4th ANNUAL HOLIDAY DINNER

Planning has begun for the



4th Annual Holiday Dinner



Saturday, December 17, 2011

Serving from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.



At the

Georgia Street Community Center

8902 Vinton Street, Detroit, Michigan 48213



Menu Includes:

Turkey, Dressing, Gravy - Ham

Potatoes, Yams, Hot Vegetables

Rolls & Butter

Lots of Desserts

Hot and Cold Beverages



Donations are needed to be able to feed the needy families.

Each year there are more and more families in need.



We would be grateful for any donation, including:

Any food item (you cook it, or we will)

Paper Products (plates, bowls, cups, plasticware)

Beverages (pop, coffee, bottled water, kool-aid)



Volunteers are also needed to help prepare, serve

and clean-up the day of the dinner.

Please contact either Mark 313-452-0684 or Phyllis 586-915-8946

to donate items or volunteer.



Donations by check or money order can be mailed to

GSCC

8902 Vinton

Detroit, Michigan 48213

or through Paypal by clicking the button at the top left of our blog:

Help Us Keep The Kids Warm

2011



KEEP THE KIDS WARM THIS WINTER


Donations of new or gently used winter wear

are greatly appreciated.

Items can be dropped off at the Community Center

or we can arrange pick up for larger donations

contact Mark at 313-452-0684. Or SEnd a donation thru our paypal donation button.




Annual Winter Wear Giveaway

Free Coats, Hats, Gloves, & Mittens





Saturday, November 19th ~ 1:00 p.m.

First Come - First Served!

Community Center – Corner of Georgia & Vinton Streets

Mark Cub Covington on Heart Of Detroit On Channel 4 WDIV

http://www.clickondetroit.com/heart-of-detroit/29604504/detail.html

FOOD GIVEAWAY FUNDRAISER

NOW TILL NOVEMBER 1, 2011

The GSCC is partnering with BOSS Inc Social Club to raise money for a food giveaway. Two Semi Trucks (62,000 pds) of food for Thanksgiving.
We Need Your Help. The cost for the trucks is $2600.00. Any amount will help. GSCC Is a registered 501(c)3 Charitable Organization and your donation is tax deductible. Send Donations to GSCC 9352 Georgia St Detroit, MI 48213 or click the paypal button. Thank You So Much.

Mark/Cub

Youth Market Garden

Next Year We Plan To Have A Youth Market Garden. The Lots Across The Street From The Community Center Will Be Prepped This Friday And Saturday With Lasagna Beds And Some Tilled Rows. Our Plan Is To Encourage More Of The Older Youth To Get Involved.

Mark/Cub

Free Food Preservation Workshop

Thursday September 8,2011
6 to 8pm

Free Workshop!
Food Preservation: Freezing 8 Drying
Georgia Street Community Center
8902 Vinton St.
Detroit MI48213

Brought to you by MSUExtension of Wayne County and
Georgia Street Community Collective
Presented by Eileen Haraminac, Food Safety Extension Educator

Learn How to save all that summer produce safely and save food dollars at the same time. Safe methods for drying and freezing foods will be taught along with a "dilly bean" recipe.

This workshop is free, but please register by calling MegMarotte at
(313) 309-1685 so we can be sure to have enough supplies for all.

GSCC's 4th Annual Backpack and School Supply Giveaway

We are getting ready for our 4th annual Backpack and School Supply Giveaway. We need your help as usual. As most of you know, GSCC has adopted A.L.Holmes Elementary/Middle School. Though we know we wont be able to provide supplies for all the kids but we want to be able to give to our Garden Clubs. 60 kids will need backpacks and supplies. Again we need your help. You can donate through Paypal or send a check or drop off or I can arrange for pick up. Thanks again family. Let's help these kids start the school year off right!!!!

Mark/Cub

Georgia Street Summer Garden Club
and
MSU Extension Wayne County

will be hosting

Insect Predators!

