Two SUNY Orange professors honored by NUFFI

The Newburgh Urban Food and Farm Initiative (NUFFI) will celebrate SUNY Orange’s Likkia Moody and Monty Vacura, along with Mount St. Mary College professor Dr. Rob Wakeman, during its Let’s Gather and Grow fundraising event from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 8, at Pamela’s on the Hudson in Newburgh.

Newburgh Urban Food and Farm Initiative (NUFFI) is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to build a just and resilient food system that improves the environment and health of the community in the City of Newburgh.

“The leadership that Likkia, Monty and Rob have demonstrated has helped propel our mission forward, and we are grateful for their ongoing support,” said Virginia Kasinki, executive director of NUFFI. “They have done so much to advance sustainable agriculture and food access initiatives in the Newburgh community.”

Director of the college’s Newburgh campus, Moody guides campus-based programs and services and assists in the development and implementation of a long-range plan for the campus. During her first five years at the college, she has engineered the development of one-stop student service centers on both campuses and streamlined student support processes.

Vacura, who also serves on the Newburgh Food Project Taskforce, recognizes the importance of personal connection with farms and food as he has taken his students to learn and volunteer on farms throughout the area, including the Downing Park Urban Farm.

Wakeman, an English professor at Mount Saint Mary College, has incorporated local and cultural food into his classes for several years. Besides volunteering countless hours on the Farm, he and his students helped develop NUFFI’s 2024 informational planting calendar that the organization sells to support its programming and operations.