Hot off the press! For a detailed look at what’s been happening at Grow Dat this spring, download our Spring 2013 Quarterly Update.
Click the link above to download the PDF for the inside scoop about our 2013 program so far
Ariel Roland, Masters in Social Work at Tulane and serving as our Youth & Alumni Coordinator, crafts beautiful newsletters that youth share with their families and schools each month. We thought you might like a peek at them, too!
The Cypress Field in full bloom. Early evening, June 2012.
Will you help us grow by supporting our year-end Growing the Green giving campaign?
Photo by Dacia Idom
“Everybody’s got their own story and it’s always good to hear
what people gotta say.
That’s the biggest lesson I got from this program: that everybody is human and everybody has their own separate theme.”
-Youth Crew Member
Please help us nuture a diverse group of young leaders through the meaningful work of growing good.
Want to get your hands dirty and directly support sustainable local food systems in your city? We’d love to have you join us for any of the following volunteer days on our farm in City Park this fall.
The weather is cooling off (finger’s crossed!) so now is a great time to volunteer. We have lots of work to do to prepare for our FALL PLANT SHOW & PARTY (save the date – Nov. 3) and for the next crop of Grow Dat youth crew members who will begin their farming jobs with us in January 2013.
Saturdays in October, November and December 2012
October 13th, 20th and 27th
November 10th
December 1st and 15th
9am – 12 noon
Please notify Jabari Brown if you intend to join us for any of these dates: jabari1@growdatyouthfarm.org, cell: 601.260.0509. Wear long pants, boots or sturdy shoes, and be sure to bring a hat and a water bottle.
Thanks for your support! Hope to see you on the farm this fall.
We’re excited to announce that our first annual Growing the Green fundraising campaign was an enormous success, with over seventy individuals contributing $6,606 of support for our youth employees!
We are so thankful for the generous contributions of the following individuals (and more!). Your support allows us to bring quality youth employment to young people in New Orleans, and bring about lasting change through sustainable urban agriculture. THANK YOU!
Grow Dat Donors, Growing the Green Campaign, Winter 2011-2012
Gwen
Rachel Lee
Kristy Magner
Sean Gilligan
Alex Budak
Joann Ricci
Katie Bingham
Mara LePere Schloop
Betty Burkes
GK Darby
Steffan Heuer
Raphael Cassimere Jr
John Hopper
Brian Gorman
Will Widmer
Nick Jenisch
Suze Gardner
Naomi Wood
Jade
Char Keith
Kim Spencer
Molly Mitchell
Regina Wright
Summer Lewis
Miriam
David Edeli
Colleen Kelleher
Kathy Ogle
Leo N Gorman
MarieIsabelle
Melinda St Louis
Matthew R Whipple
Waggonner & Bell Architects (Sherry Gilchrist)
David Charne
Matt Olson
Riley Merline
Anderson
Virginia Rangel
Susan Gartner
Rufus Ayres
Zoe Scharff
Becca Fuchs
Michelle Gorman
Jennifer Leis
Lou Samuel
Marshall Scallan
Lucy Colville
Macon Fry
Linda Newell Hutchins
Amy Morris
Ali
Bonnie McKinney
Gina Margillo
Tiffany Lin
Max Elliot
*Other supporters showed their commitment to Grow Dat by purchasing tools for our farm! Their honor roll will be featured soon.
The Grow Dat Youth Farm enthusiastically introduces “Core Volunteer Tuesdays!”
Beginning Jan 17th we will gather every Tuesday morning from 8-11am at the Grow Dat farm site in City Park to harvest and process crops for market, make compost, maintain our fields and build community. These work sessions will grow our farm’s capacity to produce food in a sustainable way while helping to create a setting for a rigorous youth leadership program for years to come.
We’re especially looking for folks who can commit to at least two Tuesdays per month to ensure a consistent and high-quality work schedule. So, come on out, bring a friend and become a “Core Volunteer!”
For more information, please contact Jabari Brown at jabari1@growdatyouthfarm.org
See you next Tuesday!
Our first annual giving campaign, “Growing the Green” has soared in the last 2 weeks – we’re now over halfway to our tipping point goal. Please contribute and help us raise the last few thousand dollars we need to secure funding for several more youth positions in 2012!
In the event you still have gifts to buy for loved ones, please consider giving the gift of employment for a young person in New Orleans.
The idea for Grow Dat is simple: hire young adults, whose job options are often limited to fast food restaurants, to grow food for their community. In New Orleans we suffer from diet-related disease in numbers even higher than the staggering national averages. We believe in the ability of young adults not only to change those patterns in their own lives, but to be leaders who can affect change throughout their community. At Grow Dat, we give young people the skills to do just that.
During the holiday season you can help us grow the green giving the gift of employment for a young person here. We will provide you with a printable card recognizing your contribution that you can share with the person on whose behalf you have donated. All donations are tax deductible.
Devin bonds with a lovely hen on a visit to Green Gate Farms in Austin, Texas
Reporter and food writer Tracie McMillan just wrote a fabulous little piece about Grow Dat for Grist Magazine.
Enjoy!
Measuring Our Impact
As 2011 draws to a close and we rapidly move into our hiring cycle for Grow Dat 2012, it’s important to pause and reflect on our first year. Jolissa, Teedy, Muffin, Pink, Bri and Jabari rep our successes in this sweet evaluation infographic.
Infographic designed by Justin Park of the Tulane School of Architecture
Why provide employment for young people?
Check out the purple fact: 20% of all food and beverage workers are 16 to 19 years old. That’s 6 times the proportion for all other workers. This is the national average, but some researchers suspect that this number is even higher in New Orleans.
