All posts by admin

How Team Gwen’s Ben Allen Gives Back

Ben Allen, a Top 9 contestant on season 19 of “The Voice”, reveals how he gives back to veterans.

By Heather Newgen

Fans know Ben Allen from touring Southwest Florida with the Ben Allen Band, as well as season 19 of “The Voice”. The country singer was first on Team Blake, however, was let go during the Knockout Rounds after his coach chose the family trio Worth the Wait instead. But he was given a second chance by Gwen when she saved him from going home and viewers moved him forward to the semi-finals.

Ben Allen quickly became a fan favorite and every week has showcased his talents, which has advanced him far in the competition. While the 42-year-old keeps a busy schedule, he consistently dedicates time for volunteering at Miles Ranch in Florida.

“It’s an organization that works with veterans that come home and have PTSD. It incorporates horses in their therapy. They can go and have time with these animals and it saves the animals at the same time, so it’s kind of dual purpose,” he told The Voluntourist.

“This organization gives these animals purpose. In Florida, there’s a lot of horses that slip through the cracks. I’m not necessarily a big horse guy. I don’t know how to ride a horse, but I do know there’s a lot of horses that fall through the crack. A horse can be an expensive animal to have, so this gives these horses a purpose and a use. It works very well with these veterans to go out and get some peaceful time. [They] go out and have some peace, change their mindset and get them away from the things that they’re carrying around with them inside. They’ve done things for our country that they have to carry. If I can benefit them in some way then I’m happy to do that,” he added.

For now, Allen is in Los Angeles fighting for a spot in the finals, which his coach thinks he has. After his performance of “All About Tonight,” a Blake Shelton hit, Gwen gushed, “I think it’s funny that I’m gonna win The Voice with you doing Blake..America is gonna be all over that.”

“That was music to my ears. It was exactly what I wanted to hear in that position,” he laughed.

“Wouldn’t it just be the icing on the cake for her to win the show with the artist that Blake passes on and in his own genre as well. I think it all fits together really, really well. I don’t know if we get there but maybe we do. I’m really hoping it’s something I can have a laugh about with them in the future.”

Fans can vote for Ben Allen to advance to the next round by visiting the official The Voice voting website, casting a vote via The Voice‘s official app or voting from their Google Assistant. There is a limit of 10 votes per artist per method.

December 8, 2020 admin

Hoda Kotb’s tips on staying happy and positive

How Hoda Kotb stays happy and positive amid COVID-19 and election fatigue.

By Heather Newgen

2020 has been a year. We’re eight months into a deadly pandemic and we just experienced the most chaotic presidential election in our country’s history, which has left us exhausted, on edge and burned out. While we can unplug to get a break from the negative news cycle, Hoda Kotb, the main co-anchor of the TODAY Show can’t. Every morning she brings her infectious energy, huge smile and positivity that radiates through TV screens to viewers. So how does she stay so cheery during this uncertain and dark time?

“If you pause your morning and focus on a couple of good things, it really does change your brain chemistry. Before I look at my phone in the morning, before I see who said what about whom and what’s our lead story and what are all my notes I need to read for the show, before I do anything, this is like 3:30 a.m., I literally after a shower, I sit downstairs and play the music that I love. I write down three things I’m grateful for,” she told The Voluntourist.

Hoda added, “Literally sometimes I struggle with the third because you’re like, ‘I can’t think of anything because I’ve got too much going on.’ When you sit there your brain starts looking for those things. Literally when you’re done with those three things you weirdly feel lighter. Then I write one amazing thing that happened the day before and I do it in the morning and not at night because I feel like morning is your reset. That coupled with a random act of kindness–I actually stole this whole thing from a TED Talk I saw. They were like, ‘here’s how to be happy,’ and I’m like, ‘what is it?’ Write down the three things, one amazing thing that happened to you, do random acts of kindness, pray or meditate and exercise. They say if you do those five things daily, it will change how you feel.”

In addition to her morning ritual, Hoda is mindful of the people she’s around and takes note of how they contribute to her mood and well-being. If they’re a constantly negative, she limits her time with them.

“The other thing I do is they say you’re the sum total of the five people you spend the most time with. Choose wisely. If you’re with someone who is constantly telling you how bad it is and is ‘oh my God it’s going to rain today and did you hear about so and so?’ Have you ever had the friend that’s like, ‘did you hear?’ You’re like, ‘please don’t. Back up.’ So I try to surround myself with five good people and if that doesn’t work then it’s straight booze and then everything is great. You gotta do what you gotta do,” she joked.

