Dancing in the garden
HAMPTON, Va. (PRWEB) October 08, 2021
On September 25th, 2021, the All Hands Hot Sauce team had already spent the summer planting, tending, and harvesting an array of peppers in the F.O.O.T. Community learning Garden tucked away in the courtyard of the YMCA and DSS on LaSalle Ave. They have worked with a professional chef, and they developed a marketing video to drive sales to support the youth programs and the charitable Community Learning Garden.
On the 25th, the American Community Gardeners Association toured the garden during their annual conference, “Gardening in Challenging Times.” Busses pulled up and masked gardeners from around the country disembarked to the rhythm of an African Drum Circle. A short and sweet welcome to the honored guests, and a preview of the new Hot Sauce video burst onto the 75-inch screen. It wasn’t long and everyone was dancing.
The ACGA took time to tour the garden and see how the youth grow the peppers and the other foods that are shared with the local community. This was a once in a lifetime chance. Founders Adetokunboh (“Ali”) Olusegun Afonja and his wife Stephanie Jackson Afonja, who is also on the Hampton, Virginia School Board, started the garden in 2014 with the intent to feed local families. With a team of counselors, volunteers, and a professional horticulturist, they are holding classes, showing others how to create community gardens, and using the garden as a meaningful part of their mental health practice. The garden is the charitable arm of the Holistic Family Solutions. It still feeds families and has grown each year. https://www.holisticfamilysolutions.com
They have added rare plants from cultures around the world. This year, the youth received enough donations to donate to a child development center. It’s all about teaching them to be happy, responsible, capable humans.
The Hot Sauce video is the marketing tool the youth created to drive the Hot Sauce donations so they can keep the program going. In attendance for the event were the founders Adetokunboh (“Ali”) Olusegun Afonja and his wife Stephanie Jackson Afonja, the garden manager, Erin Snyder Dixon, Vice Mayor Jimmy Grey, Councilman Steve Brown, Councilman Chris Bowman, Councilwoman Chris Snead, Hampton City School Board’s Tina Banks Gray, Delegate Martha Mugler, Commissioner of the Revenue Ross Mugler, many Board Members from the ACGA and members of the local community.
There was Hot Sauce available for a donation, Worm composting demonstration, and gardening takeaway sheets to get the public started with home gardening.
Holistic Family Solutions is officially launching the new All Hands Hot Sauce video made by the youth, on Friday, October 8th, at 5 pm EST. on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CommunityLearningGarden.
Quick Facts:
- Holistic Family Solutions is a new approach to mental health therapy that provides clients with tools to heal themselves naturally and focuses on four quadrants of wellness: fitness, spirituality, cognition, and nutrition.
- For each bottle sold, 50% went to the student and the remainder was used as donations to local non-profits.
- On Monday, August 23, 2021, members of Holistic Family Solutions and students from their camp made a presentation to The Hampton Education Foundation of a $500 donation to the Mike Canty Scholarship Fund.
F.O.O.T. (Families Overcoming Obstacles Together) Community Learning Garden
Is a non-profit Community Learning Garden in Hampton, Virginia, supporting the community since 2014. They provide vital education on nutrition and fresh produce to local families. The projects emphasize the relationship of healthy living to emotional balance and behavioral stability.
https://foothampton.org/?page_id=244 link to Hot Sauce Video
Erin Snyder Dixon
Garden Manager
7578712855
erinsnyderdixon@gmail.com
