio- economic barriers, and provides farmers (and many of our food entrepreneurs) with opportunities to develop more robust business acumen, and philanthropists with an idea of how far their gift truly goes.

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Mission Statement:

The 2 Forks Club supports ecologically oriented community farmers and local food entrepreneurs in the Roaring Fork and North Fork river valleys in order to make local food and community based ecological enterprise commonplace. The club has made twelve loans totaling $218,830 over the past 4 years, and is preparing to loan an additional $120,000 to five groups this February. Loan funds are supported by tax- deductible contributions, paid back, and circulated to support more and more projects over time.

Link: Facebook:

http://www.2forks.org