Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm

SHINE A LIGHT FINALIST
"Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm"

Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm (MVFF) is the originator of a new financial model for small fiber farms, which raise sheep and goats for their fleeces, roving and yarn. Susan Gibbs, the farm’s owner, was the first to apply a business approach called "community supported agriculture" (CSA) to yarn - a model that previously been used primarily by produce growers.  
Each year, MVFF sells shares of its spring and fall yarn harvests to knitters and spinners. The money is used to purchase hay and feed for the animals; after the animals are sheared, shareholders receive a portion of the yarn. The approach has become essential to the farm's viability with the economic downturn and the restriction in lending, as otherwise it would have been difficult for the farm to get the capital necessary to feed and raise the sheep before their fleece could be processed and sold.
  MVFF’s customers and shareholders have developed an emotional attachment to the farm and to the animals that provide them with yarn for knitting and crocheting. Gibbs provides daily photos and updates about the flock on the farm’s blog. Shareholders get to name the lambs and are invited to visit the farm on weekends to check on their investment. This spring during lambing, Gibbs introduced "lambcam", a 24-hour internet camera that let customers watch the lambs and kids being born and in their daily lives. Much of the pleasure and satisfaction of the farm's loyal customers come from these kinds of interactions with each other and the flock—all things that Gibbs does without charging.  
In an effort to Pay it Forward, Gibbs is currently giving away a starter flock of Angora goats, a mini barn, and technical consulting to another would-be shepherd. Shareholders were invited to help chose the lucky recipient based on essay submissions.  
Gibbs and her shareholders also originated a project called “Yarn Storming” after hearing from blog readers who couldn’t afford yarn due to the economic downturn. Knitters and crocheters from all over the country have donated yarn from their personal “stashes” to be gifted anonymously to knitters in need. In addition to individuals, a dozen non-profits have benefited from Yarn Storming, including a prayer shawl group in a woman’s prison in Tennessee, a group of charity knitters in a nursing home in Michigan and a group making bears for children removed from their homes by the courts in Suffolk County ,NY. Yarn Storming has proven so popular that affiliated groups have sprung up in the U.K. and Canada, and several major yarn companies have made generous donations of their own.