You can catch Hoda every morning on the TODAY Show and in addition she’ll be co-hosting the 94th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade live on NBC on Thursday, November 26 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST.

November 12, 2020 admin

Beverly Johnson teams up with City of Hope to raise awareness for health disparities in communities of color

Beverly Johnson teams up with City of Hope to raise money and awareness for health disparities in communities of color.

By: Heather Newgen

Health disparities in communities of color is nothing new, but it’s an issue that’s finally getting some attention and City of Hope, an independent biomedical research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases, is working towards eliminating the causes for health disparities.

“Of course I know about the disparities in health and wellness for the Black community. My father died of an enlarged heart–a heart attack. My mother passed away from Alzheimer’s. Nothing else was wrong with her and it’s very prevalent in Black women. So just from my family I knew there wasn’t enough being done,” Beverly Johnson told The Voluntourist.

The supermodel is working with City of Hope to increase awareness. She held a virtual Dine-in for Justice event where she hosted a brunch with friends, talked about the inequalities in communities of color and raised money. Participants are asked to contribute an amount equal to or greater than what they would spend dining out. Donations to Dine In for Health Justice will benefit City of Hope’s Division of Health Equities and will support community education, health screenings and research. All contributions are 100 percent tax deductible.

Anyone can host a Dine-in for Justice event and at each meal a 30 minute video is played that features Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts and others who share their stories of healthcare disparities.

“It changed my life. I was so moved, Beverly Johnson said. “But I was disturbed of the injustice for Black people in the medical profession, in every realm of it.”

Dr. Leanne Burnham, a translational scientist within the City of Hope Division of Health Equities whose research focuses on
prostate cancer in Black men, stated, “we’re getting a lot more attention on these disparities as a result of what we’ve seen with Covid this year. For decades, cancers are much more prevalent in Black and Brown communities. They’re much more likely to be diagnosed, to detect the disease way past a stage of when its curable, and that goes for prostate, breast, lung, colorectal. What’s encouraging is that these health disparities don’t have to be that way. There’s things we can do to eliminate these health disparities.
It takes a holistic approach, a multi-factorial approach, so at City of Hope we have a division where we have experts in different areas, whether it’s in science, or in the community or clinic where we’re addressing the many different reasons why health disparities exist so we can help to eliminate some of those.”

Reasons for the disparities include genetics, socioeconomic impacts and environmental factors.

“Specifically in Southern California we have environmental pollutants that affect Black and Brown communities differently. At City of Hope one of the things we study is what are we breathing in the air and what are we drinking in the water and how does that contribute to increased incidents of lung cancer in Black and Brown individuals simply by the fact of where they live? Behind genetic and socioeconomic reasons, we have to look at what is your access to healthcare, what does your insurance look like for sure and there’s always diet and lifestyle. What you put in your body everyday can affect that and that’s heavily influenced by cultures and what you’re taught,” Dr. Burnham said.

She added, “What we know is that screening recommendations for diseases are based off of studies that have looked at hundreds of thousands of individuals, but they’re usually of European ancestry. So you have enough individuals to draw a conclusion but those conclusions don’t necessarily apply to people who are at high risk for getting a disease earlier.

“So for example prostate cancer. That affects Black men way younger. It affects Black men in early 40’s even, but current screening recommendations are not to begin discuss screening with your physician age 55. So if you’re a Black man and you’re growing this prostate cancer in your 40’s if it was caught then it would be cured. Prostate cancer is literally 100 percent curable if you catch it early. Once it spreads out of the prostate then there is no cure. We have a lot of treatments to extend life but there is no cure for advanced stages of that disease.”

City of Hope does community outreach to help give POC better access to early screenings and offers information they may not receive from the health care industry.

“I’m really passionate about this cause,” Beverly Johnson told us. “No matter how much money you have as a Black person, it’s not going to help you. We’re not even at clinical trials. They don’t even know what they’re looking for when they’re attending to you because they only have certain stats of a White patient.”

For more information, visit City of Hope.

October 19, 2020 admin

Pets in Need Project gives free medical care to pet owners experiencing homelessness

The Pets in Need Project traveled around California for two months giving free medical care to pet owners experiencing homeless and will soon expand to other cities and states.

