Sebastopol nonprofit holds goat ‘tree-cycling’ as fundraiser

Goat “tree-cycling” program will benefit the Independence Chapter of the local 4-H club in Sebastopol.|

Their biggest fundraiser of the year was scrapped because of COVID, and their finances were dwindling, so the Independence Chapter of 4-H based in Sebastopol decided to try something it had never done in all the years since it was founded in 1976.

Call it goat “tree-cycling.”

Yes, 4-H kids will be picking up your dried-out Christmas trees and delivering them to small west county farms to be eaten down to the trunks by other kids, er, goats.

Chapter leader of the 55-member club Melinda Wright, who owns a small family farm in Santa Rosa, came up with the idea after reading about goats chowing down on used spruces and pines on farms in Philadelphia and Portland.

“We kicked the idea around and decided this could work for us,” said Wright, whose family has been raising goats for nine years.

The organization’s big fundraiser, selling baked goods at the Petaluma Pumpkin Patch, had to be canceled this year. The only fundraiser they had was operating the parking lot at the Gravenstein Fair in Sebastopol.

Clay McDonell, 16 and a 4-H member for seven years, is treasurer of the chapter and has seen the drop in the club’s finances.

“I think this is a good idea to recover some of the lost income,” he said.

He pointed out that “4-H these days is a lot more than raising animals.” McDonell said he raises rabbits and participates in archery and wood carving as well as being a member of the executive board.

“There’s cooking and lots of leadership opportunities. We have a community service activity at every meeting,” McDonell said. “At the last meeting we all brought a coat for the group One Warm Coat for people in need and homeless people.”

The club charges no fees, and the money raised from the project will go toward club operating expenses and their holiday party, Wright said. It will also help pay for baking projects that are often submitted for prizes in county fairs, and for equipment such as bows and arrows for archery.

“It’s a great thing for the kids and the money is going to projects to lower the cost and make it more accessible for everyone,” McDonell said.

Anyone wishing to have their tree recycled by goats can go to independence4h.com or contact Wright, at mwright@sonic.net to find a form to fill out and submit.

On Jan. 2 and Jan. 9, club members will pick up your tree if you live in Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, Cotati, Windsor or Rohnert Park (unflocked and all decorations removed) and take it to small goat farms in west county. Milk-producing goats, including Nigerian Dwarfs, Nubians and Saanen breeds, will eat the nutritious tree from branches to trunk.

“It’s a delicacy for the goats,” Wright said.

The trunks will be woodchipped afterward. A donation of $15 to $20 is suggested.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.

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