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Posts Tagged ‘homeless empowerment project’

Keeping Food from Going to Waste

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on October 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Another MassChallenge entrant that, like Erik’s company, won start-up money on October 23 is Lovin’ Spoonfuls. I was delighted to see this worthy nonprofit  mentioned by Noelle Swan in an article on food resources in Spare Change News, sold by Homeless Empowerment Project vendors.

“The first time Ashley Stanley walked into the back room of her local grocery store in search of discarded food, she found towers of eggplants, tomatoes, and potatoes rising up around her. The produce was not spoiled or rotten; it simply no longer fit on the display shelves and had been moved off the floor to make room for fresher shipments. Dumbfounded, she asked if she could have the food. She loaded up her car with as many vegetables as she could and drove to Pine Street Inn, a homeless shelter in Boston. …

“A recent study from the Natural Resources Defense Council lends credibility to Stanley’s suspicion that the country is not experiencing a lack of food. Nearly half of the food produced in the United States never makes it to the table, according to the study released in August 2012. Food goes to waste at every link in the food chain. Farmers plow unharvested crops into the ground, grocers discard unsold food by the caseload, and restaurants pour mountains of leftovers into dumpsters. In total, Americans throw away $165 billion worth of food every year, 40 percent of all the food produced in the nation.

“At the same time, 1 in 5 Americans was unable to pay for food at some point in the last year, according to a recent Gallup poll. …

“When Stanley first showed up at the door to Pine Street Inn with her arms full of vegetables, she said the staff seemed shocked to see her. …

“Since then, the former corporate luxury retailer has redistributed more than 150,000 pounds of food to area homeless shelters, domestic abuse safe houses, and food pantries. She started out delivering food in her own car while seeking donations and grants. Today, she has three employees, two trucks, and a waiting list on both sides of the equation.

“Lovin’ Spoonfuls is just one of a handful of food rescue organizations in the Boston area.” More.

Photograph of Ashley Stanley by Mike Diskin

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José Mateo Ballet

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on October 23, 2012| 2 Comments »

The Old Cambridge Baptist Church in Harvard Square is quite the place for Good News.

Worthy groups rent space in the basement: Cambridge Child and Family Associates (mental health clinicians); the Homeless Empowerment Project, which organizes the Spare Change News vendors; the Adbar Ethiopian Women’s Alliance; the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; and Solutions at Work (“helping people transition out of homelessness”).

But the reason I know about the Old Cambridge Baptist Church is that I went there Sunday to see ballet.

According to the church’s website, the José Mateo Ballet Theatre “occupies the worship space of the congregation for six and a half out of seven days per week.  The church and the ballet company are long term partners, with a forty year lease.  On Saturday nights, the worship space is reconfigured from a ballet studio into worship space, as chairs, altar table, organ, piano, and choir risers are moved into place for the worship service on the following day.”

Train buddies have been telling me for years that the ballet company is good and that the Sanctuary Theater is beautiful, and finally I got there. The program consisted of three pieces. The audience sat café-style at little tables. A small bar sold beverages and chocolates, and in the intermissions an accomplished pianist played classical music.

José Mateo, a Princeton grad originally from Cuba, is a talented choreographer with an energetic outreach to the community and to groups previously underserved by ballet. (Check this site.)

The three selections that made up his “Mysterious Arrangements” on Sunday were beautifully performed, and it was great to see the dancers up close in a church. One piece, performed to recorded Bach (Orchestral Suite #2), was an expression of joy. Two other dances, choreographed to Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” and to Philip Glass’s “String Quartet #4,” were both abstract and emotional.

A few words from the director’s program notes convey the vibe: “abstract,” “personal and social tensions,” “dramatic,” “physical and psychological dynamics,” “ambiguous.”

The Ballet Theatre also does a “Nutcracker” every year in a variety of locations to reach diverse audiences.

Photograph of José Mateo ballet “Circles”: Gary Sloan

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