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| FRESH New London September Newsletter |
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Hurricane Maria. Hurricane Harvey, Tropical Storm Irma, Hurricane Juan, Cyclonic Storm Mora in India. The Earthquake in Mexico. Wildfires in the Northwest and down the Western Coast. The weather in the past month has been wild and deadly, driving home how deeply tied we are to Mother Nature-- how we are all at her mercy despite the myriad ways our modern world promises to insulate us. Images of Puerto Rico, Houston, Turks and Caicos, Saint Martins, Bangladesh and beyond should serve as a sobering reminder that we tamper with and exploit the natural world at our peril.
Much closer to home, a micro burst swept through New London on September 6th, turning the sky black, downing trees and killing at least one person, a well-loved musician named Art Falconi.
The youth leaders at FRESH New London are participating in efforts to raise aid for Puerto Rico. A number of our youth and our Youth Organizer have family in Puerto Rico deeply affected by the storm and its aftermath. Please give what you can! Locally, we are funneling donations for Puerto Rico and Mexico through the Hispanic Federation.
In this edition of FRESH New London's Newsletter, we introduce you to our new staff members and share some of the Good News of McDonald Park, and give you alot of announcements
Happy Fall! Your Friends at FRESH
Fall Changes: Welcome New Staff! Fall Youth Program
Job Opening: Food Fellow! Charter Oak Matching Gifts Upcoming Events: Saturday, September 30, 2-4pm: Kimchi and Kraut Saturday, October 7, 2-4pm: Cooking Veggies Your Kids Will Eat Sunday, October 22, 3-5:30pm, FRESH Annual Gathering Invitation |
| | IT ALL COMES TOGETHER, thoughts from Alicia McAvay |
| | It all comes together
In our grants, our board meetings, among our staff, we talk a lot about the ways in which food justice work has many dimensions. It stands at the intersection of health, hunger, education, neighborhood issues like policing and drug use. And food justice brings us all together to talk and help each other beyond food access.
Within FRESH, we try to approach our work with the same richness and cover all these dimensions. Sometimes it feels like we are headed in too many directions or doing too much, but then we realize that it all connects. I was reminded of this a couple Saturdays ago at McDonald Park while harvesting with three young girls. They came to the park with a request from their mom to harvest green tomatoes. Being a part of the neighborhood means we know that this family has gone through hard times and has been impacted by the issues of the neighborhood. The garden is here as a part of the neighborhood and for the neighborhood. It was great to see these young people taking part in the bounty. As I was harvesting with them, I started to share some tips - "when you harvest tomatoes, you want to twist the fruit..." and they quickly stopped me. They know how to harvest. They do this at their school garden at Jennings (a part of FRESH's Farm to School work). They know how to find the best green tomatoes, how to identify and harvest carrots, where the kale is and that one bed is full of different salad greens. And they harvest all this stuff, coming back again for more so they can make a big family salad. They tried some of the mustard greens and told a story about high-fiving a big sunflower every time they come to park. And then they offered to water and knew to water right at the base of the plant. As we move into the fall, a busy time for both planning and growing, it was great to see our work intersect. In this case, our Farm to School investment showed up to impact our work with McDonald Park. AND those three young people will be soon old enough to get a summer job with FRESH, using this knowledge to make an even greater impact on their community.
The impact is greater and stronger because it all connects and grows.
These moments are what the work is all about.
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| FALL CHANGES: INTRODUCING NEW STAFF |
| | Fall is a time of change-- and we are seeing that in our staff line up as well.
We bid farewell to Erick Carrion Rivera at the end of the summer and wished him well as he started a new position at the Alliance for Living.
We'd like to introduce you to our new staff (one of whom close readers of this newsletter know well) Julie Garay and Heather Laidlaw.
Julie Garay has been a part of FRESH since she was a sophomore in high school. She turned 21 on Wednesday (9/27) so email youth@freshnewlondon.org to say Happy Birthday!
She has worn many different hats at FRESH: Youth, Assistant Farm Manager, Assistant Crew Leader, Assistant Program Director. Now her hat says "Youth Organizer." We are so excited to welcome Julie into this role. She brings deep wisdom, loads of experience, youthful energy, and respect for youth's voice and power to the job!
Heather Laidlaw is our new AmericCorps Vista Volunteer. Usually people in these positions are young and inexperienced, but Heather is a Master Gardener, homesteader and community educator. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. She'll be continuing some of Megan Griffin's work. We are excited to welcome her to FRESH! |
| Fall Youth Program Begins! |
| | This exciting Fall, the Youth program will consist of six amazing youth that have been a part of the Spring/ Summer program and have shown dedication and commitment. We will be working 3 days a week doing many different task to develop them as strong leaders.
Wednesdays we will be cooking and starting to teach the youth how to lead there own workshops with the help of myself and the youth leader, Makeeda.
Thursdays our Farm Manager Tekowa, will be facilitating Agricultural and Social Liberation workshops.
On Saturdays, working with volunteers on hands-on agricultural activities at our Urban Farm in Mercer and in McDonald Park Community Garden.
Through all of this we will be connecting with each other and community members through, educational trips and planning community meals. |
| Job Opening: Looking for a "Food Fellow" |
| | The New London County Food Policy Council (NLCFPC), through United Way of Southeastern CT, is hiring a Food Fellow.
The Food Fellow will engage residents of New London and Groton in food system planning through a series of community dinners, use grassroots organizing to build a base for the community food movement and assist NLCFPC in creating a Food Action Plan based on stakeholder input.
This is a part time, contracted, grant funded position with opportunity to renew. See the full job description and instructions on how to apply HERE. |
| Charter Oak Matching Gifts! |
| Looking for an easy way to support FRESH New London and double your impact? Charter Oak Credit Union will match your contribution to FRESH (and, it has to be said, many other worthy organizations) between now and 11/22.
You have to have a Charter Oak account and there is some paperwork involved and contributions must be in increments of $25 (up to $500) to be matched.
Check it out!
FRESH eagerly awaits your contributions! https://charteroak.org/content/matching-gifts/
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WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT
Interested in supporting FRESH with a tax-deductible donation? Of course you are!!
Follow this link: http://www.freshnewlondon.org/donate |
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