LITCHFIELD PARK, AZ -- It's the gift you can give year-round, to help local farmers survive.
When James Golo's 23-year-old daughter found out their family would be moving from a refugee camp in
Ghana to America, she said, "I just knew my dreams would come true."
That dream is to become a pediatric nurse and she is now going to school at Gateway Community College.
Golo is helping pay for college for his daughter and three of his sons with the income raised from the family farm in Litchfield Park.
His youngest son attends high school, but Golo added, with much pride, that he too was accepted to college.
After being resettled to Arizona just a few years ago, the family established the
Golo Family Organic Farm.
They don't use any pesticides and harvest all their crops by hand.
Golo said he likes farming because it's always been a means of survival, plus it keeps him fit.
This Thanksgiving, local farmers hope people in the Valley will choose to buy the ingredients for their big meal from local growers, saying it will sustain both the environment and local families.
You can pick your own vegetables at the Golo farm or you can buy them at the
Downtown Phoenix Public Market.
Just in time for Thursday's festivities, there will be a market from 4-9 p.m. on Wednesday night, Thanksgiving Eve.
Right next to the market is the new
Urban Grocery and Wine Bar which is now open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and specializes in locally grown food.
The
Arizona Community Farmers Markets offers a calendar showing you where in the Valley you can find a farmers market to help support local businesses while you grocery shop.
That includes one in Chandler on Thursday nights on Arizona Avenue, one in Downtown Scottsdale on Saturdays, and in time for Thanksgiving, Glendale will host its Twilight Farmer's Market from 4-7 p.m. at the Citadelle (near 59th Avenue and Utopia).
Fore more information about James Golo, see ABC15's previous coverage:
Liberian refugees find future, hope with West Valley farm.
