Author: brookpark

For the people in general, you need help here I am.

Chickens Coming!

We applied.

We captured the attention of the City Chicken Committee of Just Food.

We hosted site visits and went through the City Chicken Committee’s interview process.

As they wrote:

And now, it is our great pleasure to present to you the three groups that have been selected to receive chicken coops this year – all thanks to your generous pledges and outreach and support! (We’re only around $1200 away with 4 days – we know we can do this!) So without further ado, our grantees are:

Brooklyn Rescue Mission Bed-Stuy Farm in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Rescue Mission Inc. is a community-based organization that develops creative solutions to food justice, community health and the economic challenges their community endures on a daily basis. They are looking forward to adding chickens to their existing farm and to making eggs available through their farmers market and food pantry program.

Friends of Brook Park in Mott Haven, Bronx

Brook Park is a Community Garden in the South Bronx which models urban farming and engages hundreds of youth from local and citywide schools in organic gardening. They are looking forward to keeping chickens to enrich their soil, attract new volunteers and gardeners and to sharing this experience and the eggs with the school children they work with and their neighbors in their South Bronx community.

Pleasant Village Community Garden in East Harlem, Manhattan

Pleasant Village Community Garden is a beautiful oasis in East Harlem. The garden serves 35-40 ethnically diverse members ranging in age from 27 – 92. Members care for their own individual plots where they grow vegetables, flowers and herbs, as well as the communal herb, rose, berry and ornamental gardens and apple, pear, and mulberry trees. They are excited about welcoming chickens as a way of enriching their garden’s health and the community experience.

And because we had such great applicants, we’ve identifies a 4th grantee, so if we make it significantly over our fundraising goal, we’ll also be able to work with John Bowne High School in Flushing, Queens.

The John Bowne High School’s Agricultural Program has been recognized nationally as an outstanding urban agricultural education offering. Their graduates go on to agricultural and technical colleges, Cornell University and many out-of-state institutions throughout the northeast before establishing themselves in leadership positions in agricultural professions such as veterinarians, landscape architects, teachers, florists, animal laboratory technicians and other related professionals.

Thank you so much for carrying us this far! We are excited about keeping all of you informed as these projects develop!

Make a donation to the chicken project by clicking here. Just $15 gets you invited to the kick off party!

Thanks to Lily Kesselman from our neighborhood especially for making this happen.

INSIDE OUT PROJECT COMES TO BROOK PARK

INSIDE OUT PROJECT COMES TO BROOK PARK

Sixteen students and their sixteen mentors from International High School’s TAGAI PROGRAM posted huge photo portraits on Brook Park’s fence, facing 141st Street, on June 11th, 2011. Inspired by French artist, JR’s global “Inside Out” project, they are making larger-than-life pictures of themselves and their neighbors and taking them to the streets. This was followed by a dee-lish BBQ and ice cream reception inside Brook Park shared by gardeners, community members, and Tagai members and staff.

TAGAI pairs students who are recent immigrants with adult mentors. For more on TAGAI.

For more on the INSIDE OUT PROJECT.

Performance Piece by Bronx Artist June 11th

Illegal Death

Saturday June 11, 2011
Performance 11am -1 pm
Artist talk/ community reception 2- 4 pm with refreshments.

On June 11, 2011, Friends of Brook Park (FOBP) will host Illegal Death a performance piece by Bronx based artist Alicia Grullon. Illegal Death is a re-enactment in response to the unresolved deaths of undocumented workers in the Tri-State area. It deals with the death of a 20-year old immigrant form Honduras who was found frozen to death in a forest on Long Island in February 2007 when temperatures dropped below -8.

Brook Park is located between 140th and 141st Streets at the corner of Brook Avenue in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South, South Bronx. It is three blocks from the Brook Avenue local stop on the #6 subway and nine blocks from the 149th Street stop on the #2 or #5 subways.

The presentation of Illegal Death for FOBP has been made possible through a grant from the Puffin Foundation.

Join the South Bronx CSA before June 1st!

Hello South Bronx!

Do you live in or work or visit regularly the South Bronx?
Do you like affordable organic veggies?
Do you support immigrant farmers and local agriculture?
Do you love your family and community?
Do you like to have a good time?

A sample share early in the season!

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, the South Bronx CSA is for you! That means 22 weeks of fresh, organic vegetable shares from a local farm in Sussex County delivered to Brook Park, the community garden on East 141 Street and Brook Avenue. It’s affordable for everyone, since prices are sliding scale based on income (as listed on the application below) and we welcome EBT!

But don’t wait! The South Bronx CSA closes for registration on Wednesday, June 1st!

Fill out the application attached to this email, and send it in with the payment. If you’d like more information, please call us at 347-331-0096 or let us know at southbronxcsa@friendsofbrookpark.org.

Know someone who might be interested? Just send this website to them..

See you soon!

Thanks,

Your friends at the South Bronx CSA

Here is the application. The prices are based on your combined household income and refer to the cost of 5 months of organic vegetables! Much cheaper than Whole Foods or anything else!

June 4th Saturday Indigenous Committee Volunteer Day

El Español se encuentra mas abajo

The Indigenous Culture Committee of Friends of Brook Park and our allied organizations United Confederation of Taino People, Kalpulli Huehuetlahtolli and including Teotl Kalli Quetzalcoatl and Maisiti Yukayeke Taino and Calpulli Atlachinolli invites you participate in a day of energetic fun when we share together to attend to all the things we need to do to be able to host the activities and events we know and love!

Brook Park
On June 4th Saturday

Work and skills sharing from 11-3PM
3-5PM food and music that we all bring together. So bring something!

We will be doing a number of things, and you can participate in all or some. We see many folks for our Indigenous Culture Events and activities, but only a portion of those attendees have had the great opportunity in the preparation or clean-up of these vital events. Let’s get together in the park and share these essential aspects of our success, and bring some potluck food to share! And some instruments!

For those who cannot share with us on that day in person, you can always do something before that day. Or you can donate resources online here: http://friendsofbrookpark.org

Also, you can encourage your friends and family and organizations to participate too!