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Thanks to a recent $35,000 donation from Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of 23andMe, Deer Hollow farm isn’t likely to be forced to close in the next two years.
“It means we’re safe,” says Sue Gale, president of the Friends of Deer Hollow Farm.
Gale calls Deer Hollow a “wonderful, magical place.” Nestled in the hills of Rancho San Antonio County Park, it is a place for learning and fun, she says.
The farm, one of the last homestead farms in California, is owned by the Mid-Peninsula Open Space District, but is largely operated by the City of Mountain View, and the city can no longer guarantee funding. The grant from the Brin Wojcicki Foundation, along with an earlier $25,000 gift from an anonymous donor, will help the Friends bridge the gap in the farm’s operational budget deficit.
Deer Hollow is primarily an outdoor classroom, where local kids can learn about farming and the environment. Participants in the various wilderness camps learn about where their food comes from, the proper care of animals, and the interdependence of all life, Gale says.
The farm is also well-known for its Ohlone program, designed to educate youth about the land’s native people. The farm has an Ohlone “village” set up year-round in the Quail Garden. Campers tour the village, playing Ohlone games with walnuts or painting their faces with colored rocks.
Mountain View elementary students attend at least one field trip to Deer Hollow. As a non-profit organization, the Friends pay for half of the program participants, as well as funding a nature center and paying for farm improvements.
“Our organization exists to preserve and protect the farm,” Gale says. She has been the Friends’ president for about a year, though she has been involved since 2003. She’s out on the farm at least once every week.
“Anyone who goes out there returns again and again,” she says.
With 230 classes each year, Deer Hollow has something to teach everyone.
“It’s a family place,” Gale says.
Though the farm is safe for now, the Friends will have to use this time to look for other sources of funding, Gale says.
“It would have been so sad if they had closed it,” she says.
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Construction worker Jose Oriana sorts through leftover drywall inside the city’s new day worker center at 113 Escuela Ave. as major construction nears completion. The [http://www.dayworkercentermv.org/ Day Worker Center of Mountain View] hopes to move in this September but still needs $180,000 in donations. Photo by Michelle Le. -
Piles of aluminum cans await recycling at the SMaRT Station in Sunnyvale. Photo by Kimihiro Hoshino/Palo Alto Online.
Thank heavens! Deer Hollow Farm is such a wonderful place for children and families. We need more places like it, not less.
The Mercury News also mentioned that the City of Cupertino kicked in $5000 this year.
Thank you Brin Wojcicki Foundation! It would have been a terrible loss for all of us if the access to the farm is not available.
This is great news! Deer Hollow Farm is a place where the local children can see a real farm. They see cows, goats, sheep, chickens, etc. It is also a place for the rest of us to enjoy.
Thanks to all who donated, you are very generous and grately appreciated. I love Deer Hollow Farm!
This is wonderful news! Deer Hollow Farm is such a place for kids young and old to visit. I try to go through there every time I am out on a hike at Rancho San Antonio. Great local history for the kids to learn as they visit the farm.
Thank you so much to the donors that made this possible.
Thank you so much Sergey Brin, Anne Wojicki & anonymous donor! What a special gift to our city.
When I heard that the farm could potentially close down within a year, due to lack of funding,I immediately thought of one local company who could come to the rescue of such a beautiful place.
I have countless fond memories of the animals, garden, and trails.
I am certain that our younger generation will feel the same way I have.
Sergey, Anne, and the anonymous donor..on behalf of all those who have enjoyed visiting Deer Hollow Farm in the past, and all those who will benefit from it in the future, a googol thank you’s to you three! :)))
Indeed, every single person who donated even a dollar should be commended!
Angels walk amongst us.
That is great news.