Slogan: New roots for budding families

1. Slogan:New roots for budding families Our mission is to raise awareness of nutrition in young adults as well as provide a means of expression and creativity through gardening and cooking. We aim to teach families life skills that will bring them closer together.

2. January • Our first general ideas were to teach people to cook from scratch in El Paso • The problem we were trying to target was the high obesity/diabetes rate • We decided the best place to implement cooking classes was in the YWCA or other child care facilities for a summer camp

3. February • With connections from the Rotary, we came in contact with the TLC (Transitional Living Center) • We met with them early February on a Wednesday and discussed project ideas • The TLC is a center for battered women and children. They can stay there for two years as they get back on their feet • There are school classes for the children, but many of them are babies to three year olds

4. TLC • They have an electric gate around the complex to protect the women and their families • The area for the garden, what we ultimately decided to build, is just outside of this gate and will become an open garden for the families and the community around them

5. The Garden • We are going to build, from the ground up, a complex sustainable vegetable garden with several fruit trees, a shade cover, and ultimately a painted picket fence • Our mentors are Laura Masterson, Child Advocate for the TLC and Mike Cunningham, our Rotary sponsor and connection to Sodexo, a food company that is willing to aid us with a charitable donation.

6. Pre-Planting

7. The Cost • Our projected budget is roughly $3000 dollars. • We’ve done several fundraising activities to help with this large number. First of all, we created bags of candy to sell around the neighborhood. This was very successful.

8. The Sundaes • We spent 3 hours Saturday afternoon selling Sundaes at the Wal Mart Grocery store • This was tiring but also very successful

9. Sponsors • We have several people willing to help us with our garden • Casa Verde, a local nursery, is willing to help us with the prices for half-grown plants • Rotary is offering a finishing grant to us • A charitable donation form was sent in to Sodexo to help • NHS donations of seeds and garden tools was probably the most fantastic part and is being held in secret to be revealed as a present on our big reveal day, June 1st. • This is also the day we are asking Michelle Obama to come and sanction our mission