mlk day

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October 17, 2011

October UGC Meeting – 10/20.

Posted by bethel under community garden, farmers market, grant, mlk day, monthly meeting, school gardens, upcoming events
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This Thursday is our October Monthly Meeting – 6pm – at the Brazos River Plaza (715 Elm Street – East Waco).  I have included the agenda below – but please feel free to interject updates and announcements from your own projects – gardening or community-related.

October Meeting Agenda:

  • Introductions and Garden Reports.
  • Financial Report – and update on fiscal partnership with the McLennan County Hunger Coalition
  • Board Report – of items discussed at the UGC Board meeting this week
  • MLK Day Discussion:
    • 15 MLK Day Sites
    • Building a Better Event:  Day-of Project Brainstorm
    • Grant update
  • Downtown Farmers Market Update
  • “the Hunt for a Community Kitchen” Project
  • WHRI’s Fall Farm Day – details and UGC booth volunteer sign-up
  • Granting and Planting Suggestions for Late October/November
 

January 25, 2011

MLK Day 2011 Wrap-up.

Posted by bethel under community garden, mlk day, school gardens | Tags: , , , , |
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Because of the economic downturn, needs in our community are particularly great right now. Addressing the challenge of access to and affordability of health food in our community will take a sustained effort, and we hope many who are served on the 2011 MLK Day of Service will make an ongoing commitment to serve throughout the year.

Total # of Volunteers: 864 Total Volunteers – 196 Adults – 411 College Age* – 16 High School Students – 243 Middle/Elementary

*College Age reflects Campus Kitchens Volunteers making lunches on Sat and Mon.

Garden Sites: Baylor Campus, Brazos Middle, Calvary Community, Columbus Avenue, Cottage Retirement, Hewitt Community, Hillcrest Professional Development School, Lake Shore Baptist, Rapoport Academy, Sul Ross Elementary, Tennyson Middle, University Baptist, West Ave. Elementary, Woodway Elementary, World Hunger Relief Farm

Participating Partners:

  • Urban Gardening Coalition, Master Gardeners, Master Composters, HealthCorps, CIS AmeriCorps, Campus Kitchens, Community Race Relations Coalition (“everyone worked together as a team to make the day productive and memorable”).
  • The Power of Prevention Coalition led activities at the Cottage Retirement Garden.
  • The Mayor of Hewitt came to the Hewitt Community Garden to present the MLK Day Proclamation.  Waco Mayor Jim Bush came to the dedication ceremony at the Baylor Campus Garden.  Baylor University President Kenneth Starr led the reflection activity at the Baylor Campus Garden.
  • Other schools that participated: JH Hines Elementary, Live Oak Classical, University Middle School, Cesar Chavez Middle School, Brook Ave Elementary

Celebrating the legacy of Dr. King:

  • There were people from multiple generations, ethnicities and income levels working together in the garden.
  • Service to beautify and provide nutrition for an urban location with high homeless population.
  • Discussed service and love and how to carry on the legacy in the community.
  • The Calvary Community Garden is primarily on effort to reconcile the neighborhood into a strong community. This supports MLK’s vision for an world without racial, social, or economic barriers.
  • Dr. King was about service and the purpose of our garden is to serve the community. We mean [the Baylor Campus Garden] to be a teaching and feeding mechanism that will bring the community together. This will also serve as a visual representation of the growth that occurs when community partners collaborate.
  • MLK stood for the poor and our food will supply food for the hungry.

Stories from the Event:

  • Calvary Community Garden: We generated a lot of support for the community garden project. We taught some people what a community garden even is, and were able to cast our vision to a wider variety of people than normal.
  • Sul Ross Elementary : Our students who brought family members with them to volunteer were very enthusiastic in showing their family members around the garden “mom I painted that sign”, “this is my compost experiment”, “I planted these carrots”, etc. It was fun to watch the families interact and very encouraging seeing the excitement on both sides. There is a rosemary bush that two students planted in the fall of 2009 that has gotten quite big in our herb garden. One of these students was at the event with her mom and they took a cutting from the bush home to plant in their garden. I thought this illustrated our dream that the school garden would make its way from the students to families.
  • Tennyson Middle School: Students enjoyed sharing about their summer plans to volunteer.
  • Woodway Elementary: Teachers came out into the garden with their students and shared about maintaining the garden throughout the spring, finally harvesting and cooking the potatoes and onions at the end of the school year – making taquitos, potato salad, and more. Many of the teachers emphasized how important it is for them to help the kids understand that food is grown in dirt – and they enjoy being able to share the growing cycle with their students.

 

 

January 13, 2011

Learning About the Man Behind the Day.

Posted by bethel under community garden, mlk day, upcoming events | Tags: , , , , |
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Below is a great list of resources for learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy.  As suggested by Coalition-member Linda Lewis.

Three books for general reference:  The Strength to Love, Where Do We Go From Here:  From Chaos to Community and America During the King Years.

National service day website:  MLKDay.gov.

Songs/Videos:
http://www.spinner.com/2010/01/14/mlk-day-songs/?a_dgi=aolshare_email

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSPLel4OrFo Martin, St. Martin  by Terry Collier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uy8cyVWU2A Why? The King of Love is Dead by Nina Simone
Stevie Wonder’s Happy BirthDay song For Dr. King

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKCsZc37esU Sister Rosa  Neville Brothers

 

December 30, 2010

Beyond the Backyard: Winter Vegetable Workshop.

