Author: Amy Frasca

This letter from Friends appeared in the News-Gazette on Sunday October 12th, 2025:

Our community should appreciate the hidden gem that is Sola Gratia Farm in Urbana. Consisting of over 20 acres of crops, a greenhouse and orchards, they are located in southeast Urbana.

U-C Quaker Meeting had a tour recently and learned that this project was started in 2012 to address both food insecurity and climate change — that is, feeding the hungry and conserving the Earth. This is critical work we are all called to do, as members of religious faiths and as human beings.

We learned that in Urbana, 75 percent of public-school students qualify for reduced-price lunches. To address this, Sola Gratia donates 20 to 30 percent of its fresh food — over 50 different varieties of vegetables and some fruits — to food banks and pantries in both cities.

The 4 acres of the original Sola Gratia, started by St. Matthew Lutheran Church, are called the “Community Classroom” and are now used for outdoor agriculture education and as a demonstration farm. It offers the community new opportunities for teaching and learning. Besides feeding the underfed and being good stewards of the Earth, they work at building a community of cooperation and care.

Climate change is a challenge, but by following organic and regenerative practices, they are building the soil and designing the farm to be resilient as conditions change. We encourage everyone in the community to stop by to see this diversified operation.

BARBARA KESSEL

GRAYCE MESNER

Urbana

At a Called Business Meeting on Sunday, June 2, 2024, Urbana-Champaign Friends Meeting approved joining the American Friends Service Committee’s (AFSC) Apartheid-Free Communities Campaign, which currently includes 330 other faith-based communities and organizations, with some standing aside. 

Our meeting signed the following, modified pledge:

We affirm our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people;

We oppose all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression; and

We declare ourselves an Apartheid-free congregation and to these ends;

We pledge to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s Apartheid policies, settler colonialism, and military occupation in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.