The CCOF Foundation Welcomes Inaugural Endowment Gift From Becky Blythe

by Rachel Witte

CCOF’s work has been rooted in community from the very beginning, when founding members gathered around a cause they cared about. Our community has grown into a network of thousands of organic producers across North America and dedicated CCOF staff who are passionate about making a difference.

Becky Blythe, one of the most tenured staff at CCOF, chose to carry forward that passion in her will, which bequeathed funds to the CCOF Foundation. The Becky Blythe Endowed Fund is the inaugural gift to the new CCOF Endowment, which will support current and future organic producers through the CCOF Foundation’s programs in perpetuity.

An endowed gift is special because it helps maintain a steady level of funding for the CCOF Foundation over time. This ensures that continuing support is provided to the community we serve. The CCOF Endowment will be used to support the programs of the CCOF Foundation. Programs benefiting current and future organic producers are integral to securing the future of the community, and Becky’s generosity ensures the long-term viability of these programs.

Becky was an environmentalist and advocate by heart. “Her wish was to create a better world—a world that had room for people to have healthy lives and coexist with nature,” explains Jim “JC” Cockrell, Becky’s husband. “She wanted to keep the natural part natural. Having a piece of wilderness was important to Becky.”

Before she came to CCOF, Becky followed this calling to environmental and community service through doing research in Canyonlands National Park, teaching fourth and fifth grades, organizing grassroots lobbying efforts in the Santa Cruz area, and graduating from the University of California, Davis Sustainable Agriculture and Organic Farming program. Eventually she found her way to CCOF in 2005.

She was known around the CCOF office as a joyful, patient, and wise colleague who was always available to help. She had an exceptionally deep knowledge of the complexities of organic certification and always knew where to find the best waterfalls and hot springs. She was particularly fond of bees. Becky was always ready to be delighted by tiny, perfect things in the natural world, and she shared that sense of wonder with the rest of the CCOF family.

“Even though CCOF has grown, it still maintains a value of camaraderie,” says JC. “When I would come visit for special events, it really felt like a family to me. People have a real fondness for each other. The intangible parts at CCOF were just as important to Becky as being a part of the organic food movement.”

Becky deeply believed in organic, which made her a meticulous and diligent certification specialist. So industrious, in fact, that when she retired, CCOF hired two new certification specialists to fill her one pair of shoes. “Becky brought a real sense of caring about the process, doing it because it was important to her,” JC explains. “I think that rubbed off on the people who worked with her—that what they were doing was important and it had meaning.”

Outside of CCOF, Becky filled her life with stewardship and joy. She volunteered at state parks, played music, told stories, cooked, danced, and adventured ceaselessly in wild lands. “Working for organic agriculture was her way of contributing towards that larger goal of creating a better world that leaves room for nature as well as people,” says JC. As she was remembered in her obituary, “She loved her friends, nature, and life. She wanted to help us save the world.”

Even after a lifetime filled with service and love for the earth, Becky’s dedication to “saving the world” will live on through her generous legacy donation that is seeding this new endowment. Future generations of farmers will continue feeling Becky’s gentle encouragement and guidance as her gift supports them paving the way to a more sustainable food system.

Join us in honoring Becky’s memory and her contributions to organic by donating to the CCOF Endowment. A fully funded endowment would enable the CCOF Foundation’s current programs to continue in perpetuity.

Will you follow Becky’s foot steps and amplify her generosity by contributing?

Please contact CCOF Development Director Willow Aray at waray@ccof.org with questions or interest.