December 10th Meeting Recap

A recap of our final fall semester meeting, December 10th (a potluck!).

We will meet again Tuesday January 20th, same time and place as last semester, 9pm Hamilton 616. We will then discuss what time will be best for regular meetings next semester.

Grant Potluck Meeting Recap 12.10.08

1) Grants--Below is the grant sign-up list. Do check the requirements of the grant you are signed up for, as it is possible the project doesn't entirely qualify. If you have time to research other grants/funding opportunities, that would be really, really helpful. Sample grants are attached.

Grant (Deadline) Name(s)
Captain Planet (Dec 31) Tabitha/Becky
Healthy Sprouts (Oct 15) Saskia
Project Orange Thumb (Feb 17) Whitney
Home Depot Garden Grant (Nov 1) Julia
Columbia Sustainable Campus (Ongoing) Hannah, Andrew
Office of Multicultural Affairs Alumni Connection Fund (Ongoing) Laura, Katie
Diversity Initiative Grant from Office of Multicultural Affairs (Ongoing) Sarah, Theo
Office of the University Chaplain Co-Sponsorship Fund (Spring)
G-Unity Foundation (March 15th) Becky
Filter For Good (November 14th) Becky
Plum Grant (Ongoing) Rickie, Gracie

2) Spring fundraiser-Sarah is going to look into the possibility of hosting a spring fundraising dinner, such as a 20-person $15-20 a plate meal, using donated food. Laura also mentioned the idea of having Grant Houses residents involved in fundraising, which could be part of the dinner or another initiative. If anyone has ideas for this you're welcome to share them and investigate their feasibility.

3) Summer internships-We discussed the need for two summer interns to manage the garden, which involves managing resident and student involvement, particularly youth and seniors. The interns will need housing and a stipend, or at least enough of a stipend to cover the cost of housing. We are asking various academic departments to sponsor the interns, which involves contributing towards a fund to pay for the interns' stipend. The internships would thus be interdisciplinary positions, unless a department is willing to sponsor one intern by themselves and then can make the position more directed towards their field and include any academic component they wish. Currently people have committed to the following:
a. Becky-Office of Envi. Stewardship, the Earth Institute, Urban Studies, Teacher's College, History, African-American Studies, CC Dean'sOffice
b. Sarah-EEEB
c. Leah-Envi Engineering, SEAS Dean's Office
d. Gracie-Despommier, Dean Blank
e. Saskia-English
f. Anyone else-if you have connections with a dept. you could ask to co-sponsor the internship, please pursue it! We will likely house the interns through the Center for Urban Research and Policy.

4) Insurance-Becky is contacting the University General Counsel to resolve insurance issues for Columbia student involvement in the garden

5) After-school programming in the spring-We would like to have bi-weekly (weekly?) visits to the after-school program to discuss food, nutrition, and gardening. Sarah visited Leah last Friday to discuss the potential for this with Leanna. Gracie will be in touch with Leanna over the break to get an idea of how this could take-shape.

6) Building materials/plans-Laura will research potential resources formaterials for the garden. The Landscape Design students will be scanning and sending their plans to Becky, which she will pass on to Laura. We are still unsure of how exactly to present these plans to the community. We are considering setting up a meeting with parents, the Tenants Association, or an open meeting to the community. We also are hoping the landscape design students will continue to help to locate materials and support the physical construction of the garden, especially with things such as fence implementation and garden bed construction. Becky will be in touch with Prof. Alomar to discuss this possibility.