On Wednesday night, November 5, 2014, CommunityGrows hosted their first fundraiser at Greens Restaurant in Ft Mason. Photos in this blog and on our CommunityGrows Flickr Photostream were taken by Judith Keenan, a long-time CommunityGrows supporter. Thank you Judith!
Our CommunityGrows Advisory Board did a great job recruiting their friends and family to attend and purchase raffle tickets. A crowd of fifty strong, mingled in the back dinning room of Greens tasting delicious wines and chatting up friendships and CommunityGrows.
Delicious food graced the evening for our sit-down dinner. On the menu was:
First Course: Green Gulch lettuce, little gems, and ancho cress with apples, pomegranates, walnuts, goat cheese, and cider vinaigrette.
Entree: Butternut squash and sweet potato gratin with poblano chilies, grilled onions, peppers, cheddar, marjoram, sage, and ancho fromage blanc custard, served with tomatillo sauce, grilled polenta, and broccoli di ciccio with pumpkin seeds.
Dessert: Assorted mini cookies, brownies, and bars (served family-style on platters).
During the course of the dinner guests were treated to a newly released video of CommunityGrows which was Directed by Sophie Constantinou with Executive Producer, Lora Hirchberg. Sophie is the director of CitizenFilms, and Lora is a two-times Academy Awards winner for sound mixing (for the Dark Knight and Inception). Here it is for your enjoyment!
There were many illustrious speakers, including Supervisor London Breed who joined us for dinner and offered her support and kudos to CommunityGrows. Also speaking eloquently for CommunityGrows were Sheryl Davis from Mo’Magic and Ezekiel McCarter, who is on our staff as Garden Assistant at Rosa Parks Elementary School. Ezekiel, who is also a Bay Area musician, talked about his experience going through our BEETS (Band of Environmentally Educated and Employable Teens) programs and being inspired to create a song about the garden, which we were privileged to hear.
A highlight of the evening was inspirational speaker, Wendy Johnson, master gardener and author of Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate. She spoke of the three gifts: the gift of food, the gift of teaching and the gift of no fear. She related this to the passion of CommunityGrows to cultivate healthy youth by growing and eating nutritious food. The gift of teaching was exemplified by the work CommunityGrows does in environmental education. The gift of no fear is manifest in CommunityGrows tenacity to not be afraid of hard work, to speak for environmental and food justice, and to face challenges that arise with compassion.
CommunityGrows wants to thank all the sponsors who supported this fundraiser, including Bi-Rite Businesses, San Francisco Public Works, PG&E, and Greens Restaurant. Thank you to our Advisory Board and CommunityGrows staff for recruiting raffle items and making the dinner a success. Finally thank you to all the attendees, including the Koshland Family, Kaiser-Permanente, the Buchanan YMCA, and many others. Thank you also to everyone who purchased raffle tickets.
As you can see, it was a fun and successful night. A great time had by all! Thank you again!
For more great photos, check out our Flickr Photostream here.