#RichlandGives Spotlight: Malabar Farm Foundation
The Malabar Farm Foundation serves to provide funding and resources in support of Malabar Farm State Park. The Foundation is a 501©(3) non-profit organization funded by charitable donations and staffed by volunteers.
In 1939, Louis Bromfield, a native of Mansfield, Ohio, Pulitzer-Prize winning author, and pioneering conservationist purchased several farms in Richland County, Ohio and created his dream: Malabar Farm. Malabar Farm was destined to become “The Most Famous Farm in America”. Bromfield built a 32 room country home known as the Big House where family, friends, and the famous could come, stay, and work while enjoying the natural wonders that life at Malabar Farm could offer.
Bromfield set out on a quest to restore rich fertility to Malabar Farm by applying conservation methods that were mostly unheard of or little used at that time. Bromfield shared these conservation methods with people from all over the U.S. and other countries through speaking engagements, a newspaper column, radio broadcasts, and printed materials including a series of non-fiction “farm” books. Louis Bromfield passed away in 1956 at the age of 59. Malabar Farm became a State Park in 1976 and hosts thousands of visitors each year, who take in the natural beauty that Malabar Farm has to offer.
The Malabar Farm Foundation was founded in 1993 and its mission is to provide resources for the promotion of the principles, philosophies, and ideals of Louis Bromfield in the areas of agriculture, conservation, and the arts and for the preservation of Malabar Farm State Park.
Through the Foundation’s vision to assure that Malabar Farm is preserved as a destination for people of all ages and to extend the legacy of Louis Bromfield in the fields of agriculture, conservation, and the arts through education and events we have achieved many accomplishments. Some of those accomplishments include special events such as “An Evening with Ole’ Blue Eyes” and “An Evening with Just Jazz & Friends”, the Udder Nonsense 5K Walk/Waddle/Run, the Sunday Drive Car Show, Tea with Louisa Mae Alcott, a Picnic with Laura Ingalls Wilder. The Foundation has raised funds for concessions at park events, new display cases for the Visitors Center lobby, the Big House lamp re-wiring and repair project, Big House garage renovation and new wiring, resurrection of the Malabar Farm News quarterly newsletter, the Maple Syrup demonstration unit, creation of a new Malabar Farm Foundation brochure, new lighting and leaves for the Giving Tree display in the Visitors Center lobby, stainless steel countertops for areas in the Big House kitchen, and helped fund and supervise summer interns. And those are just a few of the many accomplishments!
One of our largest projects over the last 3 years has been the restoration of art and artifacts in the Big House. As of March 2017, 28 oil paintings have been restored, along with the reproduction of draperies in the Bromfield Study for a total of $44,000.00.
Since then, the Foundation has moved on to Phase V of the restoration project which includes more oil paintings and Phase VI which will include watercolor paintings, and the Disney cell of Ferdinand the Bull.
Donations from the Richland Gives - Day of Giving helps the Malabar Farm Foundation to continue to fund these worthwhile projects and extend the legacy of Louis Bromfield and Malabar Farm State Park for future generations. Help us raise awareness and funds for the Malabar Farm Foundation by making a donation online on the Richland Day of Giving, November 28th @ http://www.richlandgives.org.
