MISSION:
How can you help?
Growing Hope Together has big ideas, and with your help, we can bring them to reality and help them grow!
Network of Support
Growing Hope Together is about inclusion. We want members who are passionate about our mission. Whether your passion is gardening, cross-cultural learning, children, food security, poverty or community, we want you. We want your ideas and your support along every step of the way.
Fundraising
Growing Hope Together needs help developing a strong fundraising drive to support the projects in Simenya and Newfield. Simenya is ready to begin a school garden. The organization is in place, and all that is needed is funds, supplies and a little bit of rain. Newfield has entered the project later, and will be ready to begin a garden in 2009. If you have experience, interest or passion, you can help with the fundraising drive.
Leadership
The Board of Directors is currently recruiting members. We are looking for interested parties that would like to take a leadership role in the organization. Duties will include attending meetings, developing and leading campaigns, and making important decisions about the direction of Growing Hope Together.
News
5/8/09 - The Newfield 3rd grade classes have started their seeds and begun planning for their garden. Ground will be broken on Friday 5/15 and planting will begin sometime after Memorial Day.
12/10/08 - We have been awarded a $1500 United Way of Tompkins County Community Youth and Philanthropy Grant. This grant will be used to support the gardening project at Newfield Elementary school. Thanks United Way!
12/02/08 - We have more baskets! Stop by Stella's Barn to check out some of our stock and call us if you don't find exactly what you're looking for.
11/29/08 - Simenya Primary School now has a small computer lab with an internet connection.
Tompkins Weekly Article 11/17/08
Newfield News Article 11/16/08
What do we plan to do?
Growing Hope Together will launch a cross-cultural school gardening initiative in the Newfield Central School District in central New York and Simenya Primary and Secondary Schools in the Nyanza province of Western Kenya.
The project will improve knowledge and experience with agriculture, while introducing a greater variety of foods in the children’s diets. The project will also connect youth from two different cultures over the common ground of food to promote cross-cultural understanding.
Cultural Understanding
Understanding and interacting with different cultures is a key skill for surviving in the world today. Cross-cultural interactions can help promote peace and understanding among peoples with very different customs and routines. By interacting over the common ground of food and eating, these youth will learn communication skills that will follow them through life.
Who do we work with?
Growing Hope Together is a new non-profit organization that is looking for start-up support to achieve its important goals. We have several ongoing connections with organizations in Western Kenya including Nairobi University, Umande Trust, Ugunja Community Resource Centre, Child-to-Child Network and the Indiana-Kenya Medical School Partnership. We are currently recruiting interested parties and organizations in Tompkins County. Although we are a new organization, we are fully confident that we can accomplish our important goals.
Contact Us:
Growing Hope Together, Inc.
Laura Smith, Director
310 Vankirk Rd.
Newfield, NY 14867
(607) 351-2552
Laura@growinghopetogether.org