Carla Bristol & Youth Ambassadors w/ Mayor Ken Welch after making Farm Fresh Pesto (photo: City of St. Pete) |
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Happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for continuing the journey that includes so many of you who have supported us and taken part in the growth of the Youth Farm. Every little bit given has allowed us to give even more back and impact young people and their communities in ways unimaginable. THANK YOU!
It's so hard to believe we are already nearing the end of the Fall 2022 season with our Youth Ambassadors, and this past month was an extra busy one! After a magical Farm-O-Ween event that had over 100 families and their kids attend Halloween weekend, we had other events back to back in November (come see us at Shopapalooza this weekend). |
This past Saturday for Thanksgiving, we held a Family Feast at the farm with volunteers and our Youth Ambassadors. We grilled chicken and sautéed freshly harvested mustard greens and eggplants to share a meal. We had a handful of volunteers come out and help. We also had Publix gift cards for families, thanks to House Rep Michele Rayner partnering with us. We even had hot chocolate and gathered around a fire! |
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We kicked off the month at the Health & Wellness Expo in Childs Park, put together by the Saturday Morning Shoppe and the City of St. Petersburg. It was an engaging Saturday of wellness information and activities for all ages. It was great to meet new people, share information on the program, and provide Free Mini Garden vouchers for people interested in a Mini Garden for their home. Two of our Youth Ambassadors and Mayor Ken Welch prepared our Farm Fresh Pesto for everyone to taste made with freshly harvest cuban oregano (and it was delicious).
The following weekend we had our Donate & Dunk fundraiser at the St. Pete Run Fest, which has been a great partner and donor to the farm over the past year. People donated to dunk Senator Rouson, Mayor Welch, Director of Parks & Rec Mike Jefferis, Saturday Morning Shoppe Founder Renee Edwards, Pastor Andy Oliver of Allendale UMC, local artist ZuluPainter, and our Collaboration Manager Carla Bristol. We are incredibly grateful to co-founder Ryan Jordan for his continued support, and it was such a fun day, too. |
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We want to shoutout and thank the AMAZING and DYNAMIC groups that came out to tour and volunteer at the farm with us this month:
30 girls from Azalea Middle School (top left)
11 students from the Indi-ED School (top right)
11 employees from Catalina Marketing (bottom left)
25 students from the USF Sailing Team (bottom right)
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November Highlight - GivingTuesday |
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It's the season of giving and that's what Youth Farm is all about! |
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A generous community member provided a delicious catered meal for our Youth before Thanksgiving break, so we created a family style table to eat together and share what we're grateful for this year. |
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November 29th is GivingTuesday, a global generosity movement where many come together to make life-changing impacts in their communities through radical generosity.
At St. Pete Youth Farm, growing together means making valuable elements of wellness, character development, and leadership accessible to our youth so they can impact their family, friends, and communities. Our mission is to provide access to nutritious food in South St. Pete, and we do this through our pay-what-you-can/if-you-can donation model for the produce we grow and our Free Mini Gardens that we give away.
All of this wouldn’t be possible without the generous donations of money, time, and resources by people like you, and we always have more projects in the works. So mark the day on your calendar to donate on our donate page, visit our Amazon wishlist, plan to come out to a volunteer day, or contact us with how you’d like to give back so our youth can continue the impactful work in the community! |
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Upcoming Engagement Opportunities |
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4th Annual Kwanzaa at the Farm!
The Holidays are fast approaching, don't forget to make plans for Kwanzaa! Join us for a day of Unity on the First Night of Kwanzaa at the Farm on Monday, December 26th at 5:30pm. Gallerie 909 has been hosting the First Night for 9 years, and we've been fortunate to celebrate with the backdrop of the harvest for what will be our 4th Annual Celebration! ✨
We stress the importance of culture at the farm, and Kwanzaa is all about African-American culture based on the traditional African harvest festivals. Read more about Kwanzaa here.
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Nov 26th & 27th | 10am-5pm
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Even though we don’t have a last Saturday Community Workday for November, we will be at Shopapalooza this weekend, Saturday and Sunday. We're grateful to benefiting from another amazing community event, so come out and say hi and experience St. Pete’s BIGGEST Small Business Saturday (and Sunday) festival and support local! |
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Mark your calendars for upcoming events at the Youth Farm in 2023!
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Mon, January 16th at 9am - MLK Day of Service at the Farm
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Sat, January 28th at 9am - Community Workday
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Sat, February 25th at 9am - Black History Month Workday
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Sat, March 25th at 9am - Women's History Month Workday
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Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the know on what's growing on at the St. Pete Youth Farm!
#TogetherWeGrow
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