Sunday, July 15, 2012

July 2012 The Center for Environmental Transformation


The Center for Environmental Transformation

July 15, 2012

Greetings to all of you from muggy but vibrant southern New Jersey!

From June 17 – 30 of this year an amazing thing happened at the Center.  We were visited by two groups of young people from Loyola-Blakefield HS in Towson, MD.  Each group of 10 young men spent a week with us, along with two chaperones.  They came to work with us in the “great work” of transformation here in Waterfront South, Camden, NJ.  And did they work!  I want to take this opportunity to let you know just how much they got done.  During the first week there were two major accomplishments:  they put together a tool shed in Eve’s Garden and they expanded the native plant garden 100%. What was extraordinary about these two accomplishments is that they were completed in scorching heat and high humidity. There was no stopping this group.  In addition to these two major tasks, the first week’s group also create a flower bed (18” wide by about 75’ long), they assisted with some much needed rearrangement of furniture and books in Sacred Heart School, they cleared out the back yard of the Thrift Store so that the children can play there while their mothers shop, they tended to the gardens, planting tomatoes as well as harvesting seeds, and they spent a day with homeless people at a neighboring day center. 
The second group, not to be outdone by their peers, completed the flooring of the shed in Eve’s Garden, made use of the new lawnmower and weedwhacker to make the garden beds pop by trimming away the grass, they also cleared out the fruit tree orchard as well as the sapling orchard of all the overgrown grass and weeds that threatened to consume our fruit trees and saplings.  They joined two groups of children from other neighborhoods in Camden to harvest the potatoes from the Jasper St. park garden, potatoes planted on March 17, 2012.  They tended to the weeding of the gardens, as well as harvesting vegetables for the farmer’s market.  However, the  crowning achievement of this group was the creation of a fence, made of driftwood, on the edges of the new garden bed created by the first week’s crew.  It is fantastic!  The creativity of the group reaches its apex in this endeavor.  They went to the edge of the Delaware River and found pieces of driftwood, large and small, to construct the most unique fence in this entire area.
            I share this with you primarily to celebrate the energy and creativity of this group of young people from Towson, MD.  I also share it with you to give you a glimpse into the amount of work that is accomplished by groups that come to spend a week or weekend with us.  While people work with us on various projects, they also have time to reflect on the place where they are working, the value of their work, and the possibility of transformation in a place like Camden as well as in their own lives.  When they were not working, this group watched the film “I Am” by Tom Shadyac, better known for his work with comedian Jim Carrey in the movies.  This documentary raises questions about the meaning of life and the nature of humanity. On another day they watch the film “Poet of Poverty,” based on the monthly letters written by Fr. Michael Doyle, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, the spiritual taproot of the Center.  This film explores the challenges faced by Camden, through the words of someone who has championed Camden and her people for more than 40 years.  The young people from Loyola-Blakefield also received some insights into food system justice as well as into the need to live more sustainably on this planet.  They examined these issues with Andrea Ferich, our director of sustainability initiatives.  The group met most of the members of the board of trustees, in small settings, around a meal, or in discussion of the films mentioned above.  Of course, there was free time, and every minute of that free time went to two activities:  soccer with the local Mexican men who gather to play soccer quite regularly in our park, and basketball with the local young people.
At the end of their time here, the group identified first, what they’ve learned about themselves, about each other, or about Camden during their week here, and second, they identified how they might bring what they’ve experienced/learned here back to Towson, their high school and homes.  I have included a selection of what they had to say as an attachment to this email.  I encourage you to read through it.  It is quite inspirational!  Finally, we blessed each of them with oil, commissioning them to be ambassadors for Camden in their lives, to be examples of sustainable living, to uncover ways in which they can walk more gently upon this dear earth of ours.
            In their evaluations these young people praised their time in Camden, the opportunity to connect with the people of Camden, particularly the children, and to discover, perhaps for the first time, that each has a “bit” to play in creating a more just and peaceful world. 
            We cannot do this without your support, both prayerful and financial.  You are also our best public relations.  Please share our story with your friends and neighbors.  Share this email with teacher friends, youth ministers, pastors, young people’s group coordinators, so that they might consider spending a weekend or week with us.  It is a “great work” that we are about here and our doors are open to welcome anyone who wants to do their “bit.”

