|
2010 Highlights |
|
OVER 15,000 Visitors, 3,500 Volunteers, 1000 beginning farmers trained, over 1000 youths trained, 12 new corporate partnerships, installed Solar Hot Water System providing 70% of solar hot water for fish systems, installed gallons storm water catchment system, 8 Weekend long Workshops, graduated 32 Commercial Urban Agriculture farmers, 20 million pounds of waste composted, 4000 yards of new soil produced, enough food grown to feed 12,000 people, delivering food to over 50 wholesale accounts, trained 35 interns, built over 20 hoop houses, produced more than $500,000 worth of crops on 100 acres newly acquired growing spaces, 100,000 fish including tilapia, perch, blue gill and koi, 20 baby goats, 500 chickens and millions of red wriggler worms. Farm stands 11 farm stands in Milwaukee– M&I Bank (headquarters downtown), Aurora Healthcare(Bluemound), Aurora Sinai Hospital (Doc’s parking lot), SC Johnson (Sturtevant), SC Johnson (Racine), Rockwell Automation, Kohl’s Corporate, Discovery World, Fox Point Market, West Town Market, Martin Luther King Center (Thanksgiving day), Mitchell Street Farmers Market, Growing Power Farmer’s Market. Production Sites In addition to increasing production at Community Food Center, Merton Farm- acres cultivated in addition to 2-acre plots made available to immigrant and refugee farmers to grow subsistence and market crops, Forest Home Cemetery Greenhouses , Maple Tree Elementary School and Community Garden involving Boys and Girls Club of Milwaukee, MMSD South Shore Waste Water Treatment and MMSD 5th Street. Outreach Training Current Regional Outreach Training Centers(ROTC) include: Seven Harvest (Forrest City, AR), Breaking New Grounds (Louisville, KY), Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (Detroit, MI), Feed Denver (Denver, CO), MEGA (Mound Bayou, MS), Women’s Environmental Institute (North Branch, MN). This year we welcomed Brooklyn Rescue Mission, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY), City Roots (Columbia, SC), Foothills Connect Business & Technology Center (Rutherfordton, NC), Our School at Blair Grocery (New Orleans, LS) and Rid-All Green Partnership (Cleveland, OH) Corporate Partnerships Growing Power continues to work with corporations such as: Kohl’s Corporation, Rockwell Automation, Aurora Sinai, M&I Bank, Northwestern Mutual Life, Johnson Controls, Brady Corporation, Froedtert Hospital, Aurora Sinai Downtown, SC Johnson, Discovery World, Harley Davidson, The Y (YMCA), Walmart Stores, Horizon Organics, Bonterra Wines Corporate Garden Installations: Kohls Corporation, Brady Corporation Compost Collection From brewery waste to cafeteria waste, Growing Power diverted over 20 million pounds of food waste from landfills, thanks to these compost partners: Alterra Coffee, Blood Center of Milwaukee, Café Manna, Children's Hospital, East Side Ovens, Focused Packaging, Harley-Davidson, International Produce, Johnson Controls, Johnson Diversey, Kohl's Corporate, Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee County Zoo, M&I Bank (downtown), Maglio, Meritage, Mt. Mary College, Northwestern Mutual, Piggly Wiggly, Rishi Tea, Rockwell Automation, Roots, SC Johnson – Racine, Stone Creek Coffee, UWM, Walmart Stores, Waukesha Tech College, Wild Flour Bakery, Tropic Banana, City of South Milwaukee, City of Saint Francis, City of Oak Creek and City of Cudahy. Youth Community Garden Installations 2nd year garden at Catholic Charities, Maple Tree School Community Garden (est. 2007), Silver Spring Neighborhood Center (est. 2007), Eat Smart Boys and Girls Club, South Side “Cultivadores de Paz” Garden (est. 2006), Mayor’s “Victory Garden,” Riverwest-based Growing Spaces project in partnership with MAWIB and Bradley Tech H.S. MMSD Growing Power is leasing three locations from MMSD to support centralized large scale compost operation and increase food production. This year we installed 6 (96’x20’) hoop houses at South Shore facilities to grow more food. The Growing Power Valley Farm is another 10 acre site which will support “Farm Fresh to MPS” education and production activities, thanks to MMSD. Green Job Training Growing Power further developed its partnership with the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board (MAWIB) to support a year-long job training program for 25 youths. MATC is another key partner providing mentoring to youth to help them achieve academically by acquiring a high school diploma, HSED, GED, and higher education. Environmental Protection Agency Growing Power entered the first official partnership with the U.S. EPA to support the South Side “Cultivadores de Paz” Youth Garden (soil remediation, nutrition education, youth programming to avoid and alleviate lead poisoning in the community) Farm fresh to MPS In partnership with the Milwaukee Public School system, Growing Power has procured locally grown food for an additional 22 MPS elementary schools (total of 46 served to date). Teacher training via workshops and customized trainings, curriculum-based programs complying to Wisconsin State Standards, and the development of partnerships with 10+ MPS schools to implement school-based food projects and programming were also achieved. JPMorgan Chase Foundation and Herzfeld Foundation supported “Farm Fresh to MPS” activities, including the expansion of our Youth Corps to recruit additional MPS students. Earth Day Open House at Growing Power inspired and hosted over 300 people. The Chef’s Tour at Growing Power introduced regional food system issues to chef. This event was attended by 100 chefs.
