Whidbey Island nonprofit loses donated equipment in fire worth $250K

WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. — Hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of hydroponic farming equipment was destroyed in a fire on Whidbey Island Friday. The equipment, worth about $250,000 had just been donated to Black Seed Farms.

Black Seed Farms is a local non-profit that operates under its parent organization, Modest Family Solutions.

Modest Family Solutions teaches BIPOC youth about their ancestral roots and agricultural roots. Black Seed Farms is an extension of the organization’s center in Everett.

“We wanted a place where BIPOC youth would be able to come out and experience that connection to the land and the growing methods and ancestral practices without any barriers,” Adasha Turner, the founder and CEO of both Modest Family Solutions and Black Seed Farms, said. “We are farmers, we’re producers and distributors, we distribute our food to communities that are in need and that looks like anyone.”

Turner told KIRO 7 that the new equipment had been donated to them and within hours of placing it on the farm, it was set on fire.

“You have to clearly travel up four acres to get here, this is not in plain sight no one really knew we were out here, and it just feels bad like we’re being watched, and this is a youth program,” she said.

The Island County Sheriff’s Office is investigating but told KIRO 7 they have not determined the official cause.

Turner believes this wasn’t an accident.

“There was an ignition point of it which was inside one of the towers so for someone to think that through and execute on that you know what I mean I feel like we were robbed,” she said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay to replace the equipment that was destroyed. If you’d like to help, click here.

“If we focus on the negative that’s what’s going to consume you, so you have to show what hope looks like, what positivity looks like and as the trees are growing here and the birds are howling you know and there’s life happening all around us that’s what you appreciate,” Turner said.

While the grand opening is delayed for now, Turner said it will happen, but they need to replace the equipment first.

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