Gardening workshop welcomes new community partners!

ARISE staff, parents, and neighbors came out for a free workshop at the Sankofa Learning Garden this Wednesday afternoon. The workshop was led by experienced gardener Pam Broom. The information at the event ranged from planting beds out of ground, how to transplant plant starts, and getting involved with the community partner spaces. Workshop members planted garlic, lemon mint, and various other herbs. Attendees left the event with some plant giveaways and a new earned knowledge of gardening! Check out some pictures of workshop attendees gardening.  Sankofa is excited to welcome our new friends and community partners to the space.

Our Lead Gardener Pam Broom kicks off the garden workshop

ARISE Staff and neighbors listen as Pam talks about planting in raised beds. 

Christopher Ingham, Special Education Teacher at ARISE, helps Pam plant herbs. 

Ms. Morris, Kindergarten Teacher, plants the final herbs. 

Steffany Bernstein- Pratt, neighbor,  plants garlic bulbs.

Gearing up for the New School Year!

This past Saturday we held a volunteer event at the Sankofa Learning Garden at ARISE Academy in order to get the space spruced up for student use. We had twenty- plus wonderful volunteers who worked for four hours to beautify the space. In the end, we were able to pull up all of the weeds, add a pop of color to the Garden, and bring new soil, all while having a good time. Sankofa can't thank all of  the amazing volunteers enough for giving their time and energy to the school garden. They have truly planted the seeds of positive energy and care that will make this Learning Garden a successful space for students! Here are some photos of these lovely folks hard at work!

Fixing up our community garden beds pictures from left to right: Diane Deroog, Whitney Shields, and Rebekah Mende.

 Ronnie King, Urban League New Orleans  does some much needed weeding of the community garden beds. 

 Joya Phillips, ARISE Academy student brightens up a garden bed with a coat of paint. 

Shelby Hollenbeck and Nicole Marby,Wilson Academy gardeners putting a fresh coat of paint on a garden bed.  

Shelly Gomez and Zach Gomez, community volunteers sprucing up a garden bed.

 Rashida Ferdinand, Founder and Executive Director transplants some rosemary in a garden bed. 

Mary Dumler, community volunteer wheels some soil to a garden bed.

The final results of volunteer day!

Re- Opening of Sankofa's Mobile Market

After a few months closed due to the freezing weather, we officially re-opened The Sankofa Mobile Market this past Saturday April 5, 2014 at 5030 St. Claude Avenue in the Lower 9th Ward.

Produce in the market included : hydroponic tomatoes, radish, turnips, Ponchatoula strawberries, collard, mustard greens and fresh herbs from our garden.

Plump tomatoes from Cajun Growers

Turnips and Radishes from Frank Fekete Farms

Juicy Ponchatoula strawberries from Fletcher Family Farm

Through the Mobile Market, we are bringing fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs to the Lower Ninth Ward every week. We are currently developing plans to expand to additional stops in the neighborhood during June. Through offering low-cost produce sales we are working to address the ‘food desert’ problem , a major issue in New Orleans, address some of those barriers that affect access to fresh fruits and vegetables in low-socioeconomic communities.

We recently started a new Rewards Program for our loyal customers to continue to support healthier eating. Many shoppers signed up for the Rewards Program and will receive a free item when they purchase vegetables and fruits at the Mobile Market at least two times a month.  

Sankofa is working to improve health and wellness in our community and create progressive programs that bring quality of life resources to the area. Community collaborations are critical to our work and the success of the Mobile Market. We appreciate the support of Reverend Dyson and Mr. Parther for their support in hosting the Mobile Market at St Paul Church of God in Christ at 5030 St Claude Ave.

Community members picking out local strawberries

Please come by and visit us for fresh local produce, and join us in this movement to improve community health and wellness. We hope to see you this Saturday, April 12!

Sankofa HEAL Project Receives Award by AstraZeneca Healthcare Foundation!

Last week Sankofa staff, Astrazeneca HealthCare Foundation chairman Dr. James Blaseto, respected members of the community, several members of the press, and numerous HEAL club members packed into classroom 317 of ARISE Academy. The reason we hosted this gathering was for us to show the local community just what we do at Sankofa Community Development Corporation. In addition to sharing our efforts and progress with the community, we also celebrated our relationship with AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation. This is the third consecutive year we have received an award from the HealthCare Foundation. Our acceptance of this generous gift can be seen above.

Zedekiyan Morrison, HEAL participant, who is pictured below, shared her experiences as a project participant.

We were honored to have other speakers such as Dr. Daphne Ferdinand Executive Director of Healthy Heart Community Prevention Project, Dr. Denese Shervington President of Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies, and Pam Broom Board Member from The Reconciliation Institute also speak on our behalf. 

The room was filled with posters and photos of Sankofa's current and past work in the community.

Our nutrition educator, Kelly Bond, planned out the refreshment table, and with the help of HEAL club students and Sankofa staff the delicious treats became a reality. 

We offered citrus infused water to drink, which was thoroughly enjoyed by attendees. We used Meyer lemons from Rashida's lemon tree and cucumbers to give the water a unique taste.

 

Since it was a rather chilly and rainy morning, we had hot tea as well. We decided to utilize the large rosemary bush flourishing in the school's garden. 

Sprigs of the herb were added to hot water, along with hibiscus and orange tea bags (giving the drink that gorgeous color you can see below). We offered slices of lemon and local honey to top off the soothing tea. 

Because rosemary is quite healthy, Miss Kelly put together a small flyer describing the herb and explaining its health benefits to guests. 

Just as the enrichment students had enjoyed fruit kebabs during class time, we also had them for guests to enjoy at the press conference. Instead of using strawberries, this time we used local Louisiana oranges. The HEAL club kids placed the orange slices on toothpicks the day prior to the event. Very helpful!

The HEAL club also prepared the guacamole needed for the cucumber sandwiches. Since they came out so well, we've decided to share the recipe with you below! Enjoy!

Refreshing Cucumber and Guacamole Sandwiches 

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers
• 4 ripe Haas avocados
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 tbl cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

• First you want to prepare the guacamole, as it should sit in the refrigerator for about an hour after preparation. To begin, mash the avocados in a large bowl and squeeze the lime juice over them. Toss to coat. 
• Mash the salt and cumin into the avocado mixture. Fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. 
• Cover the guacamole tightly with plastic wrap to prevent it from browning and place the bowl in the refrigerator for one hour. 
• Slice up the cucumbers. Spread a small amount of the chilled guacamole between two slices of cucumber to create your sandwiches. Be careful not to place too much guacamole in the sandwich, if you do you'll wind up with a mess! You can stick toothpicks in the sandwiches to keep them together.
• You'll likely have some leftover guacamole, just tightly cover it with plastic wrap and stick it back in the refrigerator until you use it. Baking your own pita chips is a great way to use up any leftover guacamole!