History
In 1974, Plenty International™ was founded as an outreach effort of the Farm Community to express our desire to make a difference in the world.
The Farm is an intentional community, based upon non-violence and non-sectarian spiritual principles in middle Tennessee. It was founded in 1971.
At first, Plenty volunteers distributed The Farm’s crop surpluses to the local rural poor; expanding later as we discovered pockets of hunger in urban Nashville, Memphis, Chicago, rural Alabama and Mississippi.
Sometimes we would learn of a tornado or flash flood hitting a town in the midwest, and we would send volunteers to assist in the clean-up and reconstruction.
When a devastating earthquake struck Guatemala in 1976, killing 23,000 and leaving a million homeless, the Farm decided to go and see if there was anything its young Plenty organization could do to help.
At the time, that earthquake was the greatest natural disaster in the history of Central America. Initially Plenty committed crews of carpenters to assist the Mayans in their efforts to rebuild. Over the next four years Plenty volunteers built over twelve hundred houses, 12 schools and several public buildings. Other projects in health and agriculture also took place.
About 200 Plenty volunteers served in Guatemala, working side by side with Guatemalan farmers and villagers. There many of us witnessed for the first time the depth of poverty in the world.
Since that first large scale effort, Plenty has worked in 21 countries, linking community-based projects with skilled volunteers in appropriate technology, agriculture, nutrition, micro-enterprise development, health care, and crafts marketing. Over time, some projects have developed into long-term partnerships.
TIMELINE
1974
The Farm Community sends volunteers to distribute crop surpluses to local neighbors in need and creates Plenty as its official outreach arm.
1976
A devastating earthquake strikes Guatemala. Over the next four years, Plenty volunteers live in the impacted area and rebuild twelve hundred houses, 12 schools, several public buildings, provide radio communications and a free health clinic.
1978
The Plenty Ambulance Service is launched in the South Bronx, New York, providing a free ambulance service and emergency response and transport as well as training for several hundred South Bronx residents as Emergency Medical Technicians.
1978
During the historic “Longest Walk” to Washington DC by native peoples from over the U.S., Plenty provides medical and radio communications support along with video, audio, and photo documentation.
1979
Plenty supports “appropriate technology” projects in rural Lesotho, southern Africa in collaboration with Plenty Canada providing potable water, solar and radio equipment, and soy foods training.
1980
Plenty, with its founder, Stephen Gaskin, receives the first Right Livelihood Prize, also known as the “alternative Nobel Prize”.
1982
Plenty and the Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN) opened Clinica del Pueblo in Washington DC., a weekly free clinic for Spanish-speaking immigrants.
1983
Plenty joins with the Fri sailing vessel and its crew of international environmentalists to seed alternative energy and food projects throughout the Caribbean.
1985
Plenty begins a partnership with a Oglala Lakota tiospaye (extended family) on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, sharing their vision for food self sufficiency with vegetable gardens.
1986
Plenty’s Kids To The Country program is re-launched in Tennessee from its beginning in New York, serving close to 9000 children over its 36 years. Kids experience nature, friendships and healthy living.
1987
Plenty begins student volunteer collaborations with universities like Wharton, MIT, and Stanford. Volunteers raised their own expenses and funds to contribute to projects they were working on.
1989
Fair Trade businesses One World
Trading Company, Trade Wind, and
De Colores cooperative enable native artisans to earn a living wage.
1993
The Soy Utilization Program works
with 30 groups in Liberia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Belize, Dominica, Saint Vincent, and Jamaica to produce high protein soy foods.
1997
Plenty Belize officially opens in the southern Toledo District as a local non-governmental organization.
2005
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Volunteers aid in relief and reconstruction, a long term program that expands to native Biloxi-Chitimacha communities living in Pointe-au-Chene and Isle de Jean Charles – America’s first “climate refugees”.
2009
Katrina volunteer Jim Selin launches "Books To Kids", collecting and distributing free quality children's
books to families and schools in New Orleans.
2016
Roots of Plenty is published, a book of volunteer stories and photos from Plenty’s early years
2024
Plenty’s 50th year! We celebrate five decades of service for global good, and plan for the future.
The Roots of Plenty
The book
The Roots of Plenty: Tales from the "hippie peace corps" by Jerry Hutchens covers the first decade of Plenty International and is available for purchase.
The website
The Roots of Plenty website is dedicated to showcasing the history of Plenty's service to the global community and features a vast library of archival photographs spanning 50 years..