{"id":267005,"date":"2026-08-17T18:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267005\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T18:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:18:11","slug":"in-bloom-welcoming-a-new-nonprofit-arm-of-churchview-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267005\/","title":{"rendered":"In Bloom: Welcoming a New Nonprofit Arm of Churchview Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Churchview\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF TARA ROCKACY<\/p>\n

While in the midst of a massive construction project at Baldwin\u2019s Churchview Farm<\/a>, owner Tara Rockacy decided to form a nonprofit, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause, why not do everything at once?\u201d she jokes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Churchview Farm has long hosted special dinners and events that feature farm-to-table meals prepared by chefs from local restaurants, among them DiAnoia\u2019s Eatery, Alta Via and Black Radish Kitchen. Now, Rockacy plans to launch a new nonprofit arm \u2014\u00a0Churchview Hub for Education and Workshare.<\/p>\n

Called CHEW for short, the nonprofit\u2019s purpose is to enhance and expand the farm\u2019s educational and community engagement, and to generally make the farm more accessible. A primary goal is to hire a second farmer and educator, which will allow Churchview to expand existing weekly, no-cost programming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Logistically, it will also provide the opportunity to fine-tune and enhance the hands-on agriculture education Churchview currently provides, as well as include more cooking and preserving experiences. Churchview will also offer more agriculture education outside of the weekly programming, such as classes on starting and maintaining an herb garden, identifying pests and beneficial insects or creating pollinator habitats.<\/p>\n

Rockacy says CHEW was formed on the advice of some longtime supporters of Churchview and their teaching kitchen project. For the past 15 years, much of the farm\u2019s education, community engagement and food distribution has been not-for-profit, and was entirely supported by Churchview\u2019s events<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat model was limiting and unsustainable. My goal has always been to grow and sustain our events \u2026 while also expanding the offerings and reach of our engagement work,\u201d Rockacy says \u201cBut that was too heavy of a load for our events to carry, as they are incredibly labor-intensive and costly in and of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goal of the nonprofit is to continue to raise the high bar set by the past decade-and-a-half of vibrant and educational Churchview events, and at the same time, to offer some experiences with a more accessible ticket price. This could look like family-friendly dinners or workshop experiences that span beyond agriculture. Think flower arranging and wreath making, dying and printmaking, or preserving and other hands-on culinary classes.<\/p>\n

With the support of foundations and tax-deductible donations, CHEW will exist and grow as its own entity, supporting the community work that Churchview does. That way, the organization\u2019s dinners and for-profit events can become more self-sustaining, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rockacy says now felt like the right time to launch CHEW, partly because it will help make the venue\u2019s new kitchen possible by opening more avenues for fundraising.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Right now, they\u2019re seeking support from individuals within Churchview\u2019s network, grants and assistance from foundations in the community. Additionally, when Rockacy realized the full potential of what they\u2019d be able to do with a nonprofit \u2014 how they could reach and expand their goals, and broaden the reach of and access to Churchview \u2014 she simply wanted to \u201cgo all in and start right away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are other broader reasons for the timeliness of this endeavor, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re all painfully aware that our food system is more broken than ever,\u201d Rockacy says. \u201cPeople are rightly concerned, and justifiably scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds that she\u2019s \u201cnever received more requests\u201d for folks to join the farm\u2019s weekly programming, or to purchase food from Churchview \u2014 something they\u2019re unable to do at this time because all of the food Churchview produces goes to education endeavors and the event chefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it felt like there simply wasn\u2019t any time to waste,\u201d Rockacy adds.<\/p>\n

The process of launching a nonprofit certainly didn\u2019t happen overnight. Yet with \u201cincredible cheerleading, advice and direction\u201d provided by friends and longtime supporters of the farm, it wasn\u2019t as arduous as Rockacy anticipated. Churchview was able to get the nonprofit up and running, with state and IRS applications approved, in less than six months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More information about CHEW will soon be available on Churchview\u2019s website<\/a>, including bios for the founding board members: Catherine Raphael, Georgia Berner, Patrick Putoirti, Jodi Hohman and Mary Rudock.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith them at my side, I feel confident, grounded and know that we\u2019re on the right path,\u201d Rockacy says. \u201cAnd, that I\u2019m not trying to do this alone or in a vacuum. Because, at this level with this timeline, that\u2019s just not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

There also are plans for the public to get involved, which Rockacy hopes to announce soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur community helped us get this far,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd we know they\u2019ll support us as we move toward this exciting new chapter.\u201d\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOTO COURTESY OF TARA ROCKACY While in the midst of a massive construction project at Baldwin\u2019s Churchview Farm,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[12890,19535,112589,73,75,74],"class_list":["post-267005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-baldwin","tag-churchview-farm","tag-churchview-hub-for-education-and-workshare","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}