fund-raiser – Memphis Flyer

Google Maps

Site of South Memphis Future and Funk Community Art Garden

Two groups are looking to transform a vacant South Memphis lot into an Afrofuturistic-themed community garden, and are asking for donations to do so.

Using the online fund-raising platform, ioby, the Center for Transforming Communities and the United Housing Inc. are hoping to raise a little over $8,000 to create the South Memphis Future and Funk Community Art Garden.

The project is planned for a vacant lot on McMilan Street in South Memphis’ Lauderdale subdivision. Designed by Tobacco Brown, a community art garden specialist, the garden “will honor the meaning of home in South Memphis and will reimagine what the future of South Memphis as home will mean using art, photographs, and nature.”

Organizers say one goal of the garden is to engage the community and encourage the activation of other vacant properties in the city. The garden will be a “gateway to begin the discussion about creative ways to activate vacant lots and land while celebrating the culture of South Memphis and the future of the community,” the fund-raising page reads.

A community build day is scheduled for Saturday, October 5th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the site of the future garden. Volunteers will have the opportunity to work with Brown, the garden specialist, to plant flowers and build seating for the space.

Organizers are hoping to reach the fund-raising goal of $8,327 before Monday, October 7th ahead of the unveiling celebration on October 12th. The groups will host an activation celebration that day for the community to come and learn about the garden.

The celebration will feature writers Sheree Thomas and Troy Wiggins as speakers, an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, as well as poetry, dance and musical performances. The event will also provide information on fair housing in the city, programs that promote renter’s rights and home ownership, and the importance of home ownership in building wealth, equity, and stability for families.

Through its New Century of Soul Challenge, the city of Memphis has promised to match donations for this project up to $10,000. To donate go here.

ioby

Future site of the Uptown Community Food Forest

• A few miles north of the South Memphis garden site, another group is looking to transform an existing Uptown community garden into a food forest, a garden that mimics forest growth with edible plants. This strategy for growing food leads to better light exposure, simpler maintenance, and an overall better, more bio-diverse yield.

Unlike most community gardens, organizers say the Uptown Community Food Forest will utilize nearly all of the land where it sits to maximize the amount and variety of crops. The project’s organizers say the food forest will provide the community with access to naturally grown food, including seasonal and native produce that they might not otherwise have access to.

The hope is to raise the $8,675 needed for the project by the end of November. To donate to this project go here. The city is also slated to match funds for this project.

Wolf River Conservancy

Rendering of proposed boat dock

• Several miles away from the site of the future food forest, the Wolf River Conservancy is raising funds to give a Raleigh community better access to the Wolf River.

The Conservancy is looking to construct a boat dock near the recently constructed Epping Way section of the Wolf River Greenway trail. The boat dock will provide expanded access to the 20-acre lake there. In Raleigh, there is currently no safe way to access the water to teach and enjoy paddle sports, according to the Conservancy.

The hope is that the new boat dock will help the group better engage youth and adults in environmental education and recreation activities.

The Wolf River Conservancy has already secured $55,000 for the project, but is looking to raise an addition $20,635 by Friday, October 4th. The city has agreed to provide the difference if the goal isn’t met. To donate to this project, go here.

To learn about more projects in the city like these, visit the ioby site.

NPHC

Members of the U of M’s National Pan-Hellenic Council executive board

Students at the University of Memphis recently launched a campaign to raise funds for their predominantly African-American, Greek-letter, service-based organizations on campus.

The university’s National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), which governs the school’s nine traditionally African-American fraternities and sororities, hopes to raise $7,500 by September 28th.

The money raised will fund “plots,” or permanent housing facilities, for each of the fraternities and sororities.

“The largest symbols of Black fraternalism on college campuses is the plot,” the group’s campaign website reads. “Unlike chapters within the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils, NPHC chapters typically do not own housing facilities.”

Having housing on campus provides “representation and sacred spaces for these groups.” The goal of the NPHC is for all nine organizations to have their own housing on campus near the University Center and Alumni Mall.

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“The University of Memphis’ NPHC community has been given the opportunity to obtain physical representation on campus, in the form of plots, but we need your help to make it happen!” the campaign site reads. “With your help, the NPHC community will be able to create and maintain these sacred spaces on the U of M’s campus for many years to come.”

About 200 students are involved in the nine organizations at the U of M governed by the NPHC, according to the group.

“We pride ourselves in scholarship, service, and quality programming,” a description of the groups reads. “We hold ourselves to a higher standard and ensure students on our campus can see us as role models, while actively engaging in the numerous activities that we program for students.”

So far, $992 of the $7,500 has been raised.

Jessika Williams, president of the university’s NPHC executive board, said the council is “breaking barriers and making history” at the U of M.

“Through rebranding and elevating our campus community, we have set a new standard for NPHC,” Williams said. “As we rise to the occasion as active role models for our campus community, we see the importance of us having physical representation through placement plots here on campus.”

The nine groups under the school’s NPHC, known as the “Divine Nine,” include Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

U of M Students Look to Raise Funds for African-American Greek Organizations