Upcoming Events

Waterfront South CSA Sign-ups: e-mail camdencfet@gmail.com

Saturday Feb. 4th (9-12noon)

Greenhouse preparation for planting, garden planning community mapping,

Tuesday Feb. 14th (all day e-mail aferich@gmail.com)

Begin planting brassicas in the greenhouse

Feb. 7th NYC Beekeepers Association

Feb. 16th

Rain Garden Training For Professional Landscaper register here

Feb. 17th UPENN

Urban Planning Community Food Assessment Training

Feb. 23 Camden Bees

Feb. 24-25 NJ Farm to School Network Conference Presenter

http://www.njfarmtoschool.org/

Saturday March 3rd (9-12noon)

Preparing the potato planting beds for St. Patrick's Day

Neuman University

Tuesday March 6th

Rainbarrel making workshop 6-8 pm PCIB

Orchard Training @Bartram's Gardens

Rutgers Retreat

March 17th

St. Patrick's Day Potato Planting Extravaganza

e-mail aferich@gmail.com

March 22 Raingarden installation

January 2012: The Center for Environmental Transformation

January 16, 2012

Greetings to all on this holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr!

One might wonder why I am sitting in front of my computer today, rather than engaged in community service in honor of Dr. King.  That’s a very good question, and my answer is probably not very good, but this newsletter is a service for those interested in the work of the Center, and so the time spent in preparing it, I hope, is on a par with the many hands that are extended in service throughout the country today.

Today in the Courier Post, the South Jersey newspaper, is the beginning of a four part series on water in the Garden State.  Forty years ago, state government challenged itself to clean up the waterways of the state so that we could boast of our commitment to the environment.  This series reports that only one waterway in the entire state passes all the tests set up to insure the safety of the water.  ONE WATERWAY in all of New Jersey!  Click here to read the first installment in this series.  As the article points out, many millions of dollars have been spent to clean up the waterways of NJ, and yet here we sit, 40 years later, with only one waterway safe for drinking directly.  It can become discouraging to think that so much effort can produce so little.  Indeed, it is discouraging.

We measure ourselves by our effectiveness in the effort to green business, or politics, or our lifestyles.  We want people to tread more softly on the earth, on its resources.  We want  to encourage new sources of energy, new food production processes, new purchasing patterns.  All of this is aimed to make human living more responsive to the environmental and social costs of that human living.  But this effort can become discouraging when we meet people for whom the environment is no more than a source of human satisfaction, when we meet people who consider environmental racism or the injustice of sighting polluting industry in poor neighborhoods as the blathering of weak kneed liberals who are trying to cover up for the inadequacies of those who are poor because of their choices.  It can be discouraging!

Into the darkness of that discouragement come the light of young voices, of fresh perspectives, of new enthusiasm.  This past week at the Center we hosted a group from Rutgers/New Brunswick.  They were a fantastic group; they worked hard in our neighborhood and at two agencies in Philadelphia. At the end of their week, they shared their insights and reflections on themselves and the work they did.  One young man noted that he became aware in a  new way of the disconnect between those who seek to satisfy their wants and those who struggle to meet their needs.  He remarked that we ought to be committed to a society where everyone’s basic needs for food, shelter, security, healthcare and education are met before any of us pursue the satisfaction of our wants!  Isn’t this the vision offered us in the Acts of the Apostles, where the early believers were described as sharing everything in common so that all would have enough to eat and shelter?

Another student realized that her success was not an individual accomplishment; there is an entire community of people who support her in the pursuit of excellence.  Indeed!  Where would any of us be without our families, our friends, our mentors, our heroes?  Where would we be if not for the social structures supported by our government?  Where would be if, indeed, we were left to our own devices, only our own devices, without the cooperation of hundreds, if not thousands, of people?  Be each of us doing our “bit,” this student said, we can help each other to be all that we can be.  But we have to do our “bit.”  No one else will do it for us, and it does not help if we look at what others are doing or not doing.  Our job, our role in creation, our task is to figure out what our bit is, and to do it, with enthusiasm and fidelity.

