Latest Updates From Groundwork Somerville

A Special Appeal from Groundwork Somerville   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Stay Up-To Date: Check Out Events on our Calendar * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 2014 Events  Maple Syrup Brunch - January 20 Maple Syrup Boil Down - March 8, 9am-3pm Growing Center, 22 Vinal Ave. 2014 Groundwork Gala - April 4, 7pm The Armory, 191 Highland Ave. Comcast Cares Day - April 26th, all day Sites in Somerville and Malden     Would you like your year-end donation to have a regional - even a global impact?  Then I hope you will invest in Groundwork Somerville - recognized by The First Lady with a return invitation to the White House in 2013!   In April and May, a team of students and supervisors joined Michelle Obama in the White House garden - a garden modeled on the ones Groundwork has been building with Somerville Public Schools since 2003. But Groundwork grows more than gardens. We grow community and leaders. One of our signature programs is the Green Team: area youth who are employed and trained in environmental stewardship and leadership. This year's 24 youth got on-the-job experience in urban agriculture, parks management, historic preservation, invasive species removal, community organizing, urban planning and design, and social advocacy, and were the keynote speakers at Tufts Sustainability Conference and presented at the Mass Land Trust Coalition's annual conference. We can measure what Groundwork and our Green Team did this year for the earth: building public open space, growing 500 pounds of organic vegetables, and biking 1,500 miles around the region working to care for and maintain 31 different sites including state and national parks, gardens, rivers and farms. But the long term effect of being part of Groundwork Somerville? The potential is immeasurable. We are already seeing the early fruits of investments in these youth programs. Tania Ahmed (2009-2010), founded the non-profit Green Teen Growers and traveled to Bangladesh to examine the effects of climate change. Enxhi Popa (2010-2011) is now an affordable housing organizer and will graduate Tufts next year. And that is just two of the 150 youth who have been a part of our programs since 2007. Imagine the impact so many future leaders and environmentalists can have on our cities, farms, rivers, parks, and planet. While we are lucky to receive some funding each year from grants, schools and governments to support this work, we live or die through individual donations. Your year-end gift will go to keeping the Green Team's bike fleet in safe and working order, keeping all our gardens and farm beds full of soil, procuring compost and seeds, and employing Green Team youth in the off-season, when gardens aren't growing, but income is still essential for them and their families. A gift from you today is a sound investment in the future of environmental stewardship. In a challenging economic environment, we must count on you to help us finish this year in the green and prepare for a successful and innovative 2014. Every dollar matters. Thank you for contributing today to Groundwork Somerville.   Sincerely,   Chris Mancini Executive Director   To donate, you can click the links above, or mail a check to Groundwork Somerville, 24 Park St. #7, Somerville, MA 02143  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Want to know more about what your investment does? $60,000 hires a certified and specialized program manager to coordinate the youth program and run all our urban agriculture operations; $40,000 funds a year-round educator to administer seasonal curriculum to over 400 elementary students $17,500 builds a new urban farm or community garden $10,000 supports the Maple Syrup Project: four-weeks of classroom presentations and activities, including tapping urban maple trees and boiling the collected 300 gallons of local maple sap. $4,000 funds one Green Team youth for a full year $2,000 funds one Green Team youth for the summer $600 funds one Green Team youth for the school year season In 2013, generous donations to Groundwork Somerville funded:   A community-led design process of the 9-acre Draw 7 State Park--a completed project that will be a green benefit to the 6 towns that border the park;   Construction on 2.5 miles of the Northern Strand Community Trail, which will eventually link more than 50 continuous miles of off-street bike and pedestrian paths in the metro area The completion of South Street Farm, Somerville's first urban farm and a model of green technology incorporating rainwater harvesting and solar power to help provide affordable, healthy food to low-income families.                                                                                                        Please donate now to keep Groundwork Somerville in the green! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 24 Park Street, #7 Somerville, Massachusetts 02143