John and Bea Lowell were lifelong Douglas County community leaders, ranchers, and mentors to hundreds of youth. In 2002, they founded CALF and preserved their beloved, idyllic ranch to ensure all of us will always have a place to connect with the land, learn about the importance of agriculture, and build community.

Feeding Minds – Thousands of youth/adult minds are fed each year during CALF’s Connecting Kids to Agriculture field trips, agricultural events, and general education programs. Each learner’s senses are engaged as they plant seeds, harvest food, feed livestock, collect eggs, and experience other authentic hands-on agricultural lessons. Learners come from near and far, are all ages and abilities, and represent all socioeconomic backgrounds.

Feeding Bodies – Through our Give! Grow! Give! program (people giving of their time to help grow food to give to those in need), we produce food to help feed our community. We strive to produce 2+ tons of food each year and deliver it to local food pantries/food banks.

Feeding Souls – CALF’s life-changing programs and volunteer activities nourish the soul. CALF offers 4-H and FFA members the opportunity to raise their livestock projects at the ranch. Over the years, CALF has hosted over 110 youth, and this year’s ten CALF Kids are raising cattle, goats, and hogs. CALF Kids gain a sense of responsibility, self-discipline, problem-solving, and other important life skills while learning that ranch life is both joyful and hard. Since 2007, CALF’s Community Garden has been a vibrant place for passionate gardeners to gather and share their knowledge. CCG gardeners share produce and seeds and host occasional social events. Every year, our robust volunteer program brings more than 400 volunteers of all ages to CALF. Volunteers come as individuals or members of companies, churches, and civic organizations. Volunteers help with a variety tasks including caring for livestock, helping in the gardens, general ranch work, fundraising, event planning and day-of help.