OCONOMOWOC, Wis. — A non-profit in Oconomowoc celebrates more than a dozen years of helping families with special needs. Zachariah’s Acres is an inclusive farm that lets people, no matter their ability, participate in agricultural activities.
“Are you feeding the chickens?” asked TMJ4 reporter Rebecca Klopf.
“Yeah,” said David Evans, who is visiting Zachariah’s Acres.
David Evans likes to take care of the chickens at Zachariah’s Acres. He knows all their favorite foods.
“The chickens eat pumpkins, they eat apples, they eat a lot of stuff,” said David.
David, along with his friend Ian Banik, are here with their group from the YMCA at Pabst Farms.
“My favorite thing here is collecting eggs,” said Ian Banik as he and David checked the chicken coop for eggs.
Watch: Local non-profit helps everyone get involved in agriculture.
“When we first started, our 48 acres was a farm field. It was an alfalfa field. So very early on we were gifted some funding from Heart of Canal Street from Potawatomi, and that helped to propel us forward,” said Emily Enockson, community impact director at Zachariah’s Acres.
Heart of Canal Street is Potawatomi Casino’s community program that raises money for children’s charities. Zachariah’s Acres has gotten money from Heart of Canal Street and other community foundations, charities, and churches to allow them to become what they are today.
“We have 125 acres out here. It is a fully accessible campus for individuals with special needs and their families to come to appreciate nature,” said Enockson.
Zachariah’s Acres runs programs for schools and the community. They sell produce boxes for the community, they donate leftovers to the food pantry. Plus, they have a farm store where people like David and Ian help make items to raise money for programming.
“Why do you like coming out here?” asked Rebecca.
“To see the scenery,” said Ian.
“Have fun,” said David.
Zachariah's Acres big fundraiser is the weekend after Thanksgiving when their Christmas shop will be selling Christmas trees.
The Heart of Canal Street fundraiser will randomly select 20 children’s charities to split $500,000. You have to enter to win. You can apply here.
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