The Center for Environmental Transformation
May 15, 2012
Greetings to all on this
midway point in the merry month of May!
Spring is upon us and
bursting forth all around us. The flowers, including those we call
“weeds,” have found ever more interesting ways to make themselves a permanent
part of our landscape. It is a delight to watch mother nature give birth
to ever new combinations of color and shape and size! It is the coming
together of different experiences and ideas and questions and hopes and dreams
in human interaction that we find a miming of mother nature at her most
creative. It is to this kind of transformation of things that the Center
commits itself. We hope you’ll continue to join us in that “great work.”
A few weeks ago, soon after
Easter, a marvelous intertwining of various human stories occurred at the
Center. Some students from Camden Catholic High School came for a day
retreat. In this group were American children from Camden city as well as
the surrounding suburbs. In addition to the American students, though,
there were 10 Chinese young people, in this country to study at Camden
Catholic. The group toured the neighborhood and then got to work planting
75 trees in the berm of the nearby park, a berm that attempts to soak up any
odors that might come from the neighboring waste treatment plant. It was
clear from the body language of our Chinese friends that they had never gotten
their hands dirty. Each was paired with an American, and then the group was
joined by students from St. Anthony of Padua elementary school in Camden, most
of whom were Latino. One little boy was in his first week from the
Dominican Republic and knew very little English. He was paired with a Chinese
high school student. Everyone was a bit tentative with each other, but as
their hands got dirty, and the holes for the trees began to emerge, and the
saplings were planted firmly in their spots, that tentativeness gave way to
laughter, to joy.
Here in Camden, NJ, in a park
that sits beside a waste treatment plant, children from around the world,
literally, got their hands dirty in the work of transformation of this
distressed spot on the planet. It was a beautiful expression of the
creativity of mother earth, to bring into existence, not only 75 newly planted
trees on the side of a berm in a city park, but also to set into motion a new
way of seeing themselves in the hearts of these children. One Chinese boy
remarked that now he knows how difficult the farmers back in China must
work. Another Chinese girl said that her “heart was singing” as she
planted the trees. A young lady from another neighborhood in Camden
bemoaned the fact that although she lives in Camden she had no idea of the new
life happening in Waterfront South.
And it wasn’t only the hearts
of the young that experienced the beautiful creativity of mother earth. A
board member, Cathy Fox, sent the following note to some of us who were not
able to be present for this day of retreat.
I need to say that
yesterday with Camden Catholic was a day of days. Thank you, Andrea, for
time in the Neighborhood garden, lady bugs flying around delighted to have
visitors, young adults
pulling weeds, talking about how we do not hear about the gardens of Camden on
the news, the beautiful neighborhood, the school children. I stood on the
berm and looked down Jasper Street and saw life in Waterfront South.
Parents arriving at Sacred Heart School to gather their children, school buses
bringing children for after school music class, or time to work in the
gardens. It was a day for all children to be outside to feel the wind on
their faces, to plant trees and tell their stories. It was a day to learn that
all we have to do is our little bit and trees are planted, weeds are pulled,
and we see and feel for ourselves what can never be put into words in a
newspaper. Christ is Risen, Indeed!
Thomas Berry, the great
eco-theologian, echoes Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the Jesuit paleontologist,
when he says that in human beings the universe comes into conscious awareness
of itself. It is in human beings that the universe takes note of the creative
genius of the God of Creation. On this May day the reminder to all of us
is to sing the delights of creation, the colors of spring, the new life that
bounces across our lawns, the farmers’ fields that once again begin to turn
green, promising an abundant harvest once again. That is what we ought to
do not only today, but every day. And in that singing, in the delight
that we take in creation, may we grow more keenly aware of our membership in
the earth community, and of our responsibility to that community in the
everyday choices we make.
Peace,
Mark Doorley, Ph.D.
President, Board of Trustees
The Center for Environmental
Transformation
NEWS & NOTES
1.
JOIN US on
Saturday, June 2, from 9AM til Noon for our monthly work day. We will be
working in the gardens, both at Emerald Street and in the park. Meet us
at 422 Jasper Street, near the Poet’s Walk, at 9AM. Wear work clothes,
and bring work gloves, and your own water. Please contact Andrea at aferich@gmail.com if you plan to join us.
2.
SAVE THE
DATE! On Sunday, June 24th at 3PM in the Waterfront South
Theatre at the corner of Jasper and St. 4th Streets in Camden there
will be a screening of an amazing film, “The Journey of the Universe.” It
features the physicist Brian Swimme, telling the story of the universe.
It is a hymn of praise to the creativity and dynamism of the universe.
Tickets are $10. Seats are limited, so be sure to secure yourself
one. Please email Susan Cedrone at smecedrone@aol.com
for tickets. Flyer attached!
3.
