Our Past, Present, & Future Support Is Making a Difference
Meet the
Green Teens
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Healing Garden Far Rockaway
Q3 2018
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Healing Garden BSCAH’s Green Teens: Improving Their Community’s Health One Vegetable at a Time
Photo: Courtesy of The Campaign Against Hunger
Destiny newsletter is a quarterly publication created to give you a glimpse into the stories of some of the wonderful organizations and programs National Grid Foundation supports. Editor Creative Director Executive Director
Christine Berardi Pamela Focá Edward H. White Jr.
Destiny Newsletter Q3 MMXVIII
www.nationalgridfoundation.com
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Going far beyond the salad bowl, Bed Stuy Campaign Against Hunger (BSCAH) makes fresh, healthy produce accessible through its urban garden to Queens, NY residents. BSCAH’s farm located in Far Rockaway is home to the National Grid Foundation Healing Garden, an urban green space uniting local agriculture, community development and economic development. The Healing Garden is a model farm that turned an empty city lot into a sanctuary of healthy food for families who need a healthy hand up, not a hand out. With more than 100 different organic vegetables, fruits and flowers, there is plenty of nourishment at the garden. The organization believes residents of all ages can learn about and have access to the farm’s bounty. The success of the Healing Garden is due in part to a dedicated group of young people known as the Green Teens. Local students ages
14-24 participate in a 12-month paid internship are an integral part of the health brigade working at the Far Rockaway farm. Green Teens Internship The Green Teens Internship Program is an urban farming apprenticeship offered at both BSCAH farms. This year, there are 29 Green Teens with 14 teens working at the Far Rockaway location. The internship program teaches young people healthy eating habits and the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables; planting and harvesting; and maintaining the farm and local farm stands. They also learn important skills such as good work habits, responsibility, teamwork and leadership which will help them in all aspects of their lives.
Photo: Courtesy of The Campaign Against Hunger
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The Green Teens manage everything at the farm from caring for the garden and chickens (yes, the farm has chickens and sells eggs) to interacting with customers. BSCAH’s Green Teens have improved their sense of community and passion for learning. New Green Teen Jeffrey Smith said, “It’s a great way to give back to the community.” According to Liz Schalet, development director, BSCAH, approximately 75% of the Green Teens return to the program. All the young people who have participated in the program graduate high school with many students continuing with post-high school education. Returning Green Teens have the opportunity to become part-time instructors and site leaders working with new interns. Wakeem Flood is the site leader who has worked at the Far Rockaway location for two years. He said, “Learning about the therapeutic aspects of agriculture is important for all of us in the community. The program also provides
important skills such as customer service which we can include on our resumes.” Dominic Welch, a Green Teen for two years, said, “Our aim to bring healthy eating to the community.” Another team member Kamoi Davis said, “There aren’t too many restaurants here so we hope to bring fresh produce to residents and give them a healthy alternative to junk food.” At the end of the program, Green Teens complete a final capstone project on topics of personal importance such as Honey Bees and their Benefits, Advanced Food Preservation and Food Justice - What is it and How to make a Difference? ö
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Driving on Sunshine:
Staten Island Green Technology Club Takes 2nd Place in 2018 Solar Car Challenge Forget the Batmobile and the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future. These fictional cars can’t compare to High Energy #5 – a real solar car designed and built by Staten Island high school students and powered by Mother Nature. The team’s hard work and resourcefulness earned them second place in the Advanced Division in the 2018 Solar Car Challenge held this July.
Photo: Courtesy of Staten Island Green Technology Club
Developed in 1993 as an extra-curricular program, the Solar Car Challenge initiative encourages students across the country to pursue Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects and fields. Each year after the 15-month education program culminates; teams participate and race the solar cars they built in either a track event or a cross-country race. This year’s race started in Fort Worth, Texas and crossed the finish line in Palmdale, CA for a total of nearly 1,377 miles. “This gives the students a real world and relevant challenge,” said Thomas Smolka, a physics teacher
at NYC iSchool and a volunteer coach. “This team is entirely student run and operated. The race from Texas to California was not a bench test or run in a lab, it was a real-world challenge. This car had to perform. It was an authentic and rigorous challenge. The team took second place in the country. I can’t wait to see what we have coming for next year.” Green Technology Club For the past nine years, the Green Technology Club teaches students about alternative and renewable energy solutions by building a solar-
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to STEM activities and help guide them to future careers. While learning many facets of creating and constructing the car, team members have specific jobs such as mechanics, electronic engineering, navigation and maintenance.