By Heather Newgen

Pet owners living on the streets must make an unthinkable choice. Do they go to a shelter and leave behind their companion? The majority of shelters don’t allow pets, unless they’re service animals, so most people choose to tough it out and stay with their furry friend.

With homelessness on the rise in California, ElleVet Sciences, a Portland, Maine company that produces hemp and CBD oil supplements for pets, wanted to help. So the co-founders, Amanda Howland and Christian Kjaer, rented an RV, enlisted a team of volunteer vets and embarked on a two month journey treating over 1200 animals in different homeless communities.

The Pets in Need Project handed out supplies and administered vaccines, flea and tick preventatives, deworming, and general checkups.

“We found that people will feed their pets before they feed themselves, ” Howland explained to The Voluntourist. It’s really an extraordinary sacrifice to care for their pets,” she continued.

For weeks the team drove to various homeless communities and when people lined up for hours waiting for their four-legged bestie to be seen. In the few cases where a pet needed surgery, Pets in Need found a local animal hospital and paid for the procedures out of pocket, but that’s not all. They also helped in other ways.

“One lady that we met right off the bat in San Diego was a lovely woman who had been homeless for about a year. She had a sweet little kind of Maltese Shih Tzu dog and she came to us to have a check up. But she also said she had cancer and she was really worried about what was going to happen to her dog if she got sicker or had to go to the hospital,” Howland told us.

“So she was trying to find her a good home. We were so touched by the whole story, we posted on our social media and we were able to find a home for this little dog. We were able to put her in touch with a couple of candidates so she could choose the home. Then we went and took pictures of the dog at her new home so we could share with her and she could see dog was taken care of.”

Pets in Need Project had such a successful test run in California and are currently working on visiting other areas and creating volunteer opportunities. Check their website for more information.

October 8, 2020 admin

TV personality launches organ donor foundation to save her mom

TV personality Rachelle McCray launches MinMinBear Foundation and sends Teddy Bears to all 50 States to spread organ donor awareness.

By Heather Newgen

In 2002, Rachelle McCray’s mother, Mindy, found herself in need of a kidney donor to save her life after her kidney disease had progressed to end-stage renal failure. On April 12, 2005, at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Scottsdale, Mindy’s father-in-law selflessly donated his kidney—giving her a second chance at life. Knowing personally the beauty that can come from organ donation, Rachelle decided to bring public attention to the need for kidney disease education, organ donation awareness, and patient aid through the sale of a stuffed toy named MinMinBear after her mom’s nickname, MinMin. Rachelle, who was Miss Arizona in 2011, launched the MinMinBear Initiative to share her personal story on a public level and to help others in need. All of the proceeds from the original MinMinBears launch benefited the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona and supported public education and direct patient aid. At the time, there were two different stuffed toy bears, one representing a kidney donor and the other that represented a kidney recipient.

Now, fifteen years later, Mindy faces the need for a second transplant, something that is very common among transplant recipients, as kidneys last approximately 10-15 years depending on several factors. Although many friends and family members offered to be tested, none proved to be a successful match. Rachelle decided to relaunch the MinMinBear initiative that helped so many others, this time to help her own mom! In 2020, she set up MinMinBear Foundation as its own non-profit and today they continue to work in collaboration with the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona. A third bear named WinskiBear was added to the collection as they launched in 2020 to represent the friends and family who support the recipient and donor on this journey.

In response, the MinMinBear Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization was officially launched to educate the public on the importance of organ donation. The Foundation is led by Founder, Rachelle McCray, TV Personality (QVC, Arizona Living, CelebTV etc.) and former Miss Arizona United States and Arizona Cardinals NFL cheerleader.

Every year, the MinMinBear Foundation will choose a new mission to help those affected by chronic illnesses, like kidney disease, which leads to organ donation. The Board of Directors will help seek out people and causes that need support, and the Foundation’s mascots, the MinMinBear and friends- three teddy bears including MinMinBear™, AlbieBear™and WinskiBear™- go to work to help. The Foundation also partners with other non-profit organizations around the country, research and development firms, transplant centers, hospitals, children’s camps and more to maximize their positive impact.