SAVE THE
DATE! On Sunday, October 7th at 3PM in Sacred Heart Church is
the fourth annual Thomas Berry lecture. This year we have the honor of hosting
Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker of Yale University. She has spent her
scholarly life trying to rethink and reimagine our relationship to the planet
and the universe. She work with Thomas Berry, and is one of the producers of
the film mentioned in the last note. The title of her talk will be “An
Integrating Story for the Earth Community.” This is a major fundraiser
for the Center. Tickets for this event are $20. Please contact Susan
Cedrone for information and for tickets. Her email is smecedrone@aol.com.
4.
EARTH DAY
CELEBRATION. We had a very full weekend in celebration of Earth Day. On
Friday evening of that weekend, April 20th, 35 people gathered in
the basement of Sacred Heart Church for soup and bread, and a screening of “The
Journey of the Universe.” On Saturday Andrea and several board members
had tables at two Earth Day celebrations, one in Haddon Township and one in
Collingswood. On Sunday, in the basement of Sacred Heart Church, we had
our own Fair Earth Day at which fair trade items were available as well as
organic seedlings from our greenhouse. As a fundraiser, the Fair Earth
Day was the best yet. As an opportunity to dance in delight at the bounty
and beauty of creation, it was priceless. Thanks to Cathy Nevins for
spearheading the Fair Earth Day, as well as to all of our board members who
helped to make it all happen. Finally, on Saturday, April 28th,
Andrea and a board member had a table, with seedlings for sale, at the Cherry
Hill Earth Day celebration. It was a busy 10 days of celebration!
5.
One of the
fundraising activities we have been pursuing at the Center for the last three
years has been focused on replacing all the windows in the Center. As you
may remember, we have a brand new HVAC system, but our windows are quite old
and quite energy inefficient. Well, I’m happy to announce that last month
we were able to finish replacing all the windows on the second floor.
That was 29 windows! They are all beautiful. This summer we will be
identifying the many donors who made this feat possible, by placing a plaque
near each window. We’ll let those donors know when that task is
complete. Alas, we still have 11 windows on the first floor that need to
be replaced, so the fundraising on that continues. If you would like to
contribute to that fund, please contact Mark Doorley at president@camdencenterfortransformation.org.
6.
In addition to
the windows, we have a capital campaign underway to enable us to replace the
dilapidated porch on the side of the Center as well as to redo the front
entrance of the Center. Contact Mark Doorley if you would like to
contribute to that fund.
7.
In the past few
months we’ve had some wonderful news as well as gifts from donors and granting
organizations.
a. The Community Outreach Work Committee of the
Unitarian Universalist Church of Cherry Hill made a substantial donation to
support the Junior Farmer Program. We are so grateful for their support
of this extraordinary program that teaches young people in the neighborhood all
there is to know about food, from seed to table, including how to run a
farmer’s market. As of this email, we have 17 young people in the Junior Farmer
Program!
b. We received notice from the Merck Family Fund that the
Center will receive a $35,000 grant to support the work of the Center in
educating/employing the youth of the neighborhood and continuing the
development of sustainable products, e.g. native plants and rain barrels.
c. We received word from the Campbell Soup Corporation
that the Center will receive a substantial grant to provide training and
support at several community gardens in select neighborhoods in Camden.
d. We also received word from the Geraldine R. Dodge
Foundation that the Center will receive a substantial grant to continue the
work of the Center.
e. The Center is partnering with Rutgers University/Camden
to supply the native plants that will be used for the many rainwater gardens
that the university is creating throughout the city as part of the SMART
initiative (Stormwater Management and Resource Training).
We are so grateful to
all of our funding agencies, as well as group like the Unitarian Universalist
Church in Cherry Hill. Without your support and belief in our mission, we would
not be able to do what we do. THANK YOU!
8.
Our friends at
Sustainable Cherry Hill are hosting a workshop entitled “Gardens for a Rainy
Day Workshop & Tour” on May 31st from 6:30 – 8PM at the Cherry
Hill Public Library. For more information, visit this site.
9.
On Saturday June
9th, from Noon to 5PM Sacred Heart Church and the Waterfront South
Community is celebrating the 15th annual Hearts & Hands Festival
on Jasper Street, between Ferry Ave. and S. 4th Street. There
is live music, arts and crafts, wonderful food, and lots of conversation.
A good time for families with children. There will be pony rides, an
safari in search of earth worms, and a chance to wrangle a chicken or
two! Plan to join us on that Saturday!
10. We still have many copies of Fr. Michael Doyle’s book
“It’s a Terrible Day, Thanks be to God!” This volume of selected monthly
letters sent out to thousands of people since 1984 is full of exquisite poetry,
profound theological insight and wonderful story telling. The cost is
$20. Contact Mark Doorley or visit our website to purchase a copy.
All proceeds from the sale of the book go to the Center’s operations fund.