Notable TV Appearance ABC Diane Sawyer, PBS Growing a Greener World Episode 105, MSNBC, Fox 6, Farm Aid 2010 concert, CNN with Ali Velshi, Bloomberg TV Innovators, State Department, TV One First Lady Let’s Move Special Newspapers: Agriview, Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati Post, Pittsburg Wisconsin Eye, Indianapolis Magazine: Time Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, Chicago Magazine, Jet Magazine, United Hempishere, Urban Farming Magazine Book: Edible Estates, Children’s Book - The Good Fun! Book Chicago Growing Power Added 6 new full-time staff and 12 contract staff over summer. Job-training Program employed 40 adults for summer and another 150 adults at Altgeld Garden. Intern Job-training program trained 13 college interns. Altgeld Garden provided 150 jobs for adults, 40 summer jobs for youth, 20 after-school jobs; and completed 1-acre growing beds. We also built 1 hoop-house and 20 compost bins. Chicago Avenue Urban Farm employed 30 teens, expanded the site from ¼ acre to ½ acre, built 2 new hoop-houses and 2 sections for community gardens. Iron Street Urban Farm, employed 40 teens and 10 adults, built 2 hoop-houses, 60 worm bins and 20 compost bins, and installed 6 bee hives. Jackson Street Urban Farm employed 15 teens; and provided 35 community plots. Youth Program, employed 30 teen’s for spring program and 50 teens for the Fall Program. We employed 140 teens through the summer job-training program. The teens helped build 3 new farm sites – Altgeld Gardens Community Farm (1 acre), Chicago Avenue Urban Farm (.25 acres), and Iron Street Urban Farm (hoop-house, bee hives, and mural) After 10 years of project-based work the Chicago office will be opening a Community Food Center and Urban Farm in Bridgeport, along the Chicago River, on a 7-acre former truck depot. The site will enable our staff to build aquaponic systems, vermicompost and compost systems, hoop houses for year-round production and an apiary. We also began a 2.5 acre farm in Altgeld Gardens and are planning now for a 5 acre farm in South Chicago in partnership with the Chicago Park District. Will Allen highlights in 2010Awards & Recognition The Gridiron 2010 (Milwaukee Press Club Headliners), William Dempster Hoard Award 2010 (Wisconsin Historical Foundation Award), In Harmony with Hope 2010 Award (The Elfenworks Foundation), Jason Award 2010 (Children’s Square USA) 2010 Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People in the World , One of five innovators selected by PopTech Spark – STEM project, Will Allen Avatar was created by KidsCom.com to mentor and teach kids in a virtual environment. Conferences/Speaking Engagements Jan 2010 Marquette University High School Multi Cultural Week (Milwaukee, WI) Celebration Midwest Value Added Agriculture Conference (WI) Feb 2010 Urban Farming for Food Justice Creatives 4 Community (Seattle, WA) Seattle declares 2010: Year of Urban Agriculture, The Human Face of the Economy (Waukesha, WI) First Lady Let’s Move Initiative (Washington DC), Marian University (Fond Du Lac, WI) Mar 2010 First Unitarian Society (Madison, WI) Apr 2010 Visual Art Lecture Series at Princeton University (Princeton,NJ), Edible Estates Book Launch (New York, NY) Compost Matters Conference (Philadelphia,PA) Local Foods and Sustainable Agriculture Conference (La Crosse, WI) Clinton Global Initiative University (Miami,FL) Jun 2010 Food in Bloom – Indiana University (Bloomington, IN), Greater MKE Foundation, Herbert J. Mueller Society (Milwaukee, WI) Sowing Seeds Here and Now!: A Chesapeake Area Urban Farming Summit, (Washington DC - via video conferencing) Wells Fargo (Milwaukee, WI) Chicago Lights Fundraiser, Chicago IL Jul 2010 Florida Small Farm Conference, Kissimmee Florida- via video conferencing Aug 2010-Soil Summit Breaking New Grounds (Louisville,KY) – via video conferencing Sept 2010 – Growing Power National-International Small Farm Conference (Milwaukee,WI) Xavier University, (Cincinnati, Ohio) Oct 2010-Ecological Education Summit (Washington, DC) University of California Berkeley (Berkeley, California) Community Food Security Coalition, (New Orleans) Nov 2010- Festival of Faiths (Louisville,KY) Spirit and Place (Indianapolis,IN) Black Farmers Conference (New York,NY) One of four Americans selected to speak to the nation from the White House on the occasion of First Lady Michelle Obama’s launch of her “Let’s Move!” initiative to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity. In May 2010, Will Allen returned to the White House as a guest at the Mexican State Dinner. “It is an absolute honor to be invited by the President and Mrs. Obama to such a prestigious and important event,” Allen said. “It gave me an opportunity to continue building important relationships that will help drive our Good Food Revolution. “
|
Store &Market Basket Hotline: 414.527.1930 Office Tel. 414.527.1546 l Fax 414.527.1908 Chicago Projects Office: 3333 S. Iron Street, Chicago, IL 60608 Tel. 773.376.8882 |