The foundation’s first initiative is the MinMinBear Challenge across social media (#MinMinBearChallenge), which will showcase the bears throughout all 50 states to help find a perfect match. For the inaugural challenge, the mission is to help a woman named Mindy find her kidney match. Mindy is an Alport Syndrome patient and the inspiration for the MinMinBear Foundation; Mindy is also the mother of founder, Rachelle McCray.

“It is an honor to launch a foundation that has the potential to both help someone I love dearly, my mother, as well as find matches for so many others who are in critical need of an organ transplant. My hope is to help raise awareness of the urgent need for organ donors and find matches for as many in need as possible.” McCray said.

MinMinBear actually took shape several years prior as an initiative led by McCray while she was Miss Arizona (2011) for the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona. Today, it is it’s own non-profit and continues to work in collaboration with the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona.

How to Participate in The #MinMinBearChallenge

The challenge encourages people to show where these stuffed bears go, how they are loved, and to share MinMinBear’s story in hopes of helping her find the perfect kidney match.
The aim is that this challenge will not only help Mindy, but it will also help others like her, who wait for a life-saving organ transplant. Here’s how it works:

Purchase or Gift the Bear- Purchase MinMinBear™, AlbieBear™, or WinskiBear™ for yourself or someone special OR grab your favorite stuffed animal at home.

Live Your Best Life- Take your purchased bear OR your favorite stuffed animal and live your best life with them. Is that a beach day, binge-worthy movie night, playground playdate, selfie friend, homeschool day or even dialysis buddy?

Snap Pic and Post- Take a fun picture of your stuffed animal living its best life! Then, post the pic with the challenge instructions to your social media. Keep in mind you can repeat this step over and over again!

Challenge Three Friends- Copy and paste this challenge information and tag at least three friends to do the same. Use #minminbearchallenge

No MinMinBear? No worries! Use your favorite stuffed animal friend, and follow the same above steps. To learn more visit: www.minminbearfoundation.org/minminbear-challenge

MinMinBear Foundation is currently taking submissions for their 2021 MinMinsMission focus. If you’d like to submit your idea, please visit: www.minminbearfoundation.org/contact.

October 1, 2020 admin

How to help people impacted by Hurricane Laura

Two weeks after Hurricane Laura ripped through parts of Texas and Louisiana, a massive cleanup is underway. Here’s how you can help.

By Heather Newgen

Hurricane Laura made landfall in the Gulf Coast on August 27th as a Category 4 storm, bringing with it 150 mph winds and significant storm surge. 27 people have died as a result and according to Forbes, residents in the hardest hit areas are still without running water and power. The outlet reports, “as of Thursday afternoon, more than 280,000 people in southwest Louisiana didn’t have clean drinking water in their homes, with 14,475 lacking running water altogether.”

In addition, Hurricane Laura destroyed much of the farmland in the south western part of Louisiana and now farmers are dealing with another major issue– swarms of mosquitoes are killing off thousands of cattle and horses, causing farmers to take a huge financial loss. The thick clouds of mosquitoes are attacking the livestock by draining their blood with numerous bites. The animals pace frantically in the heat trying to fight them off until they’re exhausted and pass out, USA Today reports.

Estimates vary, but most experts suggest the damage due to Hurricane Laura is in the billions.

As Covid-19 rages on, rebuilding communities will be a complicated and challenging feat. Organizations are working to give aid to the victims, but additional assistance is needed.

Here are ways to help the Hurricane Laura victims in Louisiana and Texas.

DONATE

The Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation helps farmers affected by Hurricane Laura and is accepting donations, which will help keep agriculture alive in Louisiana.

Global Giving has set up a fund to provide food, water and shelter.

United Way of Southwest Louisiana is distributing funds to victims.

The Salvation Army disaster teams in Louisiana and Texas are “providing food, drinks, emotional & spiritual care and other emergency services in the wake of Hurricane Laura.”

Second Harvest Food Bank is providing meals to families in need.

VOLUNTEER

World Central Kitchen needs volunteers to prepare and deliver fresh meals to first responders and people affected by Hurricane Laura.

Red Cross is seeking volunteers to give blood and licensed health care professionals to work in emergency shelters.

The Houston Food Bank is accepting donations and volunteers.

Operation Blessing is on the ground in Lake Charles, an area devastated by Hurricane Laura. Volunteers are needed to help in debris cleanup and assist homeowners salvage their belongings.

