As reported earlier, the decision was made by the Bonus Pastor Board to end the dairy farm project. We were then looking to sell the cattle, milk quotas and machinery and rent out the farm buildings and related property. To our great surprise, we received an offer from Martin Douma in Canada. Martin and his wife Debbie and their three young daughters had lived in Ozd between 2003 and 2006. He was serving as a volunteer with the responsibility for overseeing the dairy farm and so had a major role in setting up its operations. After the Doumas left, we found that we could not work with the same efficiency and continuing improvement of the operations with the goal of achieving sustained profitability.

Martin forwarded to us an offer put together by of a group of five people: three from Ozd (former dairy farm administrator Ferenc Mihály and two brothers running a neighboring farm) and two Canadians (Martin himself and Joe Leferink, who also served as a volunteer in Ozd earlier). They offered to buy the cattle and part of the machinery and then rent the farm--essentially continuing the operation at its current site.

The agreement was made and the farm was handed over in March. We were also able to sell most of the remaining machinery. Therapy Centre clients will continue to work at the farm and the centre will receive a daily supply of milk . In this way, the rent will provide a regular income for the foundation and the farm will continue to be a place for work therapy. We intend to reinvest the proceeds from the sale of the assets and not use them for the ongoing programs and operations of the Foundation.

Although Martin cannot be at Ozd permanently (his family is in Canada where he runs his own farm), we hope that the new owners can achieve more than we could, given their experience and commitment. We believe it is a real blessing that the farm can continue with the involvement of Martin and his associates.

Written by Sándor Magdó