Is the work of justice, of building a better world, a frustrating experience at times?  Oh yes!  But then there are those moments when God reminds us of the power of human imagination, of human compassion.  We meet it in the words of young college students.  We meet it in the smile of a homeless man who thrills to tell his story.  We meet it in the marks of beauty throughout the struggling city of Camden which signals that the human spirit will not be defeated.  These are the signs of hope, the signs that our toil is valuable, that the world is changing, that peace and justice are a possibility for human beings, that walking more respectfully, more tenderly, more attentively on the earth is a possibility.

There is nothing like a young person naming hope to dispel the darkness of frustration and disappointment.  The future of our planet is in the hands of the generation coming of age as we speak.  What a gift it always is to witness the joy of young people!

In this season of resolutions, I challenge you to nourish your own joy, your own hope, your own commitment to be a more faithful steward of the gift of creation.  That is my resolution; this past week made it an easy one to live up to!

Sincerely,

Mark Doorley, Ph.D.

President, Board of Trustees

NEWS AND NOTES

1.       February Work Day:  As we rapidly approach the growing season, we need to get the greenhouse ready.  Come on Saturday, February 4^th, at 9AM.  Be sure to bring your own water and work gloves.  Please contact Andrea Ferich at aferich@gmail.com to let her know that you are coming.

2.      Tell your friends about us.  Send us their email addresses and we will add them to this distribution list.  Forward the email to those you think might be interested in our work.  Send email addresses to info@camdencenterfortransformation.org.

3.      RETREATS:  Rutgers/New Brunswick students spent a week with us, leaving on Sunday, the 14^th of January.  As indicated above, they worked in the school, in the Center, at the Writers’ House and the Firehouse, as well as at two sites in Philadelphia. They were an absolute joy!  Check out our Facebook page in the next week for a few photographs.  We will be hosting a group from Neumann University in March and another group from Rutgers/New Brunswick in April. If you’ve been here already for a retreat and/or learning experience, please consider scheduling your group again.  If you’ve never spent an overnight with us, please contact us for information.  We would love to work with your group to plan a wonderful experience in Camden.  Contact us at retreats@camdencenterfortransformation.org.

4.      Our work would not be possible without the support of foundations in the area that value our efforts.  In the last month we received two substantial grants.  The first is from the  Community Foundation of South Jersey in the amount of $5,275.00 to be used to further the mission of the Center. The second is from the Elmo Foundation, based in Virginia.  They gave us a grant of $1100 to support the Junior Farmer Program.    THANK YOU!

5.      CAPITAL CAMPAIGN:  On December 1, 2011 we began a capital campaign for the Center, aiming to renovate the old side porch on the building, redesign the front entrance, and finish the replacement of the old windows in the building.  Our goal is $50,000.  As of today, you have helped us reach 2% of our goal.  Thank you to all of you who have already contributed.  For those of you who haven’t gotten around to it, please remember to support these projects which will enable us to create an ever more inviting space in Waterfront South and be more efficient in our use of energy.  Send a contribution to 1729 Ferry Ave., Camden, NJ 08104.

6.      The Fair of the Heart:  Each year, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, Sacred Heart Church hosts a fair at which handmade items are available for sale.  This is the second year in which 75% of the proceeds go to the operations of the Center for Environmental Transformation.  We received $4,288 from the fair this year.  Thank you to the people of Sacred Heart Church for their generosity, and to Barbara Hopkins, Betty Musetto and all their helpers who make this event so special.

7.      January 20-22, 2012:  The next installment of the South Camden Theatre Company’s celebration of Tennessee Williams is set for this weekend.  Two Williams’ plays are featured.  The first, “The Case of the Crushed Pentunias,” directed by the theatre’s artistic director, Joseph Paprzycki, features young adults from Camden city.  The second play, “The Glass Menagerie,” will be read by an African-American cast, directed by Connie Norwood.  Make plans for this uniquely inspiring event!  For more information visit this site.

8.      January 26^th at 7PM:  At Haverford College, the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship is hosting a talk by Susan Gelber Cannon, teacher and author, committed to spreading peace.  Her recent book, “Think, Care, Act:  Teaching for a Peaceful Future,” will be the focus of the talk.  She is featured in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer today.  Read it here.