Peace to all!

Mark Doorley, Ph.D.
President, Board of Trustees
The Center for Environmental Transformation


NEWS AND NOTES
1.      JOIN US!  First Saturday of the Month Work Day, August 4th, from 9AM to Noon.  Please gather at the Poet’s Walk, across from Sacred Heart School, on Jasper St.  Please let Andrea Ferich know you are coming by emailing her at aferich@gmail.com.  There is plenty to do in the gardens as the many plants begin to give up their bounty.  Bring some drinking water and a pair of work gloves.
2.      WATERFRONT SOUTH FARMERS MARKET:  Every Friday, from 4-7PM, at 1729 Ferry Avenue, Greensgrow and the Center collaborate to bring all who come an amazing assortment of vegetables, storytelling, laughter, perhaps even a treat to take the edge off after a long work week.  The Greensgrow CSA is going strong!  By all accounts, our members are quite happy with what they’ve received so far, including the fantastic recipes.  Come out and pick up some fresh herbs and other early summer produce.  There may even be some peaches.  Yummy!
3.      SAVE THE DATE!  The Fourth Annual Thomas Berry Lecture is on Sunday, October 7, 2012 at 3PM in Sacred Heart Church. This year we welcome Mary Evelyn Tucker, professor in the Divinity School at Yale University and also a professor in Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. She is a longtime collaborator with Thomas Berry.  Recently, she co-produced, along with physicist Brian Swimme, a documentary entitled “The Journey of the Universe.”  We had a screening of this film on June 24th.  It is amazing!  In putting together this film, Mary Evelyn and Brian hoped to use the film to begin to do what Thomas Berry invited us to do his entire life:  tell the story of the universe in a way that includes us!  Many of the stories that our culture tells about nature set us against nature.  That is wrong!  We are as much a part of nature as anything else, and so the universe’s story is our story.  When she comes on October 7th, she will speak under the title “An Integrating Story of the Earth Community.”  She is a dynamic speaker who communicates these important ideas in accessible ways.  We need buyers AND sellers of tickets.  The tickets are $20.  All proceeds go to the Center.  Please contact Susan Cedrone, a Board member and chair of the 2012 Thomas Berry Lecture committee.  Her email is smecedrone@aol.com.  Please pass the attached flyer on to your network of people who might be interested in joining us.
4.      This past week we received a generous grant of $15,000 from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation to support ongoing operating expenses of the Center.  We are very excited to again receive support from this very prestigious institution.  In the letter informing us of the grant, the foundation President and CEO, Christopher J. Daggett wrote  “The Waterfront South neighborhood is an oasis in Camden, thanks in large part to your (Andrea Ferich) leadership and the support of your committed board.  We are particularly impressed by the Center’s native plant nursery, which is an exciting opportunity to generate revenue while supporting your urban greening and environmental restoration projects in the city.”  Congratulations to Andrea for writing an exceptional grant for Dodge, and to the Center for attracting this continued support.  Thank you Dodge!!!
5.      2012 Capital Campaign:  Consider making a contribution to the 2012 capital campaign.  We have three major projects remaining:  replacing eleven windows on the first floor, tearing down the old porch and rebuilding it and redesigning the front entrance.  All of this takes money. While foundations help us with the operating expenses, they don’t support capital improvements.  So, we depend on our generous friends, people like you, who step up to the plate and contribute to the creation of something beautiful at the Center.  Please contact Mark Doorley at president@camdencenterfortransformation.org for more information.
6.      Our friends at Sustainable Cherry Hill are hosting two movie nights at the Crofts Farm location, off Brace Road, in Cherry Hill.  The first is August 2nd at 7PM:  the documentary “I Am,” mentioned above.  The second is August 9th at 7PM:  Wall-E, a wonderful film for all ages.  Come out to support our sister non-profit in sustainable living.  For more information, visit this site.
7.      Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco have published a new book entitled “Days of Destruction/Days of Revolt.”  Chris is a former reporter with the New York Times; Joe Sacco is an award-winning cartoonist.  This new effort examines four different locales in the United States, including Camden.  There is much that is disturbing in this book about the cost of our lifestyle in this country.  We must become educated about that cost, and then creative about ways to alleviate it.  Get the book and share what you learn from it!
8.      Find us on Facebook and become a member.