My name is Melvin Parson, and I believe that growing food cultivates communities. This vision has lead me to form We The People Grower’s Association.

Right now we need your help! Our goal is to accumulate enough funds in order to purchase tools such as a seeder and various hand tools we were without in our first season. We will also use these funds for materials such as non-GMO seeds, drip hoses, and row covers, and to provide food, snacks & refreshments for all of our amazing volunteers.

WTPGA is a member of a farming cooperative called The Cooperative at Dawn Farm  that is located in Ypsilanti, MI. WTPGA positively influences the community in a number of ways; we help people develop skills and positive social networks that allow them to contribute to the community, encourage valuable self-esteem building for participants, provide jobs and education through gardening and farming, and grow chemical-free vegetables that are affordable and accessible.

This idea started as a result of inheriting a 3′ x 20’ vegetable garden that had been tended to by a sweet woman named Verna who sadly passed away last year. Somehow I was chosen to grow vegetables in her stead; from this experience WTPGA was born … Thank you Verna!

In 2015, WTPGA was able to plant, maintain and harvest food from 14 vegetable beds that provided over 500 pounds of food to people.  We also installed a community garden where people in the neighborhood could not only pick up vegetables at no cost, but also lend a helping hand in the garden or come and socialize. In the spring of 2016, WTPGA will expand on our ability provide affordable and accessible “clean” vegetables to larger parts of the community with the help of inter-agency collaborations and other supports. We are also working on creating sustaining funding streams. We plan to hire several part-time staff members directly from the community and hopefully enlist a host of volunteers next season that believe in our efforts. We are so excited about our 2016 growing season … it’s going to be amazing! However, we can’t do it without your support.

Any financial support, no matter how small, will take us one step closer to addressing these concerns … we guarantee that all donations will be used to help build and expand our organization and surrounding community by providing access to fresh vegetables, learning opportunities, and eventually, jobs.

*

RAW encourages you to send a check, payable to Melvin Parson, to:

Melvin Parson
3203 Chelsea Circle
Ann Arbor, MI 48108