September 14, 2020 admin

Outdoor Afro: Reconnecting African Americans to Nature

Rue Mapp is encouraging African Americans to reconnect with nature through her nonprofit Outdoor Afro and has already inspired thousands to enjoy the great outdoors like Oprah Winfrey.

By Heather Newgen

Rue Mapp has always loved the outdoors. She regularly hiked, fished and swam near her Northern California home growing up, but often noticed she was usually the only person of color on the trails.

“I was tired of being the only one on backpacking trips and camping trips when I joined with various clubs over the years. I wanted more people to experience the benefits of the outdoors and the joy of the outdoors,” Mapp told The Voluntourist via email.

So eleven years ago she started a website to document her outdoor adventures and to encourage the Black community to get outside.

“Outdoor Afro started off as a blog, a passion back in 2009 when I just decided that I wanted to experience more people who looked like me in the outdoors and talk about why I love the outdoors,” she said.

Oprah Winfrey and Rue Mapp photo courtesy of Outdoor Afro

Much to her surprise, Mapp learned there was actually more people of color experiencing the outdoors like she was, but realized a major issue.

“I didn’t see people who look like me, I started this blog, and something really miraculous happened. People from all over the country (at the dawn of social media) raised their digital hands and said, “Me, too! I love nature, too!” And I realized we had a visual representation problem. When you put all the people who thought they were the only ones together, we were actually quite numerous.”

RELATED: Being Black in Boise, Idaho

So Mapp has been on a mission to change the lack of representation. Over the course of a decade, Outdoor Afro has evolved into an organization that now connects African Americans to exciting outdoor adventures.

“Now we are a national not-for-profit network that has 90 volunteer leaders, people who we’ve trained, in 30 states who are leading and curating these fabulous outdoor experiences every single weekend around the country. The participation network is now about 40,000 people,” Mapp explained.

“Outdoor Afro’s work is changing the current representation of who gets out and who leads in the outdoors. There’s a different story that needs to be told, and Outdoor Afro’s telling it. We’ve already seen the result of that telling, creating a lasting change and shift. When we first started in 2009, there was no expected representation. No one was asking for it, and it wasn’t being created in a mainstream way that was visible through mainstream outlets. We’ve been very deliberate using social media to shift that visual representation of who we imagined gets outside,” she stated. “We’ve worked closely with partners, in marketing, within the outdoor industry who have amplified our messages. Over time, there have been new norms. There’s just been a level set that happened where the expectation was for people who are depicted in the outdoors who look more like America, and, especially in our case, represent Black people as strong, beautiful, and free of all ages.”

For the last six years, Outdoor Afro has hosted the Glamp in Broadcast Gala in an effort to raise money in support of empowered Black connections in nature.

This year the fundraising event has shifted online and will take place September 12th at 5:00 p.m. PST/ 8:00 pm. EST.

The celebration will bring people together from around the world free of charge and online from the comfort of their homes. Building upon the success of five consecutive years of sold out in-person events, this glamorous evening will feature Outdoor Afro Founder and CEO Rue Mapp, keynote speaker Boots Riley (rapper, producer, film director and activist) interviewed by Davey D (hip hop journalist), and hosted by Yosemite Park Ranger and author Shelton Johnson, along with other inspiring leaders and diverse outdoor and cultural champions. The event supports Outdoor Afro’s programs to inspire Black connections and leadership in nature by helping people take better care of themselves, our communities and our planet.

To register click here.

September 9, 2020 admin

L.A. Works creates virtual volunteer projects and connects people to ethical programs

It can be overwhelming to find a responsible volunteering opportunity in Los Angeles, but L.A. Works makes it simple with the click of a button. And now you can volunteer virtually doing everything from leading a fitness class to climate change advocacy.

By Kristen Kabal

Looking for an ethical volunteering program in L.A., but you’re not sure where to start? L.A. Works helps solve that problem by teaming up with hundreds of vetted local nonprofits and connects people to volunteer opportunities. It kind of works like a dating app. All volunteers have to do is browse through projects on their website that best suit a their skill set, availability, location, age and personal interest, then select a program to sign up with. It’s that simple.

From Venice to downtown to Hollywood, to Van Nuys, L.A. Works has projects throughout the city. Volunteers can participate in everything from homelessness, animal causes, senior services, adult education, sports & recreation, environment, children & youth education and more.

