Elk Run Farm

What Elk Run Farm does

Elk Run Farm is a 4.5-acre food bank farm established in 2015 and operated as a program of the South King County Food Coalition in Maple Valley, Washington. The farm grows over 50 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs on reclaimed golf course land beneath a powerline easement, including culturally relevant crops such as bitter melon, gai lan, and bok choy that are uncommon in standard food bank inventory. All harvested produce is donated at no cost to the coalition's 13 member food banks, which collectively serve roughly 39,000 people per month across South King County.

The farm's product surface is operational rather than technological. Core offerings include fresh produce distribution, a seasonal Cut Flower CSA used as a fundraising mechanism, volunteer work parties (Sunday work parties plus summer Tuesday/Thursday harvest parties), free farm stand pop-ups at food bank sites, a 10-week high school summer internship, a year-long Tahoma High School Plant Science partnership, and a community cookbook. Infrastructure includes a wash/pack shed, hoophouse, greenhouse, walk-in cooler (added 2021), fruit patches, and beehives. Agronomic practices emphasize no-till cultivation, cover cropping with cereal rye and hairy vetch, pollinator habitat, and crop rotation.

Revenue mechanics are entirely nonprofit: monetary donations (PayPal, Amazon Wishlist), community fundraisers, grants from King Conservation District, Harvest Against Hunger, and District 5030 Rotary clubs, plus the Cut Flower CSA, with all produce gifted free of charge. Distribution runs through volunteer drivers delivering to SKCFC member food banks and direct farm stand pop-ups reaching ten food banks in 2022. Staffing is small (approximately 10 personnel including Farm Manager Jillian Hirst Johns, Assistant Farm Manager Chrina, Community Outreach Coordinator Joy, seasonal AmeriCorps VISTA/WSC members, and Tahoma High School Plant Science students contributing weekly labor).

Name

Elk Run Farm

Legal name

Elk Run Farm

Website

https://elkrunfarm.wordpress.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Elk Run Farm is a nonprofit food bank farm operating 4.5 acres in Maple Valley, Washington as a program of the South King County Food Coalition, growing and donating fresh produce to 13 member food banks serving roughly 39,000 people monthly, supported by volunteer labor, grants, and a Cut Flower CSA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Community Agriculture

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Farmers’ Markets & Farm Stands (Fresh Food) (CRAHAHAE)

Keywords

• Nonprofit food bank farm
• Community supported agriculture
• Cut flower CSA
• Farm education programs
• Food bank produce donations

Headquarters

HQ city

Maple Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Produce Donations: All produce is grown and donated to South King County Food Coalition member food banks. No direct revenue from produce sales.
2. Cut Flower CSA: Seasonal Community Supported Agriculture program for cut flowers as a fundraising mechanism. Customers pay ahead for weekly bouquets during growing season.
3. Donations and Grants: Nonprofit funding through monetary donations, grants from organizations like King Conservation District, and community fundraising events. Amazon Wishlist support for physical supplies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Elk Run Farm is a 4.5-acre nonprofit farm situated on reclaimed golf course land in Maple Valley, Washington, operating as a program of the South King County Food Coalition. The farm grows produce that is donated to local food banks to combat hunger, supplements its mission with a fundraising Cut Flower CSA, and partners with Tahoma High School on agricultural educational programs.

Product overview

Elk Run Farm is a food bank farm operated by the South King County Food Coalition that grows fresh produce on 4.5 acres of reclaimed golf course land in Maple Valley, WA. The farm's core offerings center on fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs distributed through a network of 13 food banks, complemented by a Cut Flower CSA for fundraising. Educational programs include a high school internship, the Tahoma High School Plant Science partnership, and community volunteer work parties. The farm also provides open-source farming resources and a community cookbook. Founded in 2015, the farm has grown over 50 varieties of produce including culturally relevant foods for South King County's diverse population.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 10,573 pounds of produce harvested in 2020, exceeding 10,000 pound goal
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and minor.