9.      Dynamic Sustainability:  The role of diversity in creating a sustainable world:  Sustainable Cherry Hill, The Center for Environmental Transformation, among other organizations are sponsoring an afternoon of conversation and reflection on the role of diversity in pursuing sustainable ways of living.  Sunday, February 26, 2012 from 2-5PM:  Join us at the Urban Promise campus on the border of Camden and Pennsauken. For more information, visit this site.

10.  A HAIKU OPPORTUNITY:  The Nick Virgilio Haiku Association is hosting a world reknown haiku writer on March 3, 2012 in Waterfront South in Camden, NJ.  See the attached flier for information on this event.  Consider coming out for the opportunity to discover your haiku voice.

ART Gardens

This summer the CfET was selected to participate in a collaborative installation in North Camden. The Rutgers Camden Center For the Arts paired our native plant expert, Andrea Ferich with mural artist Pedro Ospina in a residency with students from Molina School and the Respond Senior Center.

Here's a short film of their work:

ART GARDENS

This project in collaboration with the Rutgers Water Resource Department established a native plant nursery in Waterfront South operated by the CfET on municipality land. This is a map of the native plant installations in the region. This map is a corridor of native plants that attract pollinators such as butterflies, birds and bees. This growing map will show how each garden is connected to a broader network of native plant gardens around the region. This next year 24 more rain gardens will be constructed in Camden. The CFET loves growing these beautiful native pollinators for this green infrastructure initiative. Check it out: http://www.opengreenmap.org/greenmap/native-plant-corridor

The current criteria for a site to make this map include plant diversity in species and flowering time, and no chemical spraying. PLease suggest a site if you'd like to put yourself on this map, directly on the map.

The CfET will continue to lead innovative community assessment, food system, sustainability initiatives and environmental injustice on this map. If you are interested in learning this mapmaking software or applying it to your school or community please e-mail Camden.cfet@gmail.com for more information.

December 2011: CFET Newsletter

December 17, 2011

Hello!

If your life is like mine, you are in the midst of the rush before the holiday.  There are gifts to purchase, cookies to bake, foods to prepare, friends to see and holiday cards to write.  It is amazing how easy it is to get caught up in the rush, to join the thousands of other people who have near impossible lists of things to do dogging their every step.  Don’t you have the urge just to stop the madness, to simply put your foot down and refuse to engage in the insanity that is meant to create a meaningful holiday experience for those you love?  I do, but even if for a moment I am able to put those feet down firmly, the flow of those around me quickly takes the ground from beneath my feet, and there I am again, rushing from here to there, to everywhere.

A friend of mine shared with me a conversation he had with a girl he is dating. She works 80 hours a week, and then when she’s not working, she’s running 10-15 miles a day. She doesn’t have time to talk to him, let alone spend time with him.  He asked her:  What are you running from?  She didn’t like the question.  But it’s a good one.  What are we running from?  What would happen if we stopped running, stopped trying to complete that near impossible list of things which must be accomplished in the next 8 days for those of us who celebrate Christmas and in the next 3 days left those of us who celebrate Hannukah?  It is so counter-seasonal, this crazy rushing headlong across the shopping malls and grocery stores of our time.  We are approaching the Winter Solstice, December 21^st, the shortest day of the year.  In this part of the earth, nature has gone to sleep; it has slowed way down; it has allowed its metabolism to slow down so that just enough is happening to sustain life.  Meanwhile, we humans rev up our activities.  We try to conquer the dark with lights all over our houses.  We try, as best we can, to avoid the quietness of this time of year, filling it with movie openings, shopping sales, caroling, concerts, theatre, and all kinds of company and family parties.  As nature rests, to prepare itself for the spring of new life, we human beings continue to find ways to burn up our energy, to make things happen in our day to day lives, so that we don’t rest, contemplate, enjoy the life that is ours.

