This farm in Oakdale offers fresh produce & employment opportunities
A Long Island nonprofit, works with individuals with intellectual disabilities, autism, cerebral palsy, and mental health diagnoses. Their farm serves as a hands on vocational training center where participants learn everything from planting and harvesting to customer service and public speaking.
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At the FREE (Family Residences and Essential Enterprises) farm in Oakdale, fresh produce is doing more than feeding Long Islanders. It is helping people build confidence, job skills, and independence.
FREE, a Long Island nonprofit, works with individuals with intellectual disabilities, autism, cerebral palsy, and mental health diagnoses. Their farm serves as a hands on vocational training center where participants learn everything from planting and harvesting to customer service and public speaking.
The program is supported by local businesses like Costello's Ace Hardware, which has donated plants and gardening supplies to help the farm and contributed to the organization to support their programs.
This week marks the beginning of the farmstand season, with a wider selection of produce available beginning in June. The FREE farmstand is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. throughout the summer.
Visitors can support the organization by shopping at the farmstand or visiting one of the local farmers markets where FREE sells its produce. You can find the FREE farm stand at 405 Locust Avenue in Oakdale, Every purchase helps support vocational training and opportunities for Long Islanders in the program.
