On a sunny morning in late July, Cara Mae Wooledge picked up her phone during a call with me and casually secured a $1,500 donation like she was ordering a coffee. “That’s why you pick up the phone,” she said with a laugh. She was house-sitting a mansion on Dry Creek Road at the time — “manifesting wealth,” she joked — but the reality is, she’s running one of the most underappreciated nonprofits in Napa during their biggest fundraiser of the year.
So yes, — literally manifesting wealth.
Cara Mae is the executive director of the Napa Farmers Market, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that most people assume is city-funded, well-staffed, and financially stable. It’s none of those things. But it is wildly successful, which, ironically, might be part of the problem.
“The market looks like it’s thriving. And it is,” she told me. “But people don’t realize it’s a fragile system. We rely on stall fees, grants, and donations to survive. And stall fees alone can’t sustain what we’re doing.”
What they’re doing is deceptively complex: 138 vendors, 87 markets a year, 26,000 pounds of food donated, and over $200,000 in food assistance distributed to families with low income. The market supports 37 small farms — some of which earn over 65% of their total income there. It's also responsible for roughly $9.6 million in direct spending at the market and $17.6 million in spillover dollars spent elsewhere downtown. If you’ve ever stopped by the bike shop, the yoga studio, or Sweetie Pies on a Saturday morning before or after your farmers market trip, you’re part of that impact.
And yet the market has no permanent home.
Location Is Everything
Since its founding, the Farmer’s Market has bounced between ten different locations. The current downtown site — a city parking lot slated for eventual development — has been a game-changer, drawing record-breaking crowds and reestablishing the market as a hub for locals and tourists alike. But the agreement is year-to-year, and there’s no guarantee they’ll stay.
“That’s the challenge we’re facing,” Cara Mae says. “We’re really the only thing bringing thousands of Napa locals downtown twice a week. We’re a third place — a community anchor — and we want to make sure that doesn’t go away.”
She’s not exaggerating. Since moving back downtown in 2020, customer visits have increased by 155%. The number of vendors is up 95%. Food assistance use is up 92%. And still, the market’s core funding is tenuous — built on vendor fees that average $50 per stall and an annual fundraising campaign called “Friends of the Market” that asks regulars to chip in $10, $25, or whatever they can manage.
“It’s like NPR,” she says. “You don’t have to donate to enjoy it, but you could think of it as almost like a tip to the staff, Like what is the gratuity that you would leave to this nonprofit organization that is doing incredible work around food access?”
Supporting Small Business
That experience, if you haven’t been lately, is worth protecting. Napa’s market is a place where Michelin-starred chefs shop alongside families using CalFresh. It’s one of the few places in town where you’ll see tourists, retirees, restaurant staff, toddlers, and teenagers all occupying the same space with the same purpose: to eat well and support local.
“It’s not convenient,” she admits. “But it’s not supposed to be. What we trade off in convenience, we gain in relationships.”
And those relationships go beyond transactions. Vendors like Sun Tracker Farm and Ohm Coffee Roasters credit the market with launching and sustaining their businesses. Sun Tracker now accounts for over 65% of its annual revenue through the market alone. Ohm went from espresso truck to local cult favorite to award-winning roaster with multiple cafés, all starting from a 10-by-10 stall.
But despite all that success, the structure holding the market together is still vulnerable. The staff is small but mighty — three full-time employees and a rotating cast of part-time help and volunteers. And Cara Mae? She’s doing it all: managing grants, advocating with the city, wrangling logistics, and yes, answering donor calls in the middle of interviews.
The next big goal: securing a permanent home. “Even a 50-year lease,” she says, “so we can plan, grow, build infrastructure, and stop wondering every year if we’ll be moved. The good news is we're beginning to have real conversations with the city of Napa economic development division to see what that might look like.”
What You Can Do
Until then, the market will keep doing what it does best: feeding people, growing businesses, and showing up rain or shine. But the message is clear — this isn’t a guaranteed thing. It’s a community effort. And your $10 could make more of a difference than you think.
If you’re one of the 168,000 people who visited the Napa Farmers Market last year, consider this your moment to give back. Because farmers markets don’t run on good vibes alone.
→ Donate here: napafarmersmarket.org/donate