Marcus Garvey Liberation Garden #2

The summer of 2011 have brought about many changes for our organization. One of the major changes have been the fact that we have started or second Marcus Garvey Liberation Garden. The second garden is located at Key Middle School on the North side of Houston, TX. Instead of simply building a garden, we taught a month long garden class to students who were preparing to enter into Middle School. We were pulled into this project by one of the administrators of The Perfect Black Uhuru Academy (http://www.pbuacademy.info/). PBUA and Divine Leaders Inc. worked together to be deliver contract services to Houston Independent School District for Gardening Classes and African Dance Classes. In other words, we were employed to teach Culture and Self-Sufficiency. Check out photos below!

The pictures below are from the final program that the children did on the last day of the summer camp program. Everything that was learned in the duration of the program was displayed for everyone to see. (One of the students took the pictures for the performance. lol)

2nd Annual Give A Gift to Your Community Campaign

Divine Leaders Inc. and The Shrine of the Black Madonna #10 are proud to announce the beginning of The 2nd Annual Give a Gift to Your Community Campaign. This campaign comes at a time when we are preparing for the upcoming spring and growing season. To make sure this upcoming season is better than the last, we need your help! This campaign allows donors to directly impact the operations of our garden by purchasing items that will be essential in aiding us in providing more fresh organic produce to our community.



This year our sponsorship levels have changed slightly to reflect the changes that we are experiencing as our project grows and becomes more successful. Any person or organization is able to become a sponsor. Any donation is a tax deduction. We also want you to know that are sponsorship levels are made to emphasize what our garden needs the most. Any donation, more or less than the specified sponsor levels will be accepted.



The Garden Bed Level will allow us to build a 25x15 ft. plot in our garden. This level is very important because our garden is located on 2.5 acres of land, and we only use less than 10% of that land as of right now. The more space we use to grow food, the more food we can grow! It is also important to know that there are no limits in number of beds that we can build. The only thing that has limited us up until now is the number of volunteers and amount of funds needed to cultivate the land.



The Water Reservoir Level will allow us to increase the capacity and efficiency of our rain water harvesting system. This level is very important because last year we experienced at least four months of water bills that were $200 or more. By placing an emphasis on increasing the capacity of our rain water harvesters, this will aid us in becoming more effective in achieving some of the main goals of our garden and food co-op program. In 2010 we started this project to reduce the amount of wealth funneled out of our community for healthy food, and to become more self-sufficient as a community. Therefore, by increasing our rain water harvesting capacity we will achieve both of these goals and nurture our garden with water provided by nature instead of the City of Houston.



Lastly, we have our Fruit Tree Level. This level is very important as well, and probably already the most successful aspect of this fundraising campaign. After the finishing touches were made to this campaign, the word traveled about our need of fruit trees. So I am proud to let you know that a little less than a month ago a generous supporter donated more than 12 trees of a variety of different fruits. We now have over 20 trees in the Marcus Garvey Liberation Orchard!!! (Avocado, Plum, Orange, Tangerine, Bananas, Figs and Berries) So as of right now we have come to the conclusion that we do not need to add any more trees in this upcoming season. Therefore, any donation made at the Fruit Tree Level will be allocated to our efforts of increasing the capacity of rain water harvesting system.



If there are any questions on how to make your donation for the fund raising campaign, please call 832-262-8019 or send an email to cnweze@hotmail.com. Now that you have been notified of what has been done and will be accomplished in the next few weeks, it is mandatory for you to know how we will celebrate the success of our Give a Gift to Your Community Campaign. This upcoming March 5th we will be acknowledging our sponsors for this years fundraising campaign and celebrating our first year of serving our community by hosting The MGLG First Africanaversary!!! We appreciate your undying support and can’t wait to see you this upcoming season!!!

www.marcusgarveyliberationgarden.com

www.divineleaders.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/divineleaders

We Need Your Help and Your Cardboard

The Marcus Garvey Liberation Garden (MGLG) is in existence to increase the supply of organic produce in Southeast Houston, TX. We also strive to educate individuals on more efficient methods of urban gardening.


Since our inception in March 2010, we have and still are using four methods to cultivate our garden. The most successful method we have is used is the method in which we cover the ground with a layer of cardboard and hay. This is by far one of the most efficient methods of gardening that we use because the ground is never tilled, no bed is built, and no extra soil is needed.

This cardboard method is ideal for virgin soil (an area that has never been cultivated for a garden). The cardboard starts to kill the grass immediately by shielding it from the sunlight. The grass dies and becomes compost and fertilizer for your plants. The layer of hay is used to help cover some of the holes in the cardboard and stop the cardboard from being blown away by the wind. The grass below will be completely dead within two weeks. (You can always look under cardboard to check it.) Once there is no longer any grass living, we made small holes in the hay and cardboard for the sewing of the seeds. When the seed germinates it is the only thing that will sprout! All weeds and grass is blocked by the cardboard.

