Inaugural Meeting – Ideas Shared

At the inaugural meeting of our group, we shared ideas for community service. Here are my meeting notes, rough and embellished as they are:

– recycling obsolete business supplies for use by schools and school teachers (like pens and paper from companies who have changed their logo or moved)
– planting fruits and veggies in parking strips for food banks (21st Century Victory Gardens)
– match people who have extra garden space with people who want it, and with middle school and high school children who want to do gardening for their community service hours
– germinate plants to give away for free – to give food to White Center Food Bank
– advocate rain barrels and solar panels
– create a public Web site where we can link all the resources that people need to create organic gardens
– become advocates for groups that are already doing stuff like this
– become advocates for green building techniques

Possible resources:
– West Seattle Nursery – can they take plant containers for us to re-use?
– Village Green Nursery
– South Seattle Community College horiticulture program – do they have students who could help us plant seedlings?

Other associated groups/ideas:
– Wildlife sanctuaries
– White Center Community Development Association
– Delridge Neighborhood Development Association
– Seattle Tilth

Since our meeting, Kendall and Kim also discussed another idea – the idea that we become advocates for groups that are already doing this work. Take the word to the people of West Seattle at the farmers market, at the street fair, at the Junction corner on spring weekends. This concept would be that instead of creating this work ourselves, we use our marketing talent and energy to promote the good options already in place for green gardening in West Seattle.

Or we may decide that no one is adequately doing this kind of community service in West Seattle. If that’s the case, we can form our own group, or we could look into creating a new committee of an existing group like Seattle Tilth.

We also think that we need to clearly define whether we want to support another group doing this kind of work? Or start a new organization? The goal set out by the Obama campaign was simply for our group to do some community service work. Not necessarily to create a grassroots movement from scratch. The projects we discussed last night are ambitious and exciting. Do we have enough time and resources to do something this big ourselves, right now? Should we take advantage of our own enthusiasm and dive in headfirst? Or should we start small and see where it leads? These are topics we need to discuss and decide at the next meeting.

Next meeting: Sunday, January 11th, 4 to 6 p.m. at Coffee to a Tea (we confirmed they are open), 4541 California Ave SW, Seattle 98116.

Goals for next meeting:
1. each of us should invite friends, with the goal of bringing one person to get involved so we can double the size of our group. Share this Website with your friends and ask for their feedback.
2. submit comments and suggestions on this Web site so we can bring all ideas to the table in the next meeting.
3. hone and refine our ideas into one achievable, measurable goal that we can accomplish by April 20 (Earth Day)

Thank you!
– Kim and Kendall, your group facilitators