I started my
internship with Roots & Wisdom (see previous post about the program here)
yesterday. I will be working as the Events and Outreach Coordinator for 10
weeks. On my first day, Debbie gave me a tour of the office and introduced me
to some people. The Roots & Wisdom office is part of the Cornell
Cooperative Extension Schenectady Office Suite in Schenectady, NY. She and I
set down together and she asked me what I thought this internship would be. I
said I thought it would consist of planning the annual Garden Party for
supporters, Open House, brown bag luncheon, and children group visits. I also
thought the job would consist of guiding the events crew in workshop design and
garden tours and how to work with children’s groups. I also would look for
grants and other funding opportunities, and if I have free time, I would like
to work on organizing the video clips from last year that mainly consist of
interviews with youth and crew leaders about the program. The video in the
making would be a great way for donors, supporters, and others interested in
learning more about the program to hear about the program from the people it
effects the most, the youth. Debbie thought all of those ideas were great and
were pretty much what she was hoping I would work on. She also may enlist my
help toward the end of the summer program to plan some fall events.
After we talked,
I spent my time in the office reading Fundraising
for Dummies by John Mutz and Katherine Murray, copyright 2000. I scanned
through the book for ideas for the Garden Party and other fundraising tips and
ideas. There were many useful looking sites listed throughout the many sections
of the book, and I will be browsing those sites once I am able to connect to
the internet in the office.
The big thing
for me to work on this week is the Garden Party, which will be next Wednesday
evening. The Garden Party will be held right in the Fehr Avenue Garden. It will
serve as a dedication for the new Green Roof Pavilion that was recently
installed. Any donations brought in as a result of the Garden Party go towards
paying the summer leadership crew, which includes the Crew Leader, Children’s
Garden Leader, and the Assistant Grower.
Today, Debbie
and I firmed up some details for the Garden Party. We finalized the menu and
constructed a tentative supply/things to buy list. Debbie will be checking on
some of the supplies to let me know how much I need to pick up during my trip
to the store on Friday for supplies. After our meeting, I made photocopies of
the recipes I found in the recipe books here and I printed a salsa recipe from
culinate.com. As a result of our meeting, I have some more tasks to do this
week.
I listened
through the old interview videos I have saved from last year. I found some quotes
from youth and laminating them to display at the Garden Party. Here are few of
the quotes I picked out for Debbie to take a look at:
- “Oh,
sure. Anyone that wants to make a difference in the community would be very
good for this program. Anyone could do this but it’s something that you really
gotta put your mind to. It’s something that not everyone else can do. Like
we’re not making a huge difference, but we’re making a little dent. And it’s
better something than nothing.” –Josiah M. (see Josiah's wonderful interview here)
- “My
favorite thing to do is I love water fights! No, I’m just joking. Shhh. You
know what I’m saying? But nah, my favorite thing to do is like harvest and
seeing our progress. You know what I mean. Like, once you harvest and see how
well the plant has grown… and selling it. Being able to sell to people.” – Mike
B.
- When
asked if she planned on staying involved with Roots & Wisdom. “I have only
been involved for six years. So, yeah, as long as I can.” – Amata C.
- “I’m
more sociable working in the garden. I first came here I was shy, but then I
broke out of that very easily. So I learned to work with people better.” –
Lemia
- “It’s
good to have a big, green plot of land in an urban area.” – Matt
- “Well,
that is my favorite part of working here. You get to meet really cool people
and work in the garden at the same time, so you’re doing something worthwhile
and you’re meeting a lot of new people and making friends.” – Claire F.
I will also be
keeping my supplies in a binder, which I will turn into an events and outreach
resource binder for the program. I will be going through Chris’s old documents
to see what is useful for the binder and for myself this summer. I will also be
investigating some websites from Fundraising
for Dummies and creating a list with summaries for anyone who needs
resources in the future. I even confirmed a date with for the Carver Community
Center group to visit the garden, today, but I forgot to agree upon a time. I
will communicate with Ms. Hill again tomorrow to figure out a good time. It
sounds like the Events Crew will have a large group to work with and educate! I
had a very productive day and will probably work mostly on resources tomorrow.
I am really enjoying getting a feel for the behind the scenes work that goes
into a community garden program like this.