There is something amazing about the degree to which we human beings can live independently of the rhythms of nature.  There is also something troubling about it, because we have so removed ourselves from those rhythms that we act as if they don’t matter to our lives.  In fact, our culture is very much at ease with the idea that nature exists to serve human needs. Human science and technology will make nature serve human purposes.  We can see this in our insatiable search for fossil fuels, impelling us to find those fuels in ever more remote places, using ever more sophisticated technologies, with insufficient attention to the consequences to nature and to society that the use of such technologies might engender.  We pursue a very comfortable, even luxurious, lifestyle with little attention to the cost of that lifestyle on the planet and on those human beings in our society who often bear the brunt of the waste from our lifestyle.  Despite our belief in the capacity of science and technology to overcome any natural limit, the facts of nature are that our resources are limited, our lifestyle does have a devastating impact on the environment, people, and animals, and plants and water and soil and air, all are negatively impacted by the way we live our life, out of tune with the rhythms and integrity of nature.

Perhaps the wisdom of a time like this, the winter solstice, is to stop our relentless activities, to slow down, to take a hint from nature itself.  Perhaps the take away from nature’s witness is that we human beings need to reflect upon the wonder of our existence on this blue planet, and our interconnectedness with all of creation, and our dependence on the resources of our natural home.  Perhaps slowing down, reflecting upon and being grateful for this beautiful planet might give us insight into how to live more gently and more respectfully on it.

As the winter solstice approaches, I wish you a peaceful holiday season, one in which your life will more clearly reflect the rhythms of this time of year.

Mark Doorley

President, The Board of Trustees

The Center for Environmental Transformation

www.camdencenterfortransformation.org

NEWS & NOTES

1.      The first Saturday of January, January 7^th, will be a clean up day at the Center.  From 9AM til Noon we will get the Center into tip top shape in anticipation of the arrival of our first retreat group of 2011 on Sunday, January 8^th.  Please join us.  Contact Mark Doorley at markdoorleynj@verizon.net if you can make it.

2.      On Wednesday, December 21^st, Brigid’s House, in the Waterfront South neighborhood, is hosting “In Love with Night,” a Winter Solstice celebration.  All will gather at 1719 Ferry Ave. for a brief Solstice observance, followed by a light-bearing and caroling stroll through the neighborhood, to conclude around the hearth of Brigid’s House with a warm drink.  For more information, contact Cassie MacDonald at 856-448-3044 or email her at peacecatcamden@yahoo.com.

3.      Every year Sacred Heart Church in our neighborhood delivers over 1100 baskets of food to people who live within the parish boundaries, which is most of South Camden.  The preparation is enormous.  There will be opportunities to assist in this effort next week.  On Thursday, December 22^nd, from 10AM – 1PM and 6PM – 8PM and on Friday, December 23^rd, 10AM – 1PM, 6 – 8PM assistance is needed with preparing the baskets.  Please contact Cathy Fox at littleredfox650@aol.com if you’d like to help.  The baskets are delivered to the families on Saturday, December 24^th, beginning at 9:30AM.  This is an amazing experience!  If you can help out, please contact Cathy Fox.

4.      Last week the Board of Trustees of the Center kicked off the 2012 Capital Campaign.  Many of you may have received something from us through the postal service.  If you have not, it is because we don’t have your mailing address.  (You can remedy that by sending it to info@camdencenterfortransformation.org. )  However, you are certainly invited to be partners in reaching our goal of $50,000.  The capital campaign is aimed at raising the money necessary to complete the replacement of all the windows in the retreat center, to completely redo the front entrance of the Center, and to restore the side porch to its former glory.  Please join us in making this possible.  You can make a contribution through PayPal on our website, or you can send a check made payable to “The Center for Transformation” to 1729 Ferry Ave., Camden, NJ 08104.  Please write “capital campaign” on the memo line.  Once the renovations are completely done we plan a gala event and will invite everyone to celebrate the completion of this renovation project which began in 2008.

5.      Remember, as you complete your holiday shopping, that we have Fr. Michael’s “Green Book,” a collection of his monthly letters available, as well as copies of the DVD “The Poet of Poverty,” based on those letters available.  You can order them through our website, or send a check payable to the Center for Transformation to 1729 Ferry Ave., Camden, NJ 08104. Be sure to write on the memo what you would like.

6.      Please visit Living On Earth, a National Public Radio show, at www.loe.org.  This is a fantastic site for stories from throughout the world about nature, all of it.  For example, this morning they did a piece on why ducks and song birds don’t seem to be bothered by the cold of ice and snow.  Do you know why they don’t get cold feet?  Click here to get the answer.

