Last night I spoke to members of a church about the GRUB Program. Zaquia and Krista, two young college women, who have been in GRUB since they were in junior high school, joined me. I was very proud of them for making the effort to be there, because I know they are busy with school and other activities, and because I hadn’t called to remind them (or nag them) about coming. I sort of put them on the spot once they arrived, asking them if they would join me in speaking to the group; always troopers, they agreed.
After we spoke we took questions from the church members. The final question was from my friend, one of the Pastors of the church, Barrett Smith. He asked the girls why they “stuck,” why they kept going to the GRUB Program. I was eager to hear their answers. This has been my $64,000 question for years, why do teenagers keep coming to the farm week after week, year after year, volunteering to do very labor intensive work in all kinds of weather. They hemmed and hawed for a few seconds, trying to come up with an answer and finally Zaquia said, “Because of Roy and Debbie and Jenifer.” I know that is part of the reason. I know the teens keep returning because they know the adults at the farm, Debbie and Ashley and I, genuinely care for them, but there is more; they genuinely care about each other.
These GRUB “kids,” from every race, religion, school, family configuration, socio-economic status, and neighborhood in town, come together and forget they are different. They become friends, a family. Krista’s answer to Barrett’s question was, “If you don’t fit in or belong anywhere else, you fit in at the farm.” They keep coming back because it is a home and we are a family. I guess I’ve always known the answer, but I needed to hear it, to get confirmation, to know that the work we've been doing for the past ten years is important; to inspire me to carry on and to strive to make the GRUB Program better.
Thanks, Barrett, for asking the question, and thank you girls for your beautiful answers.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Opening Day
Today was the opening day of the GRUB 2010-2011 Academic Year Program, the tenth opening day I have been witness to in this phenomenal youth program. Today, as almost twenty teenagers showed up at the farm on a Saturday morning, I couldn’t help but reflect on past opening days.
The first year was a challenge. The program was on rocky ground, still trying to find its place when Farmer Roy and I made a pact to “make it work.” With a list from our area workforce development program we made phone call after phone call recruiting teenagers to be part of the GRUB Program. Scoop Hooper, a city employee, then in charge of Youth Development (a program that no longer exists), and I made home visits to explain the concept of GRUB to parents. Finally, on that first opening day, Farmer Roy and I drove from one end of the city to the other picking up teenagers and transporting them to the farm for a morning of field work, job skill lessons, and a whole lot of mentoring and caring. Somehow it all worked. I have no idea how many miles we logged on the GRUB van and on our personal vehicles that first year, but it paid off – the GRUB Program was born. I have fond memories of T-Reg, Tory, Sparkle, Starla, Cortesha, and Cedric, just to name a few from that first year.
The following years brought hundreds of teenagers to the farm. So many names and faces, so many lives and hearts touched and changed by the GRUB Program. But the GRUB teens weren’t the only ones benefiting and changing – Farmer Roy, Farm Manager Debbie, and I were all impacted by the youth in the program. Prasyla, D’Andrea, Marvin, BK, Shae, Chuy, Malcolm, Ronnie, Kacy, Morgan, Analisa, Anthony, Joe, Terrence, Tancquasha, Asia, Sean, Roderick, Cassie, Jontell, Virtis, Jabree, Tyrone, Dillan, the Garcia brothers, the Love siblings, Kimberly, Isaac, and many, many, many more tough and tender, tall and short, volunteers or community service teens, all touched and changed us for the better.
The current crop of GRUB teens is outstanding: Zaquia, LaKeisha, Krista, Zack, Zeke, Adam, Kozie, Sean, B.J., De’Drick, Derrick, Angel, Abry, Kevin, Katrina, and Grace. This group, perhaps more than any other, has taken GRUB to a new level. Add to this our newest staff member, Ashley, and there is no telling where we can go!
Today’s first GRUB workday brought many new teens through our door. As each signed in and filled out the required program paper work, I couldn’t help but wonder who they were and how they would impact the GRUB Program and me in the year to come. Welcome to our farm, we are in for another awesome year. Thank you, each of you, for who you are and what you bring to us.
