Jardin Criollo-Ramon Picking Grapes

Trees for Life and Unity
The gusty and frigid weather on November 23 could not keep away the gardeners and their supporters from attending the first living memorial planting of the Trees for Life and Unity Project sponsored by Green Guerillas and La Familia Verde. Two weeping cherries were planting just inside the entrance to the Tremont Community Garden in the South Bronx while dozens of other trees were distributed to area gardens.

Members of La Familia Verde at Volky Flower Garden

Karen Washington of La Familia Verde and Hannah Riseley-White of Green Guerillas organized the event. "Through the Trees for Life and Unity Project, community gardeners will honor and memorialize the victims of 9/11 and invite our neighbors to participate in the healing process through planting trees and taking refuge in the solace that only nature can provide," said Washington. Also in attendance were Lindsay Campbell, USDA Forest Service; Rebecca Ferguson, Green Guerillas; a representative from Congressman José E. Serrano’s office; and more than thirty gardeners and local residents. After brief remarks, everyone was invited to contribute a shovelful of dirt to the newly planted trees. The USDA Forest Service is pleased to be a partner with the community gardens of the South Bronx.

Thank you to Lindsay Campbell from the USDA Forest Service for contributing this article click here, for more information about the USDA’s Living Memorials Project.

Trees For Life & Unity Project

Food Pantry
La Familia Verde, in conjunction with the Thorpe Family Residence Inc., and the Crotona Community Coalition, are giving out hundreds of bags of food every week to residents in need. Community gardeners and members of La Familia Verde understand the need to fresh affordable food, particularly in low income areas, and regularly donate produce from the gardens to their neighbors and to lcoal service organizations. La Familia Verde has taken the spirit of providing for those in need by becoming integral partners in the Mapes Avenue food pantry.

Residents can pick up two grocery bags of nutritious foods from the Crotona Community Coalition office at 2160 Mapes Avenue every Wednesday morning between 8am-12pm-roughly 100 residents are served every week. Although the pantry issues bags of food to their clients once a week, volunteers are there on Tuesday mornings from 8am-12pm to pack food and also show up Monday through Friday whenever a food delivery is being made. Please come out and support your neighborhood food pantry!

Members of La Familia Verde Receiving an Award From Jose Serrano

United We Stand
La Familia Verde’s role as a community resource center was never met with such resolve until the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center. Community gardens throughout the City became stations of comfort as people in the community flocked to hold candlelight vigils. Newspaper articles and photos of missing loved ones were posted along garden fences. People came by daily seeking current information and help. Gardens held ceremonies fro local firefighters and police officers affected by the tragedy. Volky Garden, located on Hornaday Place between Mohegan Avenue and Crotona Parkway, hosted a Heroes Day, October 13, 2001. Local men and women were honored for risking their lives to make our lives safe.

La Familia Verde Annual Garden Trolley Tour
La Familia Verde held our first annual Garden Trolley Tour in the Fall of 2002. With the generous use of a Parks Department Trolley we hosted a community garden tour for elected officials and community leaders. One of our missions of La Familia Verde is to educate local officials about the importance of and need for community gardens in our neighborhood. The success of the tours has been demonstrated in the comments sent by the mayors office, and the many people in attendance, including representatives from the Parks Department, City Council Member Jose Serrano’s office, the Bronx Botanic Gardens and the United States Department of Agriculture. We are determined to continue to educate our community about the importance of community gardens.