• South King County Food CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSKCFC is the parent organization that founded and operates Elk Run Farm. The coalition consists of 13 food banks in South King County that receive produce from the farm. The farm operates as a program of the coalition to increase access to healthy food for low-income families.
• Tahoma High School Plant Science ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYear-long educational partnership where approximately 90 students (and up to 130+ in recent years) learn agricultural skills by seeding, transplanting, tending, and harvesting crops at the farm. Teacher Clare Nance integrates farm work into the curriculum. Students contribute significantly to farm labor while receiving hands-on education.
• AmeriCorps VISTA / Washington Service CorpscoreOthersFarm hosts AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associates and full-year Washington Service Corps members who provide staffing support. Positions funded through Harvest Against Hunger. Alumni internship-to-employment pathway for students.
• Seattle TilthsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerHelped plow and till initial acre of farmland at Elk Run in late October 2015 during early farm development.
• AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps)supportingOthersAmeriCorps NCCC teams have completed multi-week service projects at the farm, including building infrastructure (wash/pack shed, greenhouse frame), clearing land, and planting fruit gardens. Teams contributed approximately 2.5 weeks of intensive labor.
• City of Maple Valley and Maple Valley Rotary ClubsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsored and organized Make a Difference Day volunteer event in October 2015 for the farm's first planting of 25 lbs of garlic.
• Highline CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative farm site partner in Kent (2021) along with International Rescue Committee, Wakulima USA, and Living Well Kent. Site discontinued after 2021 due to clubroot soil contamination.
• Uprising SeedssupportingOthers100% organic seed company in Bellingham, WA. Farm purchased open-pollinated seeds suited for Pacific Northwest growing conditions and market farming.
• Adaptive SeedssupportingOthersSeed company in Sweet Home, Oregon that identifies seeds grown in the Pacific Northwest and suited for market farming.
• Maple Valley Food BankcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKey food bank recipient and community partner. Hosts South King County Food Coalition's Seed Library program. First food bank to receive fresh farm produce deliveries.
• White Center Food BanksupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSKCFC member food bank known for grocery store-style shopping experience and community garden. Receives farm produce and hosts student learning opportunities.
• Tahoma High School Transition ProgramsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides job and life skills training for 18-21 year old students with 3 interns working at farm on Tuesdays, learning planting, harvesting, and bed maintenance skills.
• Wakulima USAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFarming and food business cooperative advancing small business development and food sovereignty for low-income immigrants and people of color in Puget Sound region.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Intervale Center: Vermont nonprofit running a network of small sustainable farms that donate and sell produce locally while training new farmers. Comparable small-scale sustainable farm + food-access + farmer-training model.
• Tilth Alliance: Seattle-area sustainable-agriculture nonprofit (formerly Seattle Tilth) that partnered with Elk Run in 2015 to break ground. Directly comparable Pacific Northwest urban-agriculture education and food-access mission.
• The Food Project: Massachusetts-based nonprofit that grows food on multiple farms for donation to hunger-relief partners while running youth employment and education programs. Closely comparable food-bank-farm + youth-education hybrid model to Elk Run.
• Viva Farms: Washington State nonprofit farm business incubator that trains beginning farmers in sustainable practices. Listed as a partner in Elk Run's history (Chrina's training background); highly comparable PNW sustainable-ag training mission.
• Urban Adamah: Berkeley, California nonprofit that runs an urban farm with educational programming and donates produce to food-insecure residents. Closely matches Elk Run's farm-plus-education-plus-donation model.
• Growing Gardens: Portland, Oregon nonprofit that cultivates urban farms and runs youth education and food-access programs in the Pacific Northwest. Comparable urban-agriculture + education + food-donation focus.
• Loudoun Hunger Relief: Virginia nonprofit food pantry that operates its own Leesburg farm (Plot of Hope) producing fresh produce for clients. Directly comparable 'food-bank with on-site farm' structure and produce-donation model.

Broad incumbents

• Feeding America: National network of 200+ food banks, including many with farm-gleaning and produce-recovery programs. Sets the broader incumbent food-bank context within which food-bank farms like Elk Run operate and seek funding.
• Second Harvest Heartland: Large regional food bank serving Minnesota that operates its own Hunger Solutions farm and produce-recovery programs. A scaled incumbent with comparable food-bank-plus-farm activities to Elk Run.

Regional players

• Solid Ground: Seattle-based anti-hunger and anti-poverty nonprofit including food-bank programming in King County. Operates in the same regional hunger-relief ecosystem as Elk Run/SKCFC but as a broader social-services nonprofit, not a farm.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/1606232189636548
• Instagraminstagram.com/elkrunfarm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/elk-run-farm

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Elk Run Farm