May 1 was the annual Olivewood Gardens Seedling Soiree. Many of you tuned in virtually to view the program and support our efforts as we expand our education, access and advocacy in National City and beyond. As our community slowly opens back up, Olivewood is committed to being intentional about our offerings to ensure the safety of all program participants. Below, you will find a very short survey that will help inform our strategy for providing programs in-person, virtually and hybrid.

As we think about our next steps, we know the impact and effects of the pandemic won’t just go away. In fact, our community was one of the hardest hit. We will continue to work in partnership with you to ensure basic needs of healthy food access, resources for mental and emotional health, and education around health equity and environmental justice stay front and center. We will also dig deeper into our advocacy work, fighting for a more just and equitable food system. As May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we will highlight the considerable contributions from the AAPI community to the food justice movement and ways that we all can continue to support small businesses and restaurants.

We can’t do this work without all of you! Thank you to the incredible chefs, volunteers, Kitchenistas, and board members who worked to ensure the Seedling Soiree was our biggest success yet; and to our amazing supporters and community! Please take time to view the program and see all the incredible sponsors, chefs, and businesses who contributed to Olivewood’s future. With your support, we raised over $143,000 to support our work championing health equity and food justice! We can’t wait to see you all back at the garden very soon.