A Benefit for the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County's
 Grow You Own Way Sign tiff .tiff 
New Food Growing Program
 Friday March 9, 5-9pm
 Donation $20

Food, Silent Auction, Music

with Special Guest Speaker, Rachel Kaplan
 Author of Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living

Location: Trinity Episcopal Church
1500 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Join fellow community members for a celebratory benefit to launch the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County's new Grow Your Own Way Food Program, on March 9, 5-9pm, at Trinity Episcopal Church, in downtown Santa Barbara. 

What joins all parts of a strong community together is the growing and eating of fresh local food. The Food Bank of Santa Barbara County's new Grow Your Own Way program seeks to empower those it serves by sharing food growing knowledge and skills.  From container gardens for apartment dwellers, to developing new community garden sites, to working with local farmers to develop food growing cooperatives, the program trains food bank recipients to grow some of their own food and gain a new perspective of their role in the food system.

This year the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County celebrates its 30th anniversary of ending hunger and transforming the health of Santa Barbara County. The new Grow Your Own Way Program continues with this strong intention of bringing long-term change to the nutritional health of our county.  In 2011, the Foodbank served more than 102,000 unduplicated individuals from Carpinteria to Santa Maria, providing 11 million pounds of food, half of which was fresh produce.  Serving 1 in 4 Santa Barbara residents, the Foodbank has been at the forefront with innovative programs such as the Backyard Bounty Program, the Brown Bag Program for seniors, the Picnic in the Park and Kid's Farmer's Market Programs for kids, and the Healthy School Pantry Program for families.

The evening program includes music, unique raffle items, and regional foods prepared by local chefs Michele Molony & Rose; Kim Schiffer and Roberto Garcia. The keynote speaker will be Rachel Kaplan, author of Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living.

The event takes place on Friday, March 9, 5pm - 9pm, at the Trinity Episcopal Church, 1500 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.
Donation $20, no reservations required.  For more info:  www.foodbanksbc.org/growyourownway.html and www.sbpermaculture.org; Event Coordinator, Carla Rosin, 805-816-8188, crosart05@yahoo.com.

The Grow Your Own Way  benefit is the beginning of a three month fundraising campaign with a goal of $10,000 by June 15th.
 Donations can be made on-line at Grow Our Own Way Program: www.foodbanksbc.org/growyourownway.html

Evening Program:

5pm-6:30pm Meet & Greet: Hors d'oeuvres from local chefs, growers and producers; Silent Auction
6:30pm Opening Program: with Erik Talkin, Director of the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County &
Oscar Carmona, Grow Your Own Way  Food Program Manager
7:15-8:30pm Keynote Speaker: Rachel Kaplan, Author, Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living
8:30pm Raffle: Winner Announcements

Food Prepared by:
Roberto Garcia of Food for Celebration; Michele Molony & Rose of Savoire Faire Catering; & Kim Schiffer of The Santa Barbara Club



Event Supporters: Fund for Santa Barbara, SB Independent, Santa Barbara Permaculture Network, SBCC Center for Sustainability, Healing Grounds, Sea Grass Restaurant, Buttonwood Winery, Alma Rosa, Jaffurs, Patagonia, Pascucci, Lazy Acres, Sojourner, Island Seed & Feed, IV Co-op, New Frontiers, Teecino, Crush Cakes, Christie Communications, TraderJoe's, Nopalito Nursery, Santa Barbara Home Improvement Center, Marcie's Pies, Goodland Kitchen, Savoire Faire Catering, Ojai Olive Oil, Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, Backyard Bowls, Transition House, 7 Day Nursery, Living Seeds Company, Downey's Restaurant, Whole Foods Market .  Farmers: Jimenez Family Farm, Finley Farms, Nojoqui Farms, Spring Hill Jersey Cheese, The Farmer & the Cook, Fat Uncle Farms, Churchill Orchards, Earthtrine Farms, Ha's Apple Farm & Tutti Frutti.  Flowers by Vivi Teston~Fleur de V.  Special Partners: The Santa Barbara County Head Start Program.


A Community Service provided by Santa Barbara Permaculture Network Non-Profit
 www.sbpermaculture.org



Additional Info:

Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living, by Rachel Kaplan, http://urban-homesteading.org/;
Gives every day people the tools they need to live more sustainably, in small and big ways.

Rachel Kaplan author of Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living has been gardening in and around urban environments for more than 20 years, and belongs to a family of farmers and gardeners from  both the East & West coasts.  She is a psychotherapist and educator, and offers consultation with a permaculture focus for businesses, non-profits, schools & community groups.  Kaplan has Master Degrees in both Inter-disciplinary Arts and Counseling Psychology, and is a certified permaculture designer.  She lives in Northern California on her homestead Tiny Town Farm.

Grow Your Own Way Program:


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