DONATE
Below are people doing great work that we urge our clients or anyone passing through our website to contribute to:
BLACK SANCTUARY GARDENS [VIA PINE HOUSE EDIBLE GARDEN] based in in Oakland, California.
From the Pine House Edible Gardens website:
“Your donation goes directly to the Pine House // Black Sanctuary Gardens fund and will be used to cover the costs for plants, materials and installation needed to create Black Sanctuary Gardens for Black women and communities. Donations are not tax-deductible.
To keep up with our work and see our latest Black Sanctuary Garden creations, follow along on Instagram at @BLKSANCTUARYGARDENS.
Black Sanctuary Gardens is a series of aesthetic, edible and culturally grounded garden installations that serve as restorative spaces for the peace, self-care and inspiration of the African Diaspora in and around Oakland, CA.
Inspired in part by Alice Walker’s naming of the garden as a site for black women’s spirituality, creativity and artistic work, landscape designer Leslie Bennett and her team work to design, install and care for a series of low to no-cost Black Sanctuary Gardens for Black women and Black communities. Visual curation and photographic documentation of the women and communities in their garden spaces is a secondary, integral part of the project as we create imagery that more accurately and inclusively reflects the relationship of Black women and communities with their gardens.
Starting in 2018, with the creation and photographic documentation of a backyard oasis for a Black woman community leader based in East Oakland, and continuing in 2019, with the creation and photographs of a (self-funded) backyard garden for Leslie Bennett’s own family, the Black Sanctuary Gardens project is currently in planning stages for our 2020 projects.
Awarded the East Bay Fund for Artists matching grant by the East Bay Community Foundation in 2018, Black Sanctuary Garden’s project for Alena Museum, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, is also in planning stages and will be our first publicly accessible dedicated green sanctuary space for the African Diaspora in Oakland.
The primary goal of Black Sanctuary Gardens is to create garden spaces for Black women to rest and be restored. This space is so needed, given the racism and sexism that Black women experience as part of daily American life. A further goal is to define, uphold and celebrate Black community spaces, amidst gentrification and displacement of historically Black communities in Oakland.
Black Sanctuary Gardens is an exciting opportunity to develop gardens that are reflective of our brilliant Black community and supportive of our specific cultural experiences, while offering real sanctuary for Black people to commune, converse, collaborate, heal, rest, and be nourished.
Please donate to support our work and help us create more Black Sanctuary Garden space! Thank you!”
2. AKWAABA FOOD FOREST PROJECT, based in Altadena, California.
From Akwaaba Food Forest Project ‘Go Fund Me’ Page [by ABUDU NININGER]:
“It is my direct experience that a cornerstone of empowering our communities to be self determining, healthy, and resilient is access to spaces where we can re-learn how to grow Local Whole Organic Foods in a reciprocal and regenerative way. To do this, we must remember how to commune with Soil beneath our feet. This is one way we heal our relationship to Mama Earth and help to heal the recent trauma of our ancestors in the African Diaspora on Turtle Island (North America). Help us cultivate urban gardens to grow our own food together. Self sufficiency is a myth - this is a cultivation of community empowerment & soil solidarity… “ - Abudu Nininger
-------------- Goals of the food forest project: --------------------
-A space to offer continued urban food forest gardening education to community
-Provide safe green space for BIPOC folks to hold all kinds of gatherings and events in the post-COVID 19 era.
-Provide fresh fruits and veggies to Emecka’s family, neighbors and the Pasadena/Altadena community (Abundance Distributed monthly on fresh fruit Saturdays at Rythims of the Village)
---------------DETAILS-----------------
This project Prioritizes:
- Centering, uplifting and sharing the voices of (BIPOC ) Black - Indigenous - People of Color, Teachers / Earth Stewards
- Context for the land we grow upon - the occupied Ancestral Land of Tongva - Gabrielino Indigenous peoples of the “LA” Basin
- Hands on learning and direct gardening experience for BIPOC folks
- The use of locally available, free, up-cycled, regenerative & sustainable materials
----------- How the fundraised money will be used -----------------
* Listed from highest to lowest expenses
1. Teachers
2. Admin/Organizer’s for before and during 10 week course
3. Materials (Irrigation - Benches - Garden shed etc..)
4. Fruit Trees
5. Tools
6. Plants & seeds
7. Specialized infrastructure support
8. Miscellaneous/ Reserve
9. Water Bill Support for 6 months
------------------ The Timeline: ------------------
We aim to Raise $15,000, If you have the means, it is greatly appreciated. We will do the most we can with what we raise by spring.
-------------- Example of the Saturday workshop Flow:----------------
Most sessions will begin with a Q&A dialogue followed by a hands on garden project. Sessions will range in time from 3 - 5hrs.
Each weekend workshop will have a limit of 6 in person student attendees, and 10 total people max, sitting phsyically distanced. Masks on when engaging in hands on participation. Example…. the preparation of garden bed, or planting of a fruit tree.”
3. CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY, based in Sacramento CA
From California Native Plant Societies Website [CNPS.ORG]:
“Since its beginnings, the California Native Plant Society has been a leading voice in plant science and native plant appreciation, making it one of the foremost native plant organizations in the world. We are a 501(c) 3 non-profit dedicated to conserving California native plants and their natural habitats, while increasing the understanding, enjoyment, and horticultural use of native plants. We work closely with decision-makers, scientists, and local planners to advocate for well-informed and environmental friendly policies, regulations, and land management practices.
California is a global treasure because of its native plants. No other state in the nation has as many species, and of those a third can’t be found anywhere else in the world! That’s why we’re fighting to preserve California’s native plants and places before it’s too late. The Conservation Program at CNPS advocates for maximum legal protection and science-based, ecologically sound land-management. Join us and support our conservation efforts today”