“Being part of the team has introduced me to electronics and mechanical engineering and I’m interested in studying power engineering when I graduate. This program gives us a real-life experience that isn’t taught in school.” Roshan Pandey, Team member
powered car. Charles Dazzo, director, said, “Green Technology teaches high school students solar power applications with respect to vehicular transit and how to capture power from the sun, save and transfer it to electrical energy. That electrical energy is then moved from the solar panels to charge the batteries to the accelerator and a finished product of a moving vehicle.”
“Green Technology teaches high school students solar power applications with respect to vehicular transit and how to capture power from the sun, save and transfer it to electrical energy. That electrical energy is then moved from the solar panels to charge the batteries to the accelerator and a finished product of a moving vehicle.” Charles Dazzo, Director
Based out of Staten Island Technical High School, team members come from a number of high schools within the borough. This program allows students to discover critical thinking and problem solving, work as a team and design and build a solar car. It also gives them hands-on exposure
High Energy #5, which can reach speeds of nearly 70 mph, looks different from other cars it competed against in the Challenge. Other solar cars have a flat solar panel on the roof where the Staten Island team’s car has solar cells on the body of the car. Dazzo explains, “The design is from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) mold which is an aerodynamic design with very little wind resistance. The car also has eight square meters of efficient solar cells.” Roshan Pandey is thrilled to be part of the team and thanks his teammates and Charles Dazzo for the opportunity to learn “Being part of the team has introduced me to electronics and mechanical engineering and I’m interested in studying power engineering when I graduate. This program gives us a real-life experience that isn’t taught in school,” he said. Dazzo’s passion for what he does and observing the students learn, grow and succeed is ever present. He said, “This program has become a major focus with many high schools that have STEM projects. It provides students with a valuable hands-on education. We believe that the study of renewable energy is the future. We are proud of our students.”ö
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Synergy Leadership Training
Photos: Courtesy of Mercyworks
The Vision Center is located near downtown Syracuse. It is here where Mercyworks mission of meeting social needs of the local community through educational and workforce development programs, like the Synergy Leadership Training Program is able to provide area youth opportunity to expand their vision and transform their lives. The 10-week paid internship program develops participants through four unique pillars which include: Community Service, Professional Development, Health & Wellbeing, and Financial Stewardship. Students are placed in an internship opportunity within their field of interest where they receive
mentor-ship and training resulting in experience and exposure to the diverse talent pools entering the workforce while giving young talent a taste of all that Central New York has to offer. ö
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The RI Community Food Bank:
Satisfying an Appetite for Jobs in Rhode Island’s Food Service Industry • Community Kitchen Culinary Job Program — supported by National Grid Foundation — teaches culinary job skills to unemployed and underemployed Rhode Islanders By: Deborah Andrews - Drew
Starting early this summer, eleven Rhode Islanders have been participating in one of this year’s four, full-time Community Kitchen sessions offered by the Rhode Island Community Food Bank in Providence. The free, fourteen-week, unpaid culinary job training program prepares up to thirteen low-income adults, during each session, for careers in the food industry. While established head chefs serve as teachers and guide participants in commercial cooking basics, they also focus on what it means to be a good employee, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The program is designed to be an investment in students’ future employment. Many of the students work other jobs on nights and weekends to make ends meet while they participate.
“Community Kitchen started as a way for unemployed and underemployed adults to lift themselves up out of poverty,” says the Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Schiff. “We saw people coming to our agencies in need of food and other assistance, and we wanted to find a way for them to learn skills that would allow them to support themselves and their families. Since we’re the Food Bank, cooking seemed like an obvious choice, so we started an intensive culinary job training and life skills program.” But Community Kitchen does more than just prepare people in need for jobs in the food service industry: It provides essential meals to hungry children. Participants in the program prepare and average of 400 meals per week for children participating in Kids Café, local after-school meal programs. Some will make sandwiches, while another prepares carrots; some will steam green beans, while others will make fish sticks, biscuits and carrot cake. Each student has a job, and they must work together as a team to create meals for children, which will be delivered to afterschool programs at the Boys and Girls Club in East Providence and the West End Community Center, Providence.