Advent Blessing: The Immaculate Conception

Tomorrow on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception at Sacred Heart the Saved Heirloom seeds from our gardens will be blessed. Here's our video last year on Seed Saving and Blessing (the video also features one of the best songs ever by Beach House)

Heirloom Seedlings, holy genetic code fruitful and multiplying

Advent Video Series

Here is an advent reflection series made by Sean Dougherty of Hopeworks  featuring  various Brother Mickey McGrath paintings. This is the first in the series, our own Andrea Ferich gives a reflection on this painting and the expectation of the fertility of Camden's land.

Click here

December 2011 Work Day

PLease be advised that rather than working tomorrow, volunteers are encouraged to attend the Camden Peace Walk. Details are provided below:

JOIN US FOR A PEACE MARCH IN CAMDEN! Saturday, December 3, 2011. Rather than working in the greenhouse or gardens, come walk with us. Visit this website for all the information. This is an opportunity to walk for an hour and to be inspired to act for peace. Registration begins at 10:30 AM at Broadway and Ferry.

-Andrea

Labyrinth Construction

Here's a video of a lovely community-based Labyrinth construction in Waterfront South from a couple of years ago. The Labyrinth was built on an abandoned lot. The project was the vision and know-how of our own local natural builder, John Fox, father to our community breadoven and an array of projects.

Our labyrinth was built in one day.

...and the running of the labyrinth with Camden's own

November 2011: The Center for Environmental Transformation

Thanksgiving 2011

Hello everyone!

A few weeks ago my wife, Cathy, and I had a chance to see the show “War Horse,” now playing at the Lincoln Center Theatre in New York.   It is a powerful and, at times, overwhelming experience.  It is set in World War I England and France, and tells the story of a horse and the young man who raised him. One of the most staggering things I learned from the dramaturge’s work in the playbill is that during World War I, 8 million horses were killed in battle!  8 million!

I have been allowing that number to dwell in my thoughts since I learned it.  Imagine the sight of 8 million horses roaming acres of land, free to roam, enjoying every moment of their existence.  That is a fantasy of our imaginations. The reality was that those 8 million horses were used and abused by human beings in order to exert violence, not only on the animals used by the other side, but on the human beings, both soldiers and civilians in the slaughter that was World War I. 

This is a time of remembrance, of thanksgiving.  In this nation we set aside a day to give thanks for the blessings of our life. It is a marvelous thing to do, to say thanks, and to make it a national day of thanksgiving.  Around our country, indeed in places throughout the world, our fellow citizens will sit down to share a meal.  A turkey is usually the centerpiece, perhaps a ham or a roast.  I know my family will sit down with a 22 pound turkey, with all the trimmings, with our four children, their spouses and our nine grandchildren.  We will go around the table and offer thanks.  My thanks will be directed to the land and the animals that are the source of the beauty at our table.  I think of the turkey which so often in our country lives a miserable life prior to feeding our bodies and, indeed, our souls on this very special day.  I think of the land that gave rise to the wheat, corn, green beans, yams, cranberries, apples, pumpkins, with a massive assist from the energy of the sun and life-supporting water and air. 

What I want to remember, as well, in thanking the earth for being the source of our food, or our very lives, is how we use and abuse the animals, the land, the water, the air, all of the sources of the food and appliances and stuff for which we give thanks today.  Again, I think of the turkey grown to massive proportions, larger than nature intended, so that its breast is large enough so that one turkey in the middle of the table is able to feed our large family.  I think of the pesticides and herbicides and fertilizers used on the land in order to increase production from each acre so that more yams, green beans, apples, cranberries, wheat, and corn can be made available at a cheaper price so that more people can have a table at Thanksgiving that is loaded with tasty delights for parents and children and grandchildren.  I think of the air that is polluted by our energy producing coal-fired power plants, and of the water that takes on the effluents from our power plants and the other industrial plants that make possible the lifestyle for which we give thanks this day.  In saying thank you for our blessings, I want to remember the cost of those blessings, and to thank the earth, its plants and its animals, its soil, its water and its air, for taking on the burden of our lifestyle, of being faithful to us, much like the horses led to slaughter were faithful to their human masters.

