There's just an absurd amount of good stuff to report! Please forgive that this newsletter is lengthier than most.
The roof replacement project for the TSW Residence is now complete, thanks largely to the crews from Our House and Turner Roofing, and to the Maryland Historical Society for awarding us the grant to pay for it.
We had a couple set-backs with the cold weather and burst pipes. Those of you who craned your necks to paint the ceilings will just have to come back and do it again. sorry!!
The biggest news is the ground breaking of The Samaritan Women Community Garden. Our goal is to meet the challenge of urban "food deserts" by growing local produce and selling it at neighborhood farmer's markets as well as donating produce to food banks and shelters. Over the long haul, this industry will also provide produce for our culinary arts program, provide a community service outlet for our residents, and offer a source of sustainable income so that we can make the TSW Residence available to more women.With a great amount of help from First Fruits Farms and Charm City Farms, and some heavy-duty machinery from GM Bushhog, we've been able to mow down and plow about 3 acres of land and prepare the ground for planting. In fact, Roy of Charm City Farms has agreed to serve as our farm manager for this growing season to help us get this going. February 28th is our target date for the first planting and we'll be aided by local youth groups and our regular volunteers. Come on out and join us!
We'll be meeting next month with the Maryland Master Gardeners and Parks and People about how they can get involved. And much to our delight, we're now discussing a partnership with RICA to have their kids work in the garden as part of their horticulture curriculum!
If you haven't been out in a while, you're going to be totally captivated. The back property now looks like a beautiful state park, just waiting for the opportunity to host family or church picnics, youth retreats, and those looking for a natural haven to contemplate and pray.
We also are in the process of scheduling a site visit with Councilwoman Helen Holton this month. She's been following our progress via the newsletters, but this will be her chance to see it all for herself!
An Appeal for your Help:
Despite otherwise good news, it's a really rough time for nonprofits right now, at least where grant funding resources are concerned. We're one of those organizations that (because we're new and still in development) don't make it to the top of funders' lists. But God has more ways to get His work done than we can ever imagine.
So we've posted on our website an updated list of the various supplies, products, materials and in-kind services that we could use. There's everything from paper towels to a truck on that list because we believe that everyone can give on some level. So we're asking each of you to consider our needs and ask: "who do I know who might have this..?" It happens often enough that someone knows someone who knows someone who just happens to have exactly what we can use.
Or, mobilize your church, company, nonprofit, or neighbors to collect these things or raise funds for an item. If you know of a skilled tradesperson willing to donate some time, we need that too.
Volunteering:
Assume that every Saturday is a date for working at TSW, but if you want to schedule your own group on a particular day, just email me (jallert@thesamaritanwomen.org).
You can also check the Google calendar on our website www.thesamaritanwomen.org/calendar.html . Starting in the late spring, we're going to need 30-50 volunteers per week, even during weekdays, to help with harvesting and replanting, so don't be shy about recruiting your friends to come "get dirty" with you.
Some of the groups already scheduled or expressing interest in volunteering are:
- UMBC Alternative Spring Break, Catonsville, MD
- Chapelgate Presbyterian, Marriottsville, MD
- Grace Community Church, Fulton, MD
- Church of the Nazarene, Bel Air, MD
- New Hope Lutheran, Columbia, MD
- First Lutheran, Ellicott City, MD
- Southeast Community Church, Louisville, KY
- The Vineyard Church, Millersville, MD
- Emory United Methodist, Ellicott City, MD
and we know we'll be blessed by our faithful regulars: Mosaic, Mind the Gap, Bethel and St Mary's !!
Prayer Requests:
- Prayers of huge thanks to Bethel for bringing over a vanload of prayer warriors to lift up this ministry.
- Pray that we would hear positively from some of the grant funding organizations we've solicited.
- Pray for the safety of all our volunteers as they work to bring about this big vision.
- Pray that we'll forge the right partnerships for the distribution of food and that families in the area will be blessed and bodies will be strengthened by this resource
What an adventure! Thank you ALL for being a part of it.
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