Come listen to a talk and view live animals!

FREE FOR EVERYONE!!!!

Presented by
Organization for Bat Conservation
www.batconservation.org

Friday July 8, 2011
1:00PM

Georgia Street Community Center
8902 Vinton St.
Detroit MI 48213

For more information contact Meg Marotte (313) 309-1685 or meg.marotte@gmail.com

Georgia Street Summer Garden Club

Hands On Learning For Ages 8 And Up!!!



www.georgiastreetcc.com
www.georgiastreetgarden.blogspot.com

Georgia Street Community Garden Partners with MSU Extension to Start Summer Garden Club

Detroit, MI-- June 21, 2011—Georgia Street Community Collective is starting its first ever summer garden club with the help of MSU Extension in Wayne County. The club will provide hands on learning activities and field trip opportunities for students attending summer school or any children 8 years and up interested in gardening activities.

Garden club members will get to grow vegetables and plant a butterfly garden, they will be trained in how to cook and eat from the garden, and attend an exciting lecture series of pollinating creatures such as bats, bees, butterflies, and other bugs. Active garden club members will go on field trips to visit other Detroit gardens, Eastern Market, and participate in a day trip to Michigan State University campus. Dedicated garden club members will take part in a public performance in front of a live audience.

The garden club will meet every Wednesday and Friday from 12:45pm to 4:00pm between June 29th and August 19th at Georgia Street Community Center on the corner of Vinton and Georgia streets. The registration fee is $20 which includes the price of field trips, snacks, one Georgia Street Community Collective t-shirt, and the entire lecture series. Scholarships and family discounts are available upon request.

Georgia Street Community Collective was founded by Mark Covington, a resident of the neighborhood near Harper and Gratiot where the gardens are located. The gardens currently consist of five lots, including a fruit orchard, greenhouse, and children’s park. The community center hosts a multitude of events and activities year round and is working toward expanding into a library and computer center.

For more information contact:

Meg Marotte, Community Gardening Associate
MSUE Wayne County
(313) 309-1685
Or
Mark Covington
313-452-0684
www.cub5578@yahoo.com
www.georgiastreetgarden.blogspot.com

2nd Annual Street Fair

Saturday, June 25,2011 1:00pm to 4:00pm

A.L. Holmes Garden Club

This year we were able to partner with MSU Extension and A.L. Holmes Elementary/ Middle School to start a garden club. The five classes from 3rd thru 5th grade started seeds and tranplanted them into their individual garden beds. The garden beds sit across the street from the main entrance on a city owned vacant lot. We will continue to take care of the garden this summer with some of the same kids and some new kids when we start our Summer Garden Club on June 29th. This will be our first official program at the GSCC Community Center. More info on that to come. As always we need your support. Thank You!!!

Mark

3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch with the Easter Bunny

3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch with the Easter Bunny

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Starting at 12:00 Noon

at the Community Center 8902 Vinton at Georgia Street

Easter Egg Hunts

will be held for 2 age groups:

1 yr – 6 yrs 7 yrs – 12 yrs

Please bring a bag or basket

for each child


Pictures with the Easter Bunny


Why pay more?

Get your child’s picture with the

Easter Bunny during the Brunch!







Brunch will be served immediately following the Easter Egg Hunts



Menu includes:

Chicken & Biscuits & Gravy

Juice & Coffee & Water





Purchase Tickets at the Community Center starting at 11:30 a.m.



FAMILY DEAL SPECIAL $25.00

Brunch for up to 5 people per family any age –

1 picture with the Easter Bunny

Up to 4 children for Easter Egg Hunt



Single Adult - Meal Only $8.00

Single Child – Egg Hunt & Meal $5.00

Single Picture $2.00

Made It to The Top Ten

Vote For Me At

http://energizerkeepgoinghalloffame.com/Finalists.aspx?finalists=MarkCovington&t=thmbMarkCovington.jpg&fn=Mark&ln=Covington&r=634383869957557989

Vote Everyday , Once A Day Till May 13Th

Man helpnig to clean up Detroit, one neighborhood at a time

Man helpnig to clean up Detroit, one neighborhood at a time

Please vote for me!!!!

