It’s so wonderful to have fans and it’s even more wonderful when you’re fans of your FANS!  We love WNYMedia and want to hug Chris and Marc (and call them George).  They stopped by last week and caught some footage of our Green Summer Crew!  They posted their project on their space.  Click & Watch it! 
WNYMedia also wants to host a party for us; stay tuned for details!

(Dr. Henry Taylor, of UB’s Urban Planning Dept. spoke with the Green Summer Crew last week)

I’ve never really been much of a gardener; keeping the one plant alive in my kitchen is basically the extent of my expertise. So when Michael and Caesandra began discussing having gardens around the ReSOURCE, I was totally psyched by the idea, but with my lack of veggie planting experience I never thought I would be helping plan them and making them happen.

Well, I’m happy to announce that we have officially started our community garden project! Two weeks ago, with the start of the summer youth program, Michael rented a rototiller and we ground up the soil and planted rows and rows of squash, watermelon, strawberries (that will come back in the next years), and flowers. They had all been growing in their respective containers for a month and we finally transplanted them. We’ve slowly been adding raised beds which contain eggplant, carrots, radish, beets, tomatoes, hot peppers, many types of beans, spinach, lettuce, and more and more delicious veggies! Everyday things are growing and producing vegetables that we can eat! Just yesterday I checked on the eggplant and it’s now two inches in size!!

Community gardens are amazing. They provide a place of hope and beauty in the neighborhood and the plants growing everyday highlights the great sense of pride we can find in growing our own vegetables and in turn pride in the community that helped to produce those vegetables. Community gardens are also a great place for socializing. Even on the first day I was talking to people from the neighborhood who were curious about what we are trying to accomplish. People I have never talked to before have started stopping by; it’s a great way to build a community and make friends. For example, I am now good friends with the neighbors across the street who generously supplied water when we didn’t have access to our own water supply yet. And the woman down the street stopped by to tell me she would like to spend time working on her own little plot in the garden too!

It is our hope that the beginning stages of this garden will blossom into a fully functional garden next spring and provide a food source as well as a source of pride for the area’s residents. Already I can see this happening; all it took was a little dirt, some seeds, and some TLC to liven up a former empty lot. Fingers crossed that there will be enough of a harvest this year and then we can invite the community out to enjoy all of the veggies, cooked in various ways. Perhaps a small harvesting celebration is in order so we can enjoy both the vegetables and each others’ company. Anyway, I hope you come for a visit or volunteer in our patchwork garden. It’d be great to see you there!

Our community garden is funded in part through material donations and a collaborative grant awarded by The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo

Last week our 5 new Green Crew Leaders began training together in preparation for our six week Green Summer program. Amanda Watkins, Shelly Inniss-Jackson and Katherine Beyer along with Cheryl Mingo and Marcus Austin are coordinating the neighborhood projects a group of 20 teens will complete this summer. The sorts of projects we have on tap are lot cleanups, pruning, mowing, board-ups, community garden installation and property maintenance and service projects for the elderly or even church groups. The mentors have already begun a short list of projects and service groups to connect with; however, if you know of people in the neighborhood with needs, please contact the crew leaders greensummer {at} buffaloreuse(.)org or call 716-882-2800 to find out how we can help. The program is short so don’t wait!

In addition, the program hopes to expose the teens to green collar job opportunities and education by visiting places like the windmills or landfills and recycling centers. “Have van; will travel” if you have a great site young people should know about as it relates to a green economy, an eco-friendly lifestyle or a service to the community, please make contact with us and let’s show the teens all the options available to them.

Back when I led young people in the woods building trails, I always ended our expedition by reading the story “Hope for the Flowers,” by Trina Paulus. It’s a touching story about personal growth, setting and attaining life goals, and transformation–told from the perspective of two caterpillars, Stripe and Yellow. If you’ve never read it, you should share it with the children in your life, a loved one, or friends (young and old). This summer, Buffalo ReUse will share those same values with over 15 summer youth eager to learn, explore, grow. It will be our first summer initiating our Green Summer Program. With your support, we’re confident it too can be a transformative experience for Buffalo neighborhoods, the youth involved, and all of those touched by our effort.

The goals of Green Summer are quite simple.

1. Surround young people with supportive and caring mentors that will provide positive leadership development and training experiences in Buffalo neighborhoods.
2. Engage youth in projects that improve inner-city neighborhoods through the creation of new green spaces, the maintenance of existing assets, and service projects that support existing resources and programs.
3. Create a community of mentors, youth, and families that encourages critical thinking and problem solving; action that improves our neighborhoods; and understanding and respect for individual differences.

In two weeks, we’ll launch this unique program and we need your financial support. Your contribution will complement recently committed funding from the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, for hand tools and materials for green-space projects and the City of Buffalo, who will pay the stipends for the youth involved. We are working to raise funds to pay the amazing mentors that have stepped forward to pioneer this action-packed experience for youth and buy the a van that will transport them on their journey.

To make a contribution via PayPal, click on this link http://www.buffaloreuse.org/Donate/Donate or reply to this email with a commitment. Checks can be sent to Buffalo ReUse, Inc., P.O. Box 1132, Buffalo, NY 14213. (Please put GREEN SUMMER in the memo line).

If a financial contribution is not possible, we invite you to get involved as a volunteer mentor or resource person. We’re looking for gardeners, landscapers, horticulturalists, cooks, artists, engineers, ecologists, handy and creative folks of all kinds, and people eager to make a difference in the lives of youth. We’ll keep you informed of community events and activities planned as the summer moves along. In addition, we need flowers, seeds, plants, trees, topsoil, compost, surplus garden tools, and 12 or 15 passenger van (you’ll get the super contributor of the year award if you help us land this). Send us an email with your thoughts and ideas!

Here’s a real-life example of what we mean…
The photos included are of a community garden and outdoor learning lab recently “re-discovered” on Buffalo’s east side. It was designed to serve the community as a space for social interaction and education. Unfortunately, the site has been neglected. Here in Buffalo, we have amazing assets; it is our responsibility to maintain existing resources and support the creation of new spaces for community engagement. Participants of Green Summer will take an active role, not only in maintaining this unique destination, but in creating new ones. We’ll clean vacant lots and improve green spaces, beautify urban neighborhoods, and provide positive learning experiences for teens. With your contribution our communities can achieve their potential and become inviting places to live and visit–from caterpillar to cocoon, to butterfly . . . as Yellow explains to Stripe, “Once you are a butterfly, you can really love — the kind of love that makes new life. It’s better than all the hugging caterpillars can do.”