There are numerous benefits to this method. One of the most prevalent benefits is there is no weeding needed. The cardboard does not only stop the weeds from growing, but it does not allow direct sunlight to reach the soil. This helps because direct sunlight during long Texas summer days can dry out a soil in a matter of hours. If you ever have the chance to play in soil, you will notice the top of the soil is much lighter than the soil a fraction of an inch below the surface. The lighter top soil is visual proof that the direct sunlight is depleting the soil of some of its nutrients. When you see a forest or jungle, there are many plants and trees growing, but no soil is exposed. The soil is covered with organic matter, which is exactly what we try to replicate in the MGLG with the use of cardboard and hay. Another benefit of using the cardboard is that much less water is needed because the rate of evaporation is slowed due to the lack of direct sunlight beaming on the soil.

This is why we need your cardboard! As you partake in the Holiday Season festivities remember that the cardboard that gift came in can be put to use in our garden! You must also remember that it is much more efficient to reuse materials rather than recycle them. So don’t recycle those brown cardboard boxes, let us reuse them for you!

In addition to the cardboard, we need YOU! Gardening in Texas is year-round! We will be much more successful if you chose to lend us the labor of your hands. Once you come you will leave with fruits of your labor, FOOD! Fresh, Organic food grown and produced as the fruit of the labor of our other volunteers! We would like to include you in the list of wonderful people! Can you lend us a hand?

If you are interested in volunteering or simply making a donation you can contact our Garden Coordinator, Cavanaugh Nweze at 832-262-8019 or cnweze@hotmail.com. I am pretty sure he is looking forward to hearing from you!

My Community Efforts

I am an employee of CITGO Petroleum. They have a program called "Fueling Good". In the program employees have the chance to nominate co-workers for their community work. Being that I started a community garden a number of my co-workers have chosen to nominate me. I recieved an email today stating they need an explanation from me so I can be considered if I should be a finalist for the competition. What I have posted below, is what I submitted to them. What do you think? Do you think I deserve a reward for my work in the community?

My Community Efforts
My community efforts began long before I became an employee of CITGO. I was always active in the community being that my grandmother was a powerful player in city politics in Dallas, TX, and in Houston, TX a city council representative was a close family friend. By the age of 20 I participated in two city political campaigns and numerous community activities. My adult years have not been much different. I sometimes tell friends I was raised in community activism.


In 2006, while I was an accounting student at Prairie View A&M University, two friends and I founded a nonprofit organization called Divine Leaders Incorporated. I am still Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Operating Officer of Divine Leaders Incorporated. During mid 2009 we decided to go into a partnership with a local church that owned 2.5 acres of land that was being unused. Due to the fact that the neighborhood I was raised in and still live in now, is in the middle of what is known as a “food desert”, we made the decision to start the Marcus Garvey Liberation Garden and Food Coop Program (MGLG).

The MGLG officially began Feb. 28, 2010 when we held a Groundbreaking ceremony in the garden. The MGLG is completely organic and we use three different gardening methods to demonstrate to participants the many ways they can convert their lawns to gardens. No food grown in MGLG is sold. All food is donated to the volunteers and households living below the poverty line in our community. Since the beginning of the MGLG we have given away over 100 lbs of organic produce.

The MGLG has quickly evolved from a simple community garden into a family friendly venue of entertainment. This happened when we hosted our First Annual Greater Houston Urban Garden Festival on August 21, 2010. You can view pictures of our festival here: http://bit.ly/bchPfY. In these hard economic times, our garden hosted almost 20 small businesses to sale their goods directly to patrons at our festival. The festival was also an opportunity for local independent artist to showcase their talents as well.

As you can see, my community endeavors has created a plethora of good opportunities for individuals living in the lower economic neighborhoods of Houston, TX. If you would like to view pictures of our Groundbreaking Ceremony, you could do so here: http://bit.ly/bdEjEz. Finally, to see all the wonderful food that we have given out since the beginning of the MGLG, just scroll down.

Helping You, Help Others

Greetings,

As we all know, we are rapidly approaching the beginning of a new school year. We also know, that in lower economic communities it is a struggle to provide basic household necessities, let alone purchasing new school supplies. So a local organization has stepped up to help you, help others.

That organization is IamWorthing. It was founded by a high school classmate of mine at Evan E. Worthing High School in Houston, TX. They are accepting backpacks, writing utensils, folders, binders, paper, dividers, calculators, and gift certificates. If you would like to donate and need more information on how to do so, please feel free to contact Kenneth Eaton at kmeaton.htu@gmail.com. The children are the future and they appreciate your help.


Thanks