Sue Dixon of Gambia Garden Project is our guest speaker today.
Carrie called the meeting to order at 7:30.
Matt Odachowski and Carol Georges are our guests today.
Sam Feitelberg passed away March 16. Visiting hours are Saturday, March 25 from 4:00-6:00 at Ready Funeral Home on Shelburne Road in Burlington.
Carrie thanked all who volunteered at Pies for Breakfast this past Saturday. Ideas for next year are already circulating.
June 23 will be the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Dan is working on the plans, searching for a venue and establishing catering with Sophie. Margo, Nancy, Annette, Amanda and Linda S. all volunteered Dan with the event.
Little Free Pantry of Hinesburg conversations continue with Phil Bozen of the Burlington Sunrise Club, which has folded. Our club would be responsible for filling the pantry on Fridays. CVU student volunteers, businesses of that community and our club would work together obtaining sponsorships in the community to support this project. Support will cost approximately $75 per week and provide our club with visibility and community engagement in Hinesburg. If we can support this in Hinesburg, perhaps Charlotte and Shelburne could follow.
Denis introduced Susan Dixon who lives and works at Shelburne Farms and is responsible for special giving, planned gifts and legacy support. She became involved in the Vermont Gambia Garden Project, which started out as a friendship, because everyone “needs love and water to survive.”
The Gambia is on the coast of Africa. It was here Susan and her husband met Lamin Drammah who lives in the Gambia. He asked her to fund a solar powered water pump for his community and the Vermont Gambia Garden Project.
The benefits of this pump to the community of Gambia have allowed that community of female farmers to support their families and provide commerce, allowing the community to grow and thrive. Recently, they have constructed a chicken house another source of food and revenue. The goal is make the community self-sustaining. Look for Susan at The Farmer’s Market this summer as she represents the organization selling flowers.
Dan presented Susan the book “The Black History Book” published by DK to the Pierson Library in her name.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20.