In the traditions of those native Americans who presumably shared this day so long ago with those European settlers in the “New World,” I hope I will remember to give thanks to Mother Earth, for the abundance that she provides, and I hope, finally, that in thanking Mother Earth I will also commit myself to a deeper appreciation and celebration of the profound communion that exists between human beings and the whole universe, a communion that should drive us to regard nature as more than merely a commodity, a resource, whose value is only found in our use or abuse of it.  May God make it so! 

Peace, at this Thanksgiving time,

Mark Doorley

President, The Board of Trustees

The Center for Environmental Transformation

www.camdencenterfortransformation.org

NEWS AND NOTES

1.      JOIN US FOR A PEACE MARCH IN CAMDEN!  Saturday, December 3, 2011.  Rather than working in the greenhouse or gardens, come walk with us.  Visit this website for all the information.  This is an opportunity to walk for an hour and to be inspired to act for peace.

2.      Be sure to join us on our Facebook page.  Feel free to post information there about things related to sustainability and environmental justice.  You can find us here. 

3.      We are approaching the holiday season when we all have such a difficult time thinking of a gift for a loved one.  We have some wonderful gift ideas.  First, there is Fr. Michael Doyle’s “green book” entitled “It’s a Terrible Day, Thanks Be To God.”  This is a collection of his monthly letters, full of human stories, inspiration and poetry.  It makes a wonderful table book, that one can open each day to read a different letter and get up in tears, inspired to pray. It costs $23.50 with shipping and handling.  Second, there is the DVD “Poet of Poverty,” a documentary based on Fr. Michael’s monthly letters, narrated by actor Martin Sheen, with video of Camden and Ireland.  It is a challenging film, but it raises important questions for us to consider.  It costs $22 with shipping and handling. Lastly, you can  make a contribution to the Center in honor of a loved one.  All of this is possible through our website or by sending a check payable to “The Center for Transformation” to 1729 Ferry Ave., Camden, NJ 08104.

4.      Speaking of holiday gifts, make it your plan to come to Sacred Heart Church at the corner of Ferry Ave. and S. Broadway this coming Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.  You may go out on “Black Friday” to the huge malls, crowded with people.  On Sunday, starting at 9:30AM and ending around 1:30PM come to the basement of Sacred Heart Church for the annual Fair of the Heart.  There will be wonderful hand-made crafts for everyone.  Here is a description from one of the organizers:

ANYONE LOOKING FOR A WONDERFUL, NEW HOLIDAY SHOPPING EXPERIENCE, COME TO THE FAIR OF THE HEART AT SACRED HEART CHURCH ON BROADWAY AT FERRY AND JASPER STREETS. THERE WILL BE DELICIOUS FOOD, A RAFFLE AND MANY BEAUIFUL AND WELL-PRICED THINGS TO BUY, ALL HANDMADE... CROCHETED ITEMS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ORNAMENTS, JEWELRY... A GORGEOUS CALENDAR. BEST OF ALL, COME TO MASS FIRST... 8:30 OR 10:30... FOR A BEAUTIFUL START TO YOUR HOLIDAY SEASON

            Most of the proceeds go to the Center for Environmental Transformation

5.      On Monday, December 5^th, at 7PM at Voorhees Middle School there will be a showing of “The Poet of Poverty” sponsored by Sustainable Voorhees.  Mark Doorley will facilitate a conversation after the film.  If you haven’t seen this, please make it a point to come.  You will hear about all the activities going on in the neighborhood featured in the film.  Most of you who received this email probably have seen the film, so encourage your neighbors and friends to come out to see the film.

6.      Please send in the names and email addresses of people who might be interested in receiving this e-newsletter; send them toinfo@camdencenterfortransformation.org.

Native Plant Corridor

The Native Plant Corridor Map:

This is our project to map the corridors of native plants and beehives of the mid-atlantic region. Zone in or pan out to learn the specifics of each location. This project is through greenmap.org

http://www.opengreenmap.org/greenmap/native-plant-corridor