Garden Isaiah
Welcome to the main page of Garden Isaiah, a new program at Temple Emanu-El in collaboration with the Atlanta Community Food Bank
Offer your compassion to the hungry
and satisfy the famished creature
Then shall your light shine in the darkness...
You shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring
whose waters do not fail...
And you shall be called
"Repairer of fallen wells,
restorer of lanes for habitation"
Isaiah 58:10-12
Created and developed by Roy
Baron, MD, MPH, with fellow congregants at Temple Emanu-El,
Dunwoody, Garden Isaiah encompasses several activities
including growing food for the needy in collaboration with
the Atlanta Community Food Bank, promoting volunteerism and
youth leadership in other community anti-hunger efforts,
recycling and conservation through composting and worm
farming (the latter depicted in the picture above) and
promoting healthy nutrition and physical activity.
Why Garden Isaiah?
Garden Isaiah will reach out to our Atlanta community and beyond through a structured program that engages our congregation and partners in addressing the problem of hunger and malnutrition. This program will be a highly visible, functional, and symbolic centerpiece of our spiritual community's commitment to anti-hunger awareness, social action and leadership through the fulfillment of several mitzvot:
- Feed the hungry
- Educate our children that they may sustain themselves
- Advocate on behalf of the needy
- Exercise responsible stewardship of our bodies
- Exercise responsible stewardship of our environment
- And many more...
Do you want to get involved in this exciting program? Are you interested in contributing to its success? Then please write to gardenisaiah@te-atl.com for more information.
Atlanta Community Food Bank
Founded in 1979, the Atlanta
Community Food Bank provides food and other donated
products to more than 750 nonprofit partner agencies
serving 38 counties across North Georgia centered on
the Metro Atlanta area. Distributing these donations
to low-income Georgians, partner agencies provide
dynamic links between the local community, the Food
Bank and our supporters.
More about Garden Isaiah
In addition to the core business of food distribution, the Food Bank has a number of projects that help build community including Atlanta's Table, Community Garden, Hunger 101, Hunger Walk/Run, Kids In Need, Product Rescue Center and The Atlanta Collaborative Kitchen (TACK). Visit the Atlanta Community Food Bank web site for more information.
Garden Isaiah will be supported by three interrelated program components: Education, Social Action/Community Service, and Leadership Development. The following sections outline the goals we want to achieve and the objectives, or concrete, measurable steps we will take to get there, that will be subsumed by these components.
The vision (our goals)...
Education
* Create awareness about hunger and malnutrition
o Distribution (local, national, worldwide)
o Causes (poverty, draught, war, man-made/natural destruction)
o Impact on health and society
o What can we do and how?
* Assure greater knowledge and understanding of food production
o Dependence on environment factors and biosphere
o Contemplating the Hamotzi - humility, appreciation, thoughtfulness
* Promote healthy nutrition
o Knowledge and capacity to make good choices (reduce intake of high-fat, high sugar and highly processed foods)
o Influence behavior and modify environment
Social Action/Community Service
* Establish infrastructure and outreach activities to fight hunger
o Feed the hungry
o Advocate for the hungry
o Educate those at risk for hunger and those in a position to help
* Create opportunities for families and individuals to perform mitzvah
* Provide recreational outlets to serve our congregants
* Other (e.g., garden-grown roses for the ill or lonely or grieving)
Leadership
* Embraces a range of attitudes, behaviors and outcomes.
* Requires (and will be fostered through Garden Isaiah)
o Knowledge
o Confidence
o Enthusiasm/passion
o Commitment (ideally through personally fulfilling experience)
* Ongoing leadership training and opportunities for our children
...and how to get there (our objectives)
Education
* The garden "classroom" (hands-on learning, all ages).
o Vegetables and flowers.
o Compost (recycle).
o "Partners" in food production and healthy ecology (worms, bugs & germs).
o Invite local institutions and community partners to utilize for science projects and other learning opportunities
* Develop age and interest appropriate classroom learning modules with educational institutions (e.g., Davis Academy and secular) for insertion into science and social studies curricula .
o Awareness (distribution, causes, impact and interventions).
o Food production and related environmental topics.
* Conduct pre-school and religious school discussion about:
o Real-world issues related to hunger - use media for current events locally, nationally and worldwide.
o What does the Hamotzi mean to me? What does it mean to God?
* Tichon - speakers/advocacy training/leadership opportunities
* Field trips to ACFB - Hunger 101/volunteer opportunities
* Community gardens - visit/volunteer with ACFB to help build one
* Temple Emanu-El events - speakers/advocacy training/etc.
* Interweave opportunities to learn about, understand and practice healthy personal nutrition into most of the above
Social Action/Community Service
* Garden produce.
o "Plant a row for the hungry"
o Distribute flowers on behalf of congregation or caring committee
* Specific activities by group/age
o TE Preschool and religious school
o Family (e.g. mitzvah)
o Individual members (e.g. mitzvah or "recreational")
o Other groups (e.g. Davis Academy, community volunteers)
* Advocacy projects
Leadership
An increasing number of our children will participate in school-related or other social action/community service activities* Addressing social injustice and health issues related to hunger/malnutrition
* Assisting in food production and/or distribution to the underprivileged
* Promoting healthy lifestyle
Stay tuned for upcoming announcements to learn how you and your family can create, enjoy and become an integral part of this program and community effort. Write to gardenisaiah@te-atl.com if you wish to be notified when more information is available.