A surreal carjacking, and how the community of Philadelphia showed up for us

By now, a lot of people have heard some version of what happened to our van on August 16th; through the news coverage, interviews, or word of mouth at the markets. We want to lay out what actually happened, briefly, before getting to the part of this story that has genuinely floored our family: how our community responded.

What Happened

Around 7:50 on Sunday morning, August 16th, Peter was driving our market van south on Roosevelt Boulevard on his way to Headhouse Farmers Market. While stopped at a red light at Southampton Road, a barefoot white male (30-40 years old) wearing hospital scrubs ran into the road, pullled on the door handles of our van and another car stopped next to it, then climbed onto the back of our van. Peter slowly pulled forward toward a bus stop, hoping the man would get off. Instead, he tore the backup camera off the van. Peter then got out to coax him off the vehicle, they exchanged words, and he punched Peter in the face before jumping in the van and driving off, later throwing Peter’s phone out of the window onto Roosevelt. Peter was left with a black eye, bloody nose and no phone.

Bensalem police found the van two days later, damaged but salvageable. We lost our cash box, prepared food products, most of our fresh produce, and essential market equipment. It could have been much worse, and we're grateful that everyone involved walked away safe.

An Outpouring We Never Expected

Within hours of the news, other vendors at Headhouse Farmers’ Market stepped in the gap helping our market team with tables and supplies. Some customers jumped in and stood behind our table to help sell our tomatoes. Rasheed of Native Sun Companies loaned us a tent and set it up when it started raining. The team got scrappy using a cardboard box as our cash box. Our family members couldn't be there because of the incident, but our farmers market community just stepped up and kept our stand running.

After some coaxing and with some invaluable help from Bilal Rice and Carolyn Huckabay at The Food Trust, we launched a GoFundMe.  Initially, we set a goal of $12,000 to cover the cost of van repairs, lost inventory, and replacement equipment, genuinely unsure whether we'd get anywhere close. Within 12 hours, we had raised $7,600.  Once the van was recovered and we learned what was salvageable we lowered the goal to $10,000.  Within two days, we had blown past our $10,000 goal entirely. As of this writing, nearly 200 people have donated, and we've raised just over $12,000, well beyond our revised goal.

We've spent the past week reading through the messages left with those donations, and honestly, it's been hard to get through them without stopping to just sit with how much people care. Neighbors we've never met. Customers who've been coming to our stand for years.  Friends and family members who live states away. Fellow vendors who know exactly how thin the margins are for a small farm and gave anyway. It is, without exaggeration, the most humbling thing that has happened to our family since we started this farm.

We Couldn't Do This Without You

Hayday Farms exists because of the markets we serve, full stop. We are a five acre family farm in Doylestown, and every single week, we depend on the loyalty of the people who show up at our markets: Saturdays at the Piazza in Northern Liberties, and in partnership with The Food Trust, Sunday at Headhouse Square, Tuesdays at La Placita (4th and Lehigh) in West Kensington, and Wednesdays at 52nd and Haverford in West Philly. Over the past week, it was made clear to us that loyalty goes both ways.

So this isn't just a thank you. It's an acknowledgment that a small farm like ours only survives because a city like Philadelphia decides, week after week, that it's worth showing up for.

Where the Extra Funds Are Going

Because we raised more than we needed to cover our direct losses, we made a decision early on: every dollar raised beyond our $10,000 goal will go directly toward further supporting our food access markets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Working hand in hand with The Food Trust, at those farm stands we accept SNAP benefits, “Food Bucks”, and Farmers Market Nutritional Program checks. When customers use SNAP benefits we issue them Food Bucks in an amount equal to what they spent. In this way a SNAP customer can effectively double the value of their SNAP benefits thanks to The Food Trust creating and managing the city-wide Food Buck program.

These Farmstands exist specifically to bring fresh, safe produce into neighborhoods that are otherwise food deserts. It's one of the parts of our work we're

proudest of, and it felt right that the generosity shown to us in a moment of crisis should turn around and support the communities that need it most.

If you're one of the nearly 200 people who donated, thank you. If you're just hearing about this now and want to be part of what comes next, our GoFundMe is still open, and every additional dollar goes straight to that food access work.

We'll see you at the market.

With humility and gratitude, 

Hank, Cindy, Peter, Jenna and Kyla Whittenberg

The Hayday Farms Family