Last month I had the opportunity to learn a lot about a wonderful group of people who are making our neighborhood a better place to live – right now – and for generations to come. The name of the group is Corcoran GROWS. Their mission is to “unleash the potential of its neighbors, through a variety of efforts that empower our community to work together toward greater self-reliance.” They are part of the Transition Town Movement, a grassroots idea “to build community resilience in the face of such challenges as peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis.”
My dad and I had to look up some of the words in the last sentence to get a better idea of what Corcoran GROWS is all about. The next step for me was to meet with Joe Hesla, one of the people who helped start the group about 5 years ago. I asked him if it is exciting to be part of Corcoran GROWS. Naturally, he said that it is very exciting because “we get neighbors together to make new friends, do projects together. Learn from each other to be more sustainable, grow food and do it your self projects.”
Some of those projects from this year included holding “a building day to build stands for rain barrels so the barrels work better.” They also built compost structures for neighbors and had a raspberry-sharing day. A few weeks back they held their third neighborhood Garden Tour. Russ Henry toured gardens with neighbors and gave lots of ideas about how to make their gardens more sustainable. Mr. Hesla went on to mention, “Corcoran GROWS has participated in two Info Fairs where they gave demos about worm composting, rocket stoves, & gardening. Corcoran Grows hosted two community sings. Knowing people in your neighborhood is the best way to keep your community sustainable.”
By the time you are reading this article you may have the chance to attend one of workshops on canning. The two remaining sessions are on canning cucumbers (September 6th) and tomatoes (September 13th). The workshops are free, but people need to bring their own vegetables and canning supplies. To sign up you should contact Anne Holzinger (anneholzinger [at] hotmail [dot] com).
Mr. Hesla told me that in the winter Corcoran GROWS show movies that feature people from all over the world working together to make their own communities sustainable. You should visit the website (corcorangrows.org) to learn more about their ongoing projects and upcoming events. For instance, Milly’s Peace Garden “a community garden at 2017 East 38th Street. All community members are invited to visit and to apply to participate in gardening activities.”
My last question to Mr. Hesla was to find out his favorite part of Corcoran GROWS. “Getting to meet the awesome people in the Corcoran neighborhood, sometimes people he would not otherwise meet, and doing projects to bring people together.”
Frances Copenhaver is the Corcoran News Youth Reporter.
Contribute, advertise, or learn more about Corcoran News.
Click here for current edition.
Last month I had the opportunity to learn a lot about a wonderful group of people who are making our neighborhood a better place to live – right now – and for generations to come. The name of the group is Corcoran GROWS. Their mission is to “unleash the potential of its neighbors, through a variety of efforts that empower our community to work together toward greater self-reliance.” They are part of the Transition Town Movement, a grassroots idea “to build community resilience in the face of such challenges as peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis.”
My dad and I had to look up some of the words in the last sentence to get a better idea of what Corcoran GROWS is all about. The next step for me was to meet with Joe Hesla, one of the people who helped start the group about 5 years ago. I asked him if it is exciting to be part of Corcoran GROWS. Naturally, he said that it is very exciting because “we get neighbors together to make new friends, do projects together. Learn from each other to be more sustainable, grow food and do it your self projects.”
Some of those projects from this year included holding “a building day to build stands for rain barrels so the barrels work better.” They also built compost structures for neighbors and had a raspberry-sharing day. A few weeks back they held their third neighborhood Garden Tour. Russ Henry toured gardens with neighbors and gave lots of ideas about how to make their gardens more sustainable. Mr. Hesla went on to mention, “Corcoran GROWS has participated in two Info Fairs where they gave demos about worm composting, rocket stoves, & gardening. Corcoran Grows hosted two community sings. Knowing people in your neighborhood is the best way to keep your community sustainable.”
By the time you are reading this article you may have the chance to attend one of workshops on canning. The two remaining sessions are on canning cucumbers (September 6th) and tomatoes (September 13th). The workshops are free, but people need to bring their own vegetables and canning supplies. To sign up you should contact Anne Holzinger (anneholzinger [at] hotmail [dot] com).
Mr. Hesla told me that in the winter Corcoran GROWS show movies that feature people from all over the world working together to make their own communities sustainable. You should visit the website (corcorangrows.org) to learn more about their ongoing projects and upcoming events. For instance, Milly’s Peace Garden “a community garden at 2017 East 38th Street. All community members are invited to visit and to apply to participate in gardening activities.”
My last question to Mr. Hesla was to find out his favorite part of Corcoran GROWS. “Getting to meet the awesome people in the Corcoran neighborhood, sometimes people he would not otherwise meet, and doing projects to bring people together.”
Frances Copenhaver is the Corcoran News Youth Reporter.
Contribute, advertise, or learn more about Corcoran News.
Click here for current edition.