With Thanksgiving just around the corner I felt this would be the perfect time for us to reflect on all the things that we are thankful for that Grow Appalachia has made possible. I am thankful for a job that allows me to make a living helping others in such an  important and powerful way.

 Many of our Grow Appalachia participants have expressed great thanks for all the things they have received and all that has been made possible by the Grow Appalachia Program and by the generosity of its founders. It is really a heart touching moment to hear someone expressing what a huge impact the food grown in their gardens has made in their day-to-day life. Also to hear the things they have learned in the workshops and their enthusiasm and plans for the next garden season.

On behalf of all of the Red Bird Mission Grow Appalachia Family I would like to Thank John Paul DeJoria , David Cooke and all the many people who have  made Grow Appalachia possible and such a valuable resource for the people in Appalachia.

You are truly making a difference in our communities and changing lives  throughout the mountains!

 

This has been a very busy month for the Grow Appalachia Program here at Red Bird Mission. We bought and distributed 52 fruit trees from stark’s Bro’s Nursery. We gave 14 families each an apple tree, a peach tree and a pear tree, assisted them in the proper planting methods and gave them information on pruning and caring for them as they grow into producing trees. These trees are a wonderful investment into the Grow Appalachia families, they potentially provide an excellent sustainable source of fresh fruit for years to come.

We also successfully converted our November report into the new format and finished our proposal for the 2014 season. We have also spent a great deal of time restructuring our program to work with the new requirements that have been made for 2014 and recruiting has begun for the goal of receiving more than 30 new families for 2014. We have also been juggling  ideals concerning ways to earn site generated revenue in an effort to make our Grow Appalachia site self sustainable. This program is such an asset and impacts so many people in our community in such a huge way that we hope to have it continue for years to come.