[Community_garden] Growing Hope Center Groundbreaking in Ypsilanti, Michigan!

[Amanda Maria Edmonds]

You are cordially invited to the groundbreaking for Growing Hope's  
urban garden demonstration and training center.

GROWING HOPE CENTER GROUNDBREAKING
Thursday, May 1   5:30 pm
Groundbreaking: 5:30-6:00 pm.  Will include brief remarks by  
community leaders, and official first shovel!
Tours of the property: 5-7 pm.  See the site, inside and out, and  
join our vision for what it will become!

Location:
922 West Michigan Ave.  Corner of MI Ave & 1st, just four blocks west  
of downtown Ypsilanti.  You can link to a map from our website at  
http://www.growinghope.net/getintouch/index.shtml

Parking/Transportation:
On-site parking is extremely limited as our parking lot is not yet  
developed!  If driving, you can park on Summit Ave around the corner,  
or on 1st Ave across the street.  You can also take the #6 AATA bus  
to right by the Center, bicycle, or walk!

Things to Know or Bring:
+No bathroom is available on-site yet.
+We invite people to bring donations of plants (perennial divides,  
etc), to be be distributed to partner gardens, put into the ground at  
the new Center, and some sold as a fundraiser.  Other garden tools,  
equipment, and organic garden supplies also welcome.
+If you can't make the groundbreaking, check out our Open House dates  
at http://www.growinghope.net/calendar/index.shtml

RSVP:
Please call us at 734-786-8401 or email info at growinghope.net
RSVP requested, but not mandatory

About the Growing Hope Center:
The Growing Hope Center will be a community garden and urban food  
production demonstration and training center, as well as a model  
'green' property both indoors and out.  The eventual headquarters for  
Growing Hope offices, the Center will be a community resource center  
for gardening tools and related books, a destination for Growing Hope  
volunteers, and will house dedicated space for classrooms and  
learning.  As a space where the community can learn, grow, and be  
inspired by the beauty, health, and productivity of gardens, the  
Growing Hope Center will be a place to grow and teach about fresh  
food and flowers and hope for our community— a beacon of positive  
growth in both Ypsilanti and our region.

Imagine high-intensity urban food production year-round, healthy  
cooking classes with food grown and harvested on site, field trips  
arriving for fruit picking, a donation garden to ensure healthy food  
for neighbors in need, and a model of energy efficiency and green  
materials.  Eventually, an education center will add to our ability  
to use the site as a demonstration and hands-on training center for  
gardening, healthy eating, and entrepreneurism.  The Center will  
allow us to catalyze local business through garden-based enterprises— 
such as growing basil for wholesaling to restaurants, producing  
salsa, or training low-income persons for jobs in the garden  
industry.  As we train others to do this, we also increase our  
organizational sustainability as we generate our own revenue.


Amanda Maria Edmonds    			
Executive Director, Growing Hope
amanda at growinghope.net
734.330.7576

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world."
"To forget to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget  
ourselves."
					-Mahatma Gandhi



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