The first year was a challenge. The program was on rocky ground, still trying to find its place when Farmer Roy and I made a pact to “make it work.” With a list from our area workforce development program we made phone call after phone call recruiting teenagers to be part of the GRUB Program. Scoop Hooper, a city employee, then in charge of Youth Development (a program that no longer exists), and I made home visits to explain the concept of GRUB to parents. Finally, on that first opening day, Farmer Roy and I drove from one end of the city to the other picking up teenagers and transporting them to the farm for a morning of field work, job skill lessons, and a whole lot of mentoring and caring. Somehow it all worked. I have no idea how many miles we logged on the GRUB van and on our personal vehicles that first year, but it paid off – the GRUB Program was born. I have fond memories of T-Reg, Tory, Sparkle, Starla, Cortesha, and Cedric, just to name a few from that first year.
The following years brought hundreds of teenagers to the farm. So many names and faces, so many lives and hearts touched and changed by the GRUB Program. But the GRUB teens weren’t the only ones benefiting and changing – Farmer Roy, Farm Manager Debbie, and I were all impacted by the youth in the program. Prasyla, D’Andrea, Marvin, BK, Shae, Chuy, Malcolm, Ronnie, Kacy, Morgan, Analisa, Anthony, Joe, Terrence, Tancquasha, Asia, Sean, Roderick, Cassie, Jontell, Virtis, Jabree, Tyrone, Dillan, the Garcia brothers, the Love siblings, Kimberly, Isaac, and many, many, many more tough and tender, tall and short, volunteers or community service teens, all touched and changed us for the better.
The current crop of GRUB teens is outstanding: Zaquia, LaKeisha, Krista, Zack, Zeke, Adam, Kozie, Sean, B.J., De’Drick, Derrick, Angel, Abry, Kevin, Katrina, and Grace. This group, perhaps more than any other, has taken GRUB to a new level. Add to this our newest staff member, Ashley, and there is no telling where we can go!
Today’s first GRUB workday brought many new teens through our door. As each signed in and filled out the required program paper work, I couldn’t help but wonder who they were and how they would impact the GRUB Program and me in the year to come. Welcome to our farm, we are in for another awesome year. Thank you, each of you, for who you are and what you bring to us.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
GRUB Loves Volunteers!
Every once in a while an awesome volunteer steps onto our farm and everything clicks. This summer that awesome volunteer is Caroline. Working side-by-side with the GRUB teens in the field she discovered the magic that is the GRUB Farm. Today she came by my office with a request to do a college internship with the GRUB Program next semester. YES, was my reply even before she told me that GRUB was “in her heart.”
How fortunate for the GRUB Program that Caroline found us. Her sensitivity and genuine love for the teens in the GRUB Program will be a blessing to us. She hopes to lead leadership and development classes with the teens in the fall. We could not do what we do without our wonderful volunteers. Thank you, Caroline!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Thank You, Lubbock
I’ve been thinking about our farmers’ market experience on Saturday. After a really bad week – flooding, lost crops, pulling the pump on the well and replacing it – the market was a refreshing reminder of the greatness of our community.
First, I must brag on the GRUB crew. At 7:00 a.m. on Saturday morning I had seven teenagers at the farm loading bins of vegetables into our market trailer. They each put in a nine hour day, unpaid, in an effort to earn money to attend the Rooted in Community conference in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina later this month. Kudos to farm manager, Debbie Cline, for getting the trailer to the farmers’ market for us on her day off, because I am incapable of backing up a trailer.
The weather on Saturday was not the best for an outdoor market and street fair. We began our morning in rain showers which continued off and on throughout the day, only to be interrupted by periods of blazing heat and humidity. But, the show did go on, in spite of the weather. To add to the marketable produce we were able to salvage from our farm, a local vendor helped us buy wholesale from one of his distributors. (Thanks, Cal Brints from Apple Country Orchard!) And another grower showed up with a donation of two boxes of tomatoes for us to sell. (Thanks, Russ!)
The outpouring of support from the community was beautiful. One customer bought $9 worth of vegetables, paid with a one-hundred dollar bill, and told us to keep the change. Another customer told me she wanted to sponsor one of the GRUB teens on the trip and handed me a check for $700! WOW! And, it didn’t end there. One of our CSA shareholders came by with a large donation, as did perfect strangers. On top of this we had the best sales day we’ve ever had at the farmers’ market.
