<!-- Alternate content for non-supporting browsers --> <div id="pic-container" name="pic-container" style="float:right; width:310;height:225; text-align:right;background-color: white;"><img id="pic-rotate" name="pic-rotate" src="/news/newsletter/images/issue37/37-0.jpg" border="1" width="300" height="200" alt="A City of Villages" title="A City of Villages" /> <div id="pic-title" name="pic-title" style="float:right; margin: 0; padding: 0;"><font size="-2">A City of Villages </font></div></div><script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">var pic_sel= new Array(); pic_sel[0] = new Image(); pic_sel[0].src='/news/newsletter/images/issue37/37-0.jpg'; pic_sel[0].alt='A City of Villages'; var picnumb= 1; </script><font face='verdana,helvetica'> <i><b>A City of Villages : June 2009 Newsletter</b> <br />Summer is here!<b> <p>Food, Community, Culture</b></i> <p>Greetings! </p> <p> Summer is just around the corner and we here at Oakland Food Connection could not be more excited! We’ve got a bunch of exciting events and activities coming up this month, </p> <p> 1.Edible East Bay Local Hero Award! <br /> 2.Mandela Foods Cooperative Grand Opening–June 6th <br /> 3.Saturday, June 20th <br /> a.Laurel Solstice Music Festival <br /> b.OFC Food Pantry Grand Opening and Open House <br /> c.Youth C.R.E.A.T.E. Orientation <br /> 4.Summer Youth Internship Program <br /> 5.Volunteers Needed! <br /> 6.Laurel District Community Farmers’ Market <br /> 7.Community Gardening Days—Changed to Mondays and Wednesdays! </p> <p> ---------------------------------------- </p> <p> <b>Edible East Bay Local Hero Award!</b> And the award goes to…Oakland Food Connection! OFC was recognized as a Local Hero Nonprofit Organization by local publication, Edible East Bay magazine. Check out their website to find out how to order the magazine and for more updates about the article: http://www.edibleeastbay.com You can also pick up a <b>FREE</b> copy of the magazine at our <b>Saturday Farmers’ Market in the Laurel District!</b> The market is from <b>10am-2pm EVERY Saturday</b>, come pick up your copy of Edible East Bay along with some great organic produce! </p> <p> ------------------------------------------ </p> <p> <b>Mandela Foods Cooperative Grand Opening </b>– OFC Partner organization Mandela Marketplace will be opening their cooperative grocery store in West Oakland <b>This Saturday, June 6th!</b> Mandela Marketplace is an emerging small business incubator that promotes, facilitates and provides opportunity for disenfranchised people to benefit from public resources and a political voice to improve their quality of life and enhance their community. The Grand Opening will be from <b>10am-2pm on Saturday, June 6th at 1430 7th Street!</b> Check out their website for more info: http://www.mandelafoods.com/ </p> <p> -------------------------------------------- </p> <p> <b>Laurel Solstice Music Festival – Saturday, June 20th 12noon-6pm</b> <br /> The Fourth Annual Laurel District Solstice Music Festival is almost here! This year, Oakland Food Connection’s Saturday Farmers’ Market will be one of the stages for this awesome event! We will be having <b>extended Farmers’ Market hours running from 10am-5pm</b>, great music, great food, raffles and activities for the whole family! This is going to be a great event! For more information check out: https://www.laurelsummersolsticemusicfestival.org/. Interested in volunteering at the event? Contact Tori at tori@foodcommunityculture.org! We hope to see you there! </p> <p> ---------------------------------------------- </p> <p> <b>OFC Food Pantry Grand Opening—Saturday, June 20th 10am-6pm</b> <br /> In addition to celebrating with the Laurel community and the Laurel Solstice Music Festival, Oakland Food Connection will be having an <b>Open House and the Grand Opening of the OFC Food Pantry!</b> The Food Pantry features organic bulk food, spices, teas and more! Come by the market, grab some fresh veggies and a delicious lunch plate from the PLC, check out some great local musicians then head upstairs to the OFC Open House and Food Pantry Grand Opening! The Food Pantry is located in the Oakland Food Connection Office <b>at 4173 Macarthur Blvd Suite 10.</b> and will be <b>open Saturday, June 20th from 10am-6pm.