Posted by bethel under community garden, mlk day, upcoming events, workshop | Tags: , , , , , |
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January 8, 2011 (Saturday): Planting a Winter Garden (Special MLK growing edition). Lean how to plant and grow and nurture a winter garden in this wonderful Central Texas climate.  10am-12pm. At the World Hunger Relief Farm – 356 Spring Lake Road.

Registration forms can be found here (Beyond the Backyard Registration Form) and should be returned to Bethel via email (vista@worldhungerrelief.org). Suggested donations of $5 can be made through Paypal on the Urban Gardening Coalition website.

 

December 17, 2010

MLK Poster and PR Propaganda!

Posted by bethel under community garden, mlk day, other things urban gardening, school gardens, upcoming events | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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Save the Date: Get Out in the Garden on MLK Day 2011

Waco, TX – To promote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of building broad and diverse community coalitions, the Heart of Texas Urban Gardening Coalition (UGC) will coordinate gardening projects throughout the city of Waco as part of the MLK Day of Service on January 17, 2011 from 12:00pm-3:00pm. Leading up to the 2011 event, the UGC and World Hunger Relief Farm will be hosting a Winter Vegetable Garden Workshop on January 8, 2011 to train volunteers how to plant and tend the winter vegetables planted on MLK Day. This year the Coalition is working with 15 garden sites to grow gardens, create art, eat food and meet neighbors.

Kicking off at noon, the MLK Day of Service will begin with Baylor Campus Kitchens serving a healthy bagged lunch for participants at each gardening site, followed by an MLK Reflection Activity led by members of Communities-In-School AmeriCorps and Community Health Corps. From 1:00-3:00pm, participants can take part in an art activity coordinated by the Waco Arts Initiative and gardening activities that will include preparing and planting vegetable beds, cleaning up and beautifying surrounding areas, and other projects specific to the gardening site. The UGC hopes people from across Waco will join together in serving the Waco community. As Dr. King said, “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.”

MLK 2011 Garden Sites:

  • Baylor Campus Garden (Garden Ribbon Cutting) – Corner of 9th and James Avenue
  • Brazos Middle School – 2415 Cumberland Avenue
  • Calvary Community Garden – 19th & Homan Avenue
  • Columbus Avenue Community Garden (Garden Groundbreaking) – 1115 Columbus Avenue, behind the Columbus Avenue Activities Center
  • Cottages of Oak Springs Retirement Home (Garden Groundbreaking) – 1900 Woodgate Drive
  • Hewitt Community Garden at Hewitt First United Methodist (Garden Dedication) – 600 S. First Street, Hewitt
  • Hillcrest Professional Development School – 4225 Pine Avenue
  • Lake Shore Baptist Community Garden – 5801 Bishop Drive
  • Meyer High School at Rapoport Academy – 1020 Elm Avenue
  • Sul Ross Elementary School Garden – 901 S. 7th Street
  • Tennyson Middle School Garden – 6100 Tennyson Drive
  • University Baptist Community Garden – 1701 Dutton Avenue
  • West Avenue Elementary – 1101 N. 15th Avenue
  • Woodway Elementary – 325 Estates Drive (event observed in-school on Tuesday 1/18)
  • World Hunger Relief, Inc. – 356 Spring Lake Road

*******************

For more details about the 2011 MLK Day of Service, visit the Urban Gardening Coalition’s website: http://hotugc.org. To volunteer for the event, register at the Baylor Campus Kitchens website (http://www.baylor.edu/campuskitchen/) or contact Kelly Baker (kelly_l_baker@baylor.edu). Or contact Bethel Erickson (vista@worldhungerrelief.org) for general information and to register for the Winter Vegetable Garden Workshop.

About the Urban Gardening Coalition

Since its inception in the spring of 2005, the Urban Gardening Coalition (UGC) has served as a unique group facilitating discussion and organizing activities for individuals and organizations who are interested in gardening as a means of building community. Our current garden activities include after-school gardening programs partnered with CIS schools as well as coordinating gardening activities at many churches and community organizations across the Heart of Texas. UGC is a recipient of 2010 UnitedHealth Heroes Award, which funds projects developing semester long service learning projects to combat childhood obesity. The UGC is using these funds to support garden programming at gardens hosting events on the MLK Day of Service and throughout the spring growing season – including the Harvest Celebration in April. More information on the Urban Gardening Coalition is available at hotugc.org.

About the Campus Kitchens Project

The Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) is giving $40,000 to 20 student-led, community-based programs across 15 states all committed to highlighting their work on National Day of Service, January 17, 2011. This year’s MLK Jr. Day of Service grantees represent the largest and most diverse group since the CKP grant program began in 2009. Since 2001, CKP has provided healthy meals to their neighbors in need by harnessing the spirit of student volunteerism within local communities. Now in its eighth year, CKP operates on 25 college, university and high school campuses, providing meals to individuals and families in their communities. Thanks to the support of Sodexo, General Mills and the Corporation for National and Community Service, Campus Kitchens continues to grow. More information on the Campus Kitchens Project is available at www.campuskitchens.org.

 

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