Last Tuesday morning, when surveying the flood damage, one of the GRUB members asked me how we would ever raise the money needed to attend the Rooted in Community conference now that there were no excess vegetables to sell at the market. I assured her that it would all work out, somehow – it always does. Thanks, Lubbock, for not making a liar out of me!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
GRUB Stories
Lately I am feeling like the harried mother of a newborn, so many things are happening and I don’t have time to write it all down. I am missing the opportunity to record too many important moments in my “child’s” life. The “child” in this instance is the GRUB Program. We have been so busy this summer I haven’t had a spare moment in which to write about it. I am forcing myself today to commit to paper a few recent happenings.
The summer program began as hectic as usual – sixteen teenagers in the paid Summer GRUB Program plus an assortment of teens from 12 to 22 showing up every day to perform their court ordered community service. On any day we can expect 20 to 30 “kids” at the farm, add to that the bi-weekly van-load of youth who show up with their probation officers and we have busy week on the farm. Crops were growing great, we had early harvests in our high tunnels and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares of the harvest went out three weeks early this year. All-in-all, a great beginning to our summer until – we received half of our annual rainfall in one weekend. Oops!
Farm Flood 7/5/10
Seven to ten inches of rain on a farm already sitting in a bowl, bordered on one side by a playa lake and on the other sides by homes and concrete, is not a good thing. The rains began on Thursday and didn’t cease until Sunday, at which time we had several feet of water standing on all five acres of our farm.
Is this an essay to complain about the rain and floods on the farm? Certainly not – that was just to set the scene for the two stories I want to tell.
Story #1: Every year a few lucky teens from the GRUB Program get the opportunity to attend a national conference, Rooted in Community, with other youth from across the United States who are participating in garden-based food justice programs. So, this year our budget allowed for three youth and one adult to attend the event. I told the youth in the program to pick three of their peers to represent them and I was quickly informed that that just wouldn’t cut it. I responded with, “Well, that’s all the budget allows, so deal with it.” Okay, here comes the fun part of story #1 – they went over my head! They requested and received a meeting with our Executive Director and our Chief Financial Officer where they convinced them that, because attending the conference had been a “life changing experience” for them in the past – they deserved to go and take four more of the younger teens in the program with them.
Our Executive Director is no fool, and our Chief Financial Officer is known to be a hard-a** at times (when money is involved), so the deal they made with my GRUB emissaries was this: they would front them the money to take the additional youth to the conference, BUT the GRUB teens had to earn the extra money this summer and pay it back. NO PROBLEM! They committed to selling excess farm produce at the farmers’ market every Saturday on their own time in order to raise the money. Sounds good, right? Oh, wait – remember the aforementioned flood? There will be no excess produce! Disaster.
Story #2: I was out of town over the long holiday weekend of the flood. As soon as I got back into town on Monday evening I went to the farm to take photos of the flood damage. I arrived at the farm to find the gate and building wide open and discovered a group of GRUB teens inside the barn building something. They were a bit sheepish when I “caught” them working on a mystery project.
Back-story to Story #2: For the past 10 years our Farm Manager, Debbie Cline, has overseen the harvest and the vegetable cleaning and packaging on two really awful wooden tables. These tables are falling apart and non-utilitarian.
Story #2 continued: So, I “caught” the GRUB teens making new tables for Farm Manager, Debbie. They used money from their hard-earned paychecks (to the tune of $400+), designed tables to hold our harvest and CSA crates, purchased and hauled materials, and hid the entire scheme from farm staff adults. One of the teens involved in this project is a young man who six months ago, when asked where he saw himself in ten years, replied, “Locked up.” This young man happens to be one of the younger GRUB teens picked by his peers to attend the conference. (See what a little self-confidence/self-esteem can do?)
Caught in the act
I left them on Monday evening to finish their project. This morning they surprised Debbie with the tables, complete with hand-painted veggies and an inscription on one that reads, “Strengthening a Community and Building a Family.” I am happy to report that Debbie cried when presented with her present.
Conclusion of Story #2: When I discovered how much money the GRUB teens spent on Debbie’s gift I offered to continue our conference fundraising efforts in order to pay them back. The young man, who heretofore saw his future behind bars, told me in no uncertain terms that he would not accept any money from me. “We did this for Debbie, not GRUB,” he said.
