What we have coming up next!

This week I will outline how we plan to grow and expand our programs in the fall and how you can be a part of our growing programs!

We hope to expand our programs to promote food security in the near future through regular attendance at the Millwood Community Farmers Market where we will promote our programs and invite community members to either partner with us to donate food items or to increase awareness of our programs for families that may benefit. We will also be bringing a little free pantry to the Farmers Market each week, so if you are able to bring food to donate there or if you need food from the pantry, it is available for both donations as well as for those who need food items.

Another way we want to promote food security is through education around gardening. We have 3 garden plots at the Pumpkin Patch Community Garden just down the road from the community center. Each student that came to the garden planted something and we will invite them to come out to the garden throughout the summer and into the fall so they can see their plants grow and provide good food to eat in the fall! If you or anyone you know needs produce, we will have plenty to share throughout the summer and into the fall.

In the fall, we plan to provide a community meal once a month where we serve the kids and families in Millwood and West Valley. These meals are designed to build community and to set aside a time and place to help families feel more a part of the Millwood and West Valley neighborhoods through meeting neighbors and sharing a meal together. We want to invite families of all income levels as well as business owners in Millwood to join us whether they want to cater a meal or simply to attend the event. We are looking for community members to sponsor a meal or volunteer their time to serve a meal starting in October.

In October, we will expand STAR club to serve at Ness Elementary, so we will do STAR club on Mondays and Wednesdays for Orchard Center and program for Ness on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When we expand STAR club, we will need significantly more volunteers. We plan to serve 8-16 more students from Orchard Center in the fall and we plan to start STAR Club for Ness Elementary as well. We plan to have 32-48 students in STAR club with both Orchard Center and Ness. If everything goes according to plan, we will need close to 50 volunteers. 

If you would like to sponsor or serve a meal, or if you are interested in being a STAR club volunteer, please fill out a volunteer form here.