</b> We hope to see you all on Saturday, June 20th! Come see what Oakland Food Connection is all about, bringing food to the people! Also, we NEED Volunteer Support making the last few finishing touches—if you’re interested in volunteering please contact Tori at tori@foodcommunityculture.org! </p> <p> ------------------------------------------- </p> <p> <b>Youth C.R.E.A.T.E. Orientation (Part Two)—Saturday, June 20th 12noon-1:30pm</b> <br /> As part of our Summer Youth Internship Program, student interns will have an opportunity to take part in our Youth CREATE program on Saturdays during the Summer. <b>Youth C.R.E.A.T.E.</b> (Community Restoration and Ecological Action Transforming Urban Environments), is a program that will allow Oakland Food Connection to deepen participant’s past experience through cooking, gardening, agro-ecological restoration, and wilderness experiences. The program helps students draw connections between environmental stewardship, personal health, and community health. For those students and families that were not able to make our first orientation, this is an opportunity for them to get introduced to the program and learn about all the exciting things we’ll be doing this summer! The orientation will be from <b>12noon-1:30pm in the Conference Room (Suite 11) of our office building at 4173 Macarthur Blvd.</b> </p> <p> ------------------------------------------ </p> <p> <b>Summer Youth Internship Program</b> The OFC Summer Internship Program <b>starts June 22nd!</b> OFC will be working with 15-20 students this summer, doing gardening projects at our EC Reems and Unity schoolyard gardens as well as THREE new backyard gardening projects! Apart from the many gardening projects these youth will be taking on, this summer we are happy to announce that we will be working with other non-profit organizations all around Oakland to show our students all the amazing projects going on all over the city! We will be collaborating with some great organizations doing some great work! We are very excited to be working with such dedicated youth participants and working together with organizations such as Alameda Point Collaborative, PUEBLO, HOPE Collaborative, OBUGS, Berkeley Youth Alternatives, Oakland Sol and East Oakland Boxing Association! </p> <p> ------------------------------------------- </p> <p> <b>VOLUNTEERS NEEDED</b> <br /> Looking for something to do this summer? Want to get up, get involved and join the food justice movement? Come hang out with us here at OFC! We are looking for volunteers interested in helping us build our Food Pantry (Grand Opening Saturday June 20th) and working with us at one of our 5 garden spaces! If you are interested in volunteering with us, Please contact Tori at tori@foodcommunityculture.org! </p> <p> Also, We’re Hiring! <b>Outreach Intern</b> and <b>Purple Lawn Café Adult Coordinator</b> positions available. Contact Tori at tori@foodcommunityculture.org if you’re interested! </p> <p> ------------------------------------------- </p> <p> <b>Laurel Community Farmers’ Market</b> is on <b>Saturdays from 10am-2pm at 4173 Macarthur Blvd</b> in the parking lot of the Laurel Office Center. The market is open year-round, rain or shine and offers everything from fresh, organic produce, local artisans and youth businesses! Come by and see what this market is all about! Our friends over at EcoMetro Guide are helping us spread the word about our market! You can too! Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/qklkh4 </p> <p> <b>A few announcements about the market:</b> <br /> -The market has been approved for EBT (Food Stamps)! We will be offering these services as well as accepting WIC checks starting in July 4th 2009! </p> <p> -Also starting July 4th, The Laurel Community Farmers’ Market will be holding “Theme Days” at the market! <br /> -The First Saturday of every month will be Youth and Families Day—offering a wide variety of activities, games and prizes for the whole family! <br /> -The Last Saturday will be Senior Discount Day—Oakland Food Connection will be working together with Senior Centers in the East Oakland area to provide fresh, organic produce and goods to seniors at some great prices! </p> <p> -Interested in playing music or performing at the Saturday market? Contact Tori at tori@foodcommunityculture.org and become a part of this great community market! </p> <br /> <p> Thank you all for your continued support of Oakland Food Connection and its programs! Questions, comments, concerns contact Tori at tori@foodcommunityculture.org or (510) 482-1898 </p> <p> Best, <br /> Tori Lanterman <br /> Programs Coordinator <br /> Oakland Food Connection <br /> tori@foodcommunityculture.org <br /> (510) 482-1898 <br /> <p> </p></font>
