A Giving Tuesday to Remember: Growing Hope, Harvesting Heroes, and Reaching for the Stars

A Giving Tuesday to Remember: Growing Hope, Harvesting Heroes, and Reaching for the Stars

FY2024 Annual Report Quick Highlights:

Hello, friends and supporters! This Giving Tuesday, I want to share my journey, highlight some incredible projects we are working on, and invite you to be a part of making a difference. Giving Tuesday is all about coming together to help others and make our communities stronger. Today, I hope you will join me in supporting three projects that mean the world to me: the Stakeholder's Dilemma Digital Leadership App, Harvest Heroes, and Jalen's Upwards Spiraling campaign. Together, we can turn big dreams into reality.

Reflecting on a Year of Growth

This year has been full of learning, challenges, and accomplishments. I’ve had the opportunity to earn my Therapeutic Horticulture Certificate from North Carolina State University. Therapeutic horticulture means using gardening to help people feel better—physically, mentally, and emotionally. I use these skills to help foster kids and others learn and grow through nature. It’s been an amazing journey, and I’m so proud to see how plants, patience, and care can make a real difference in people’s lives.

I also completed my graduate certificate in Global Supply Chain Management from DeVry University, and I’m thrilled to share that I’m finishing up with a 4.0 GPA—that's straight A's for the entire year! Supply chain management is about making sure that everything people need—like food, clothes, or medicine—can get from where it’s made to where it’s needed. It’s like being the ultimate problem solver, making sure communities have what they need, when they need it.

In addition to these personal accomplishments, I earned a Train-The-Trainer Food Entrepreneurship Certificate from Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute and a Journeyman Farmer's Certificate in Small Fruit & Vegetable Production from the USDA Beginning Rancher & Farmers Development Program. I also completed the UGA Extension Henry County Beekeeping Program. These experiences have deepened my understanding of food systems and how we can empower our communities through education and agriculture.

Our Projects and How You Can Help

This year, we also launched some exciting projects that aim to make our community stronger and more resilient. These projects include:

  • The Stakeholder's Dilemma Digital Leadership App: This app is all about leadership and problem-solving. It helps young people learn how to make good decisions by using real-life challenges. The app will guide users through exercises to learn skills like teamwork, planning, and creating solutions that benefit their communities. We have launched a Kickstarter campaign to make this app a reality, and we need your support to bring it to life. We are seeking $30,000 for the development team to finish building the app for Apple and Android.
  • Harvest Heroes: This project teaches young people about growing their own food and how agriculture can be used to make a positive impact. Imagine kids getting their hands dirty in a garden, learning how food grows from a tiny seed to a big, delicious vegetable! Harvest Heroes is about building skills, self-reliance, and a love for nature. We’re crowdfunding $10,000 to make this program bigger and to reach more kids who can become our future “Harvest Heroes.” These funds will cover operational costs for their upcoming Veggie Pizza Garden Kits, farmers market, and school-based enterprise.

     

  • Jalen's Upwards Spiraling Campaign: Jalen always used the term "upwards spiraling" to help people understand what it was like to live with bipolar disorder. Through the Upwards Spiraling campaign, I get to share Jalen's passion for creativity by supporting positive actions that create more positive actions.  Just like a spiral that keeps growing upwards, we want to encourage young people to take the lead on community projects and inspire others to do good. Supporting Jalen’s campaign means you’re helping a young leader make their community better for everyone. We aim to raise $250,000 over the next three years to support these initiatives.

     

 

Community Engagement Through Play Dates

This year, I created The Stakeholder's Dilemma as a community service competition where stakeholders from all walks of life use The Stakeholder's Dilemma Canvas Model to organize, collaborate and solve community challenges.  we organized several play dates to bring people together and introduce them to our projects. We had the pleasure of serving over 295 individuals across various events, including:

    Through these play dates, we introduced our participants to the fun and engaging learning experiences that Community On Demand offers. We also formed our first Junior Executive Management Team (JEM Team), empowering young leaders to take action in their communities.

    Innovations and New Tools

    This year, I also invented five new learning tools that are helping to transform community engagement and education:

    1. The Stakeholder's Dilemma Canvas Model
    2. The Stakeholder's Dilemma Community Service Competition
    3. The Build for Your Future Service-Learning Competition Course
    4. The CoD Dashboard
    5. The Stakeholder's Dilemma Digital Leadership App

    These tools are designed to help learners develop skills, collaborate effectively, and make meaningful contributions to their communities.

    How You Can Make a Difference

    This Giving Tuesday, I’m asking for your help to keep these projects growing and thriving. Your donations will help us:

    • Develop the Stakeholder's Dilemma App so more young people can become skilled, confident leaders.
    • Expand Harvest Heroes so kids can learn where their food comes from and how to grow it.
    • Support Jalen's amazing work to create a positive ripple effect in his community.

    Each of these projects is about planting seeds—seeds of knowledge, hope, and change. With your help, we can nurture these seeds and watch them grow into something incredible. Whether you give a little or a lot, every bit helps us keep moving forward. Together, we can make a difference that grows and lasts for years to come.

    We are also incredibly grateful to the Community Foundation of Atlanta and the Institute for Local Innovations for their grants, which have helped us bring our vision to life and make an impact in the community.

    Thank you for believing in these dreams and for being part of this journey. Let’s make this Giving Tuesday one to remember, filled with hope, action, and kindness.

    ❤️Please Support Our Campaigns❤️

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