I am a semi-finalist for The Energizer Bunny Hall Of Fame. Cut and paste the link into your web browser and type Mark Covington or Detroit, MI in the search bar and vote for me please Thank You!!!

www.facebook.com/EnergizerBunny?v=app_141741139208155

DUST

This is a link to a program that I think will benefit the city as a whole!!!


http://detroiturbansustainabilitytraining.org/

Fundraiser For The Furnace And Ductwork In The Community Center

Info and Ranting From Mark

To God Be The Glory. I cannot stress how my faith has grown these past few years. I know God has his hands on this. He has brought people into my life to help me with a vision that I believe he put on my heart. This season I told myself that I would do more writing on the blog to compliment the pictures, and to let everyone know what we are doing/trying to do. Also, to let people get to know me better.
I have been approached a lot by reporters, documentarians, researchers, locally, nationally, and inter-nationally, supposedly wanting to report about Urban Agriculture. I had this saying that I wanted to bring positive attention to our neighborhood, but we seem to always get lumped in with the Detroit ruin porn. Some reporters try their best, it seems to make our neighborhood look deserted and lacking housing stock (as if we just started getting abandoned houses and vacant lots in the last three years). I tell the same story every time, I played football, baseball, manhunt, and kick the can in most of the lots when I was a kid. The garden is on vacant lots that have been empty for 10 to 20 years and the orchard even longer. I don’t want the city turned into farmland. I think there is a place for everything in this 139 square mile city. I would love to see more houses built on the lots in my neighborhood but I think there will always be a need for a community garden, a small orchard and yes even some animals. There are a lot of benefits to it. Access to healthy food is just one. Community building is the greatest reason, having a place for neighbors to get to know each other and hangout on a nice summer night with music or a movie, cooking, harvesting, and sharing. A community garden can increase property values and change the mindset of people young and old for the better even if they don’t help with it. I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Dr. Margaret Beale Spencer, who is a Marshall Field IV Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago. She told me that community gardens are also beautification projects that can calm adolescent male bravado just by walking past. We all know every little bit helps . That alone to me is enough reason to plant some fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
We are still looking for ways to raise funds so we can keep going. We have raised some funds but still have a ways to go. We are just about finished with the multi-purpose room (was going to be the store). We decided that space would be better used for our larger events. Thank you to IICD and Wayne State Students and my brothers and friends and family who have helped with this.
I want to thank our many donors who have supported all of our events. There are too many to thank on here but I want to let you know our neighborhood thank you! GSCC would not be able to survive without your efforts to support us. With that being said, we have a ways to go and most likely will never be done. We are trying to pay down the taxes on the community center so we can get it under the tax exempt status.
We have the dates for our major events planned (see www.georgiastreetcc.com for dates) for the year. I want to do a few other things to bring the neighborhood together along with anyone else who wants to join us. I am trying to plan a few movie nights in the park… not the garden. We want to play some older films like Cabin In The Sky….adult and senior type movies for the older crowd. A concert in the Garden and Park. If you know of any bands, singers, poets, who would like to perform for free send them our way.
We have partnered with A.L. Holmes Elementary/Middle School Academy….finally. I have been trying to get in this school for three years. We plan to help the school with indoor and outdoor beautification projects, Mentoring and Tutoring programs, Adding a garden curriculum. Our first order of business is to help raise some funds for 35 eighth graders to go to Chicago for a day in May. The goal is to raise $100 per child. Money is due by April 1st. If you can help you know where to go. ( the donate button if you don’t know write Trip in the comments) I will keep you updated as time goes by.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Happy New Year!!! Praying that 2011 will be joyous and prosperous for us all!!