Let’s tie these two stories together – We have the most wonderful, most awesome teenagers in the GRUB Program. Caring, giving, deserving teens – all of whom want to improve their lives and the lives of others. They all deserve the opportunity to attend the National Rooted in Community Conference http://www.rootedincommunity.org/. Help me get them there. To donate or to sponsor a teen, please call me at 806-763-3003, extension 35.
Thanks, Jenifer and the GRUB Teens
The summer program began as hectic as usual – sixteen teenagers in the paid Summer GRUB Program plus an assortment of teens from 12 to 22 showing up every day to perform their court ordered community service. On any day we can expect 20 to 30 “kids” at the farm, add to that the bi-weekly van-load of youth who show up with their probation officers and we have busy week on the farm. Crops were growing great, we had early harvests in our high tunnels and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares of the harvest went out three weeks early this year. All-in-all, a great beginning to our summer until – we received half of our annual rainfall in one weekend. Oops!
Farm Flood 7/5/10
Seven to ten inches of rain on a farm already sitting in a bowl, bordered on one side by a playa lake and on the other sides by homes and concrete, is not a good thing. The rains began on Thursday and didn’t cease until Sunday, at which time we had several feet of water standing on all five acres of our farm.
Is this an essay to complain about the rain and floods on the farm? Certainly not – that was just to set the scene for the two stories I want to tell.
Story #1: Every year a few lucky teens from the GRUB Program get the opportunity to attend a national conference, Rooted in Community, with other youth from across the United States who are participating in garden-based food justice programs. So, this year our budget allowed for three youth and one adult to attend the event. I told the youth in the program to pick three of their peers to represent them and I was quickly informed that that just wouldn’t cut it. I responded with, “Well, that’s all the budget allows, so deal with it.” Okay, here comes the fun part of story #1 – they went over my head! They requested and received a meeting with our Executive Director and our Chief Financial Officer where they convinced them that, because attending the conference had been a “life changing experience” for them in the past – they deserved to go and take four more of the younger teens in the program with them.
Our Executive Director is no fool, and our Chief Financial Officer is known to be a hard-a** at times (when money is involved), so the deal they made with my GRUB emissaries was this: they would front them the money to take the additional youth to the conference, BUT the GRUB teens had to earn the extra money this summer and pay it back. NO PROBLEM! They committed to selling excess farm produce at the farmers’ market every Saturday on their own time in order to raise the money. Sounds good, right? Oh, wait – remember the aforementioned flood? There will be no excess produce! Disaster.
Story #2: I was out of town over the long holiday weekend of the flood. As soon as I got back into town on Monday evening I went to the farm to take photos of the flood damage. I arrived at the farm to find the gate and building wide open and discovered a group of GRUB teens inside the barn building something. They were a bit sheepish when I “caught” them working on a mystery project.
Back-story to Story #2: For the past 10 years our Farm Manager, Debbie Cline, has overseen the harvest and the vegetable cleaning and packaging on two really awful wooden tables. These tables are falling apart and non-utilitarian.
Story #2 continued: So, I “caught” the GRUB teens making new tables for Farm Manager, Debbie. They used money from their hard-earned paychecks (to the tune of $400+), designed tables to hold our harvest and CSA crates, purchased and hauled materials, and hid the entire scheme from farm staff adults. One of the teens involved in this project is a young man who six months ago, when asked where he saw himself in ten years, replied, “Locked up.” This young man happens to be one of the younger GRUB teens picked by his peers to attend the conference. (See what a little self-confidence/self-esteem can do?)
Caught in the act
I left them on Monday evening to finish their project. This morning they surprised Debbie with the tables, complete with hand-painted veggies and an inscription on one that reads, “Strengthening a Community and Building a Family.” I am happy to report that Debbie cried when presented with her present.
Conclusion of Story #2: When I discovered how much money the GRUB teens spent on Debbie’s gift I offered to continue our conference fundraising efforts in order to pay them back. The young man, who heretofore saw his future behind bars, told me in no uncertain terms that he would not accept any money from me. “We did this for Debbie, not GRUB,” he said.