In response to COVID-19, the organization has implemented new health and safety policies, has shifted on-the-ground projects to focus on urgent needs like volunteers at COVID-19 testing sites and has created several opportunities to volunteer through Zoom. So while Los Angelenos are encouraged to volunteer, anyone, anywhere can now get involved.

L.A. Works is designed to make volunteering as easy as possible and eliminate the intimidation some feel when going through the process of finding programs. They have a series of introductory projects that people can start out with if they are new to volunteering and can usually be found on the homepage of their site. For anyone 55- years- old and older, the nonprofit will look at your resume and match you with an organization that is right for your professional background to help make the application process hassle-free.

In addition, they will work with nonprofits to help them with every aspect of getting up and running from writing out volunteer descriptions to helping to find volunteers. They also help corporations set up projects to get their employees active in volunteering.

L.A. Works has been serving the Los Angeles community since 1991 and have guidelines in place to ensure organizations they partner with are responsible, they won’t work with individuals, only 501C3 tax status nonprofits and they don’t allow for projects that are one-on-one with kids. When there are projects that involve children, volunteers must be background checked with the DOJ before permitted to join the program.

For more information visit laworks.com.

September 3, 2020 admin

How to help Iowa residents after the deadly derecho storm

How to help the victims of the devastating and deadly derecho storm that ripped across Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa, which was hit the hardest.

By Heather Newgen

On August 10th, an unexpected derecho–a widespread, long-lived wind storm, swept through several states. This extremely rare weather event produced 100+ mph winds for nearly an hour flattening crops in Iowa, destroying countless homes and causing millions in damage. In addition, three confirmed deaths have been reported in relation to the storm in Iowa and one person was killed in Indiana.

“The devastation is widespread. It’s intense. Block after block of houses, every one with some amount of damage. Trees piled 6 to 10 feet high along the road. It’s like walking through a tunnel of green with some fluorescent orange of placard houses that are unsafe to enter,” Tyler Olson, a city council member from Cedar Rapids, told NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Many residents in Iowa lost everything. They have no home and are living in tents with minimal supplies. Help is needed and there are several ways to give back.

Table to Table needs volunteers to help deliver food to people Cedar Rapids, a town seriously affected by the storm. The organization, which seeks to keep food from going to waste, is also accepting donations.

United Way of East Central Iowa can use volunteers to help clean up debris, delivering and cooking food to people in need.

The Disaster Behavioral Health Response Team is looking for volunteers with a background in human services, psychology, mental health, substance abuse, social work, education or spirituality to help provide mental health services following a disaster.

The Iowa Derecho Storm Resource page on Facebook is a great resource that connects people with services. You can also find volunteering opportunities and hear directly from locals what they need.

Donate to the Eastern Iowa Diaper Bank or purchase something from its Amazon wish list to get diapers and wipes to families.

August 24, 2020 admin

How Miss Gloria’s Garden is making a difference in New Orleans

Meet the woman behind Miss Gloria’s Garden–a community garden in New Orleans that helps locals eat healthy by giving them free organic food.

By Heather Newgen

It’s 9:00 am and as volunteers arrive, Gloria Ward, 72, has already watered the entire community garden and is moving onto the next project. She stops to excitedly greet everyone and tell them about Miss Gloria’s Garden, a space where locals can stop by and take produce at no cost.

“The community by and I let them take vegetables for free. You can come and get anything you want here,” Ward explains to the new group of people volunteering for the day.

“It’s important for me to do this so I can help other people,” she said.

Ward is known in New Orleans for her kindness and generosity, something her daughter Zada Summers says locals are taken back by.

“People are always surprised like why would you do this? It’s like why wouldn’t you do this? If you grow food that you like, you can’t eat it all. So why not share it with other people?”

Ward self-funds Miss Gloria’s Garden and relies on volunteers for help.

“I need volunteers to come help me with the weeding and maintaining. I just like volunteers cause I meet a lot of young people and see where they’re going in their lives,” she revealed.

Ward works 10-12 hours a day in the garden and loves to see the community enjoying Miss Gloria’s Garden. She created what she calls “a safe space” for people to come and be themselves.

In addition to growing healthy organic food, the garden can be used for cooking and sewing classes, as well as arts and crafts for kids, yoga and meditation.

Miss Gloria’s Garden also has movie nights, concerts and other great events.
For more information visit www.missgloriasgarden.com.

August 3, 2020 admin

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