|
Stone Soup's core purpose is to feed people and enrich lives. This upgrade, with gardens and painting of the back of the building, will create a positive space. The College Rotary Club and Stone Soup Cafe are especially concerned about feeding families. In 2014, 39% of students in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District received free meals because, their family income fell below the Federal Poverty Level.
In the last year, Stone Soup Cafe served over 28,000 meals to community members. Every weekday, Stone Soup Cafe provides a meal to a portion of the estimated 8,000 community members in Fairbanks who live with poverty. Stone Soup Cafe grew out of the Breadline and was independently incorporated in 1989. This project has been identified by the volunteer board members of Stone Soup Cafe as an important way to improve their food service to Fairbanks families.
To increase access to healthy, locally grown food in the nutritious meals at Stone Soup Café, The Rotary Club of College, in conjunction with District 5010 matching grant funds, wants to help establish vegetable gardens for Stone Soup to use. Our aim is to reduce food insecurity in downtown Fairbanks, specifically. We believe that by working with community partners to offer more sustainable and healthy food options we will help those who are suffering the impacts of poverty in our community. The garden plants will include tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, herbs, beans, and peas; The harvest will be used for the soups, sandwiches and other meals served at the Cafe.
The timing of the project is important. If funds can be awarded prior to the growing season, the work can be completed this year. If the award comes too late, the gardens will not reap a harvest this season. Rotarians from the club have agreed to help paint and prepare the gardens.
Project funds will be used to buy soil ($2300 - discounted rate), plants, screws for the donated raised planters, benches, stepping stones, garden fairies and a sign noting the support of the Rotary Club of College and the Rotary District 5010 (total estimated at $750). A small portion of the funds will be used to buy paints, rollers and brushes for upgrading the back of the building ($550). Stone Soup Cafe has already secured support from Calypso Farms, Fairbanks & North Pole nurseries, Fairbanks Sand & Gravel and community volunteers.
|