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For thirty-five years, the Community Food Bank has played a vital role in meeting the basic human needs of Rhode Islanders through food assistance. Founded in 1982, its primary function is to act as a food distribution center: soliciting, collecting,
“Community Kitchen started as a way for unemployed and underemployed adults to lift themselves up out of poverty,” Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s Chief Executive Officer,
Andrew Schiff. storing and distributing donated, purchased, surplus and salvageable food for its statewide network of 155 member agencies. These include food pantries, meal sites, emergency shelters, group homes, day-care centers, youth programs and senior centers, which provide food assistance to more than 57,000 people each month. While the main focus of the Community Food Bank is to feed people in need, it believes it can help decrease the need by offering workforce training to low-income unemployed/underemployed adults to help them secure jobs. The Community Kitchen
program has been in operation for twenty years and nearly 550 students have graduated from the program. The program not only provides adults with job skills and on-the-job training internships, but also includes life skills training to help them be successful in the workforce and throughout their lives. This innovative program puts people on a career path where they can grow skills and earn higher wages, enabling them to become selfsufficient. Applicants to the Community Kitchen workforce development program are often unemployed or working low-wage and/or part-time jobs. The Community Kitchen program goes the extra mile to assure effective training. Halfway through the program, students have started to master basic cooking skills, food service operations, kitchen safety and first aid, but another important part of it involves learning life skills and career readiness. The program includes workshops in conflict resolution, resume, cover letter and thank you letter writing, interview skills, pay and schedule negotiation and information about harassment in the workplace. It teaches participants how important it is to arrive on time and prepared for a job. One graduation requirement is that participants apply for five jobs and get three interviews during the program Students also are assigned an
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internship at an on-the-job training site, where they gain real world experience in a kitchen. Some have internships at Dave’s Marketplace, Public Kitchen and Bar at the Renaissance Hotel, the Capital Grille, Wildflour Vegan Bakery, Yoleni’s and many more. Aside from career readiness, the Food Bank’s Community Kitchen staff, step in when help is needed, especially when it comes to finding housing, helping participants apply for supplemental food assistance, searching for jobs and giving information about what resources are available to low-income adults.
“From the classroom to the kitchen and beyond, the RI Community Food Bank’s Community Kitchen is making a difference in Rhode Island,” said Ed White, executive director, National Grid Foundation. “We are so pleased to support such an impressive organization that enhances the quality of life and economic strength for Rhode Islanders.” By awarding grants to non-profit organizations, the National Grid Foundation aims to inspire and serve as a catalyst to a shared future, ultimately impacting and improving lives of the underserved in our neighborhoods.ö
SMARTS Summer Institute
Photo: Courtesy of SMARTS
The SMARTS Summer Institute provides young people with a unique opportunity to learn through process and performance in creative writing, dance, drama, film/video, music and visual arts. Open to children ages 5-18, the Institute takes place at Brennan Middle School, Attleboro, MA. The goal of the Institute is to enhance the learning process and expand opportunities and student potential in a safe, judgment free environment. ö
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UP TO CODE The idea is simple: Take a small cohort of young people of color, without college degrees, and teach them to be software developers, so that they ultimately can have access to real, highgrowth, career-building jobs. Bring them “up to code” and transform them into engineers.
Photo: Courtesy of Resilient Coders
By: Deborah Andrews - Drew
Resilient Coders, with support from the National Grid Foundation, is expanding the learning experience for 60 students – also called “coders” -every year, improving the lives of young people, and helping to build stronger communities. Resilient Coders trains people of color from Boston’s low-income communities, populations that have been systemically marginalized, and sees them as an untapped talent pool for careers in the high tech industry. The organization, through its free, coding boot camp, teaches the technical and “soft” skills needed for employment. And it doesn’t stop there. For at least four months following a coding boot camp, under an apprentice program, graduates work on site at partner companies that help take a fresh new engineer from novice to employee. Under the program, coders with GEDs or HS
diplomas participate in the state-of-the-art 14 week boot camp, during which students explore the coding skills necessary to become “full stack” software engineers. Resilient Coders runs a class with approximately 20 students, three times per year. They learn HTML, JavaScript, Node and many more popular softwares that ultimately help them develop apps and websites and computer-based programs for some of the area’s top companies, making them highly competitive job-seekers in Boston’s growing tech economy. While Resilient Coders also is a digital design and development agency that has clients through which students learn, create and solve tech design problems, it also has a social mission – launching careers to improve the lives of the traditionally underserved and create opportunities for educational challenges. ö
The Campaign Against Hunger’s Healing Garden Network Provides healthy alternatives for the community by growing over 100 different varieties of organic fruits and vegetables.
Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. Hippocrates