Let’s tie these two stories together – We have the most wonderful, most awesome teenagers in the GRUB Program. Caring, giving, deserving teens – all of whom want to improve their lives and the lives of others. They all deserve the opportunity to attend the National Rooted in Community Conference http://www.rootedincommunity.org/. Help me get them there. To donate or to sponsor a teen, please call me at 806-763-3003, extension 35.
Thanks, Jenifer and the GRUB Teens
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Lessons Learned
The GRUB Summer Program began on June 1st and I have barely had time to sit behind my computer since. The summer began with a bang and a triple digit heat wave, but the GRUB crew is up to the task. At the close of the first day one of our interns took me on a tour of the farm to show me the work accomplished. This particular intern is typically selfish with praise, but on this day she was throwing it around with abandon. The amount of work accomplished on the first day was astounding.
Since GRUB is a job skills/life skills training program I took it upon myself to teach a “lesson” – that a good boss doesn’t ask employees to do anything he/she wouldn’t do. So I jumped in on the second day and hoed an entire row of weeds. Later, one of the GRUB teens asked me how long it took. His reply, “If I took that long Debbie would fire me.”
I may not be fast, but at least I gave it my best shot. That’s another job/life lesson – always give it your best shot.
It was a very long row to hoe!
Since GRUB is a job skills/life skills training program I took it upon myself to teach a “lesson” – that a good boss doesn’t ask employees to do anything he/she wouldn’t do. So I jumped in on the second day and hoed an entire row of weeds. Later, one of the GRUB teens asked me how long it took. His reply, “If I took that long Debbie would fire me.”
I may not be fast, but at least I gave it my best shot. That’s another job/life lesson – always give it your best shot.
It was a very long row to hoe!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
A Girl's Guide to Camping
My first camping experience was a success. I must admit I was not too excited when the idea was first proposed by the energetic college intern, Stephanie, working with me this semester. Taking a dozen teenagers camping sounded more like an episode of MTV’s Real World than an activity for a fifty-something woman whose idea of roughing it is having to carry my own luggage into a hotel. However, Stephanie’s enthusiasm prevailed and before I knew it I was on my way to the great outdoors.
I am proud to say I survived. I guess, as camping experiences go, this one was rather cushy. Stephanie’s enthusiasm infected almost everyone at our non-profit organization and before they knew it they were volunteering to assist, and/or attend the trip. We arrived at the campsite to find three R.V. campers, complete with bathrooms, refrigerators, and sleeping accommodations. There was one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for the adults. Wow, who knew camping could be so easy? Not I.
There were a few hard-core attendees who wanted the full camping experience, so a couple of tents were pitched. Guess who got to sleep in one of the tents to serve as a chaperone? That would be me. But even that didn’t come close to the horror I had prepared myself for. When the provider of the R.V.s (who also happens to be our staff nutrition educator) learned of my fate she quickly provided an inflatable bed and a down-filled comforter. I think I probably had even more comfortable accommodations than those in the heated campers. Except for the brief rain that fell around midnight and came in through the mesh ceiling of the tent, my night was comfy, cozy, and uneventful. My tent-mates never even knew we had undergone a campsite baptism of sorts.
We performed all of the standard camp rituals; we roasted hot dogs, we made s’mores, we sang (and danced) around the campfire, we smelled of wood smoke when we went to bed, we hiked, we caught bugs, and we had a real “camp” breakfast cooked over an open fire. How many campers can boast their meals were prepared by an Executive Chef? Yep, Stephanie-the-intern even convinced our staff chef to attend and cook for us. In addition to the chef and nutritionist she also recruited other employees. Our chief financial officer led a hiking expedition, our executive director served as photographer, our Ph.D. horticulturist conducted the bug hunting/identifying/labeling excursions, and even our accountant, dock foreman, social marketing director, and two kitchen assistants got in on the camping action. Our farm manager and her husband kept the campfire and a pot of coffee going all night.
I’ve always believed in the adage, “It takes a village to raise a child,” but I now see that it takes an entire non-profit organization to orchestrate and pull off a successful camping experience – not only for me, but for the eleven lucky teens that this trip was for. Thanks to my co-workers and especially to Stephanie, the intern, for making this an experience none of us will ever forget.
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