Yellow Boat Social Entrepreneurism

https://www.facebook.com/events/165298693651666/

Join us as the GREEN garden project conversations continue. Our featured guest speaker is the Director of Family Services at The Salvation Army Southern Nevada Bernadette Basilio. Bernadette will discuss their plans for a very large garden at Salvation Army!

We meet the 3rd Friday of every month at 6 pm at the Hispanic Museum of Nevada, 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hispanic-Museum-of-Nevada/288417854584173
which is centrally located inside the Boulevard Mall and which is a location that is easily accessible by public transportation 

Every officer of Diverse City Civitan will be a person with disabilities, who will be mentored by dedicated Civitan members. Diverse City Civitan is modeled on its sponsoring Civitan clubs, the Phoenix Bird Civitan Club (chartered 1979) and Phil Schlesinger Civitan Club (Tuscon, AZ, chartered 1980) with the additional support of the Lovely Ladies Civitan Club. Its local "club builders" include Mark Eisinger, the International President of Civitan International, website http://www.civitan.org/ , which is an international organization founded in 1917 and which has over 70,000 members throughout the world.

http://www.localorb.it/field-notes/from-front-to-field-resources-for-veterans-interested-in-sustainable-agriculture/

 

If you are a veteran or know a veteran interested in becoming a farmer, here are a few resources to consider:

The Farmer Veteran Coalition offers a comprehensive resource guide that details employment, training and fellowship opportunities available specifically for veterans. The guide is tailored to both beginning and established farmers, and includes an extensive list of financing options, business planning tips and where to find additional supporting organizations.Based in Colorado, Veterans to Farmers is a non-profit organization – founded by former US Marine Buck Adams – focused on teaching veterans organic, controlled-environment growing techniques. Training programs are offered in 9 to 12 month cycles, with an emphasis on organic hydroponic agriculture. Students leave the program with skills in systems construction, greenhouse maintenance and operations, plant propagation and business management planning.Veterans Farm grows blueberries and peppers in containers, allowing for wheelchair accessibility. Located in Jacksonville, Florida, the farm offers a 6-month horticultural therapy program where participants harness their military leadership skills and apply them to successful entrepreneurship ventures in agriculture.The founders of Archi’s Acres, a farm in Southern California, developed the Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training (VSAT)program to help transition service men and women into the sustainable agriculture industry. The program consists of over 240 hours of hands-on farm training, farm management, business planning and entrepreneurship.The Center for Rural Affairs, a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing and maintaining strong rural communities, developed the Veteran Farmers Project. Participants gain access to training, individual consultation and a helpline for specialized answers.Beginning Farmers is an online resource for farmers, researchers and policy makers. The website includes a section of veteran farmer success stories, training and employment opportunities.

Please consider supporting http://www.thesparkproject.com/
Peace.

Isla CULION used to be the world's largest leper colony but in 2006 human spirit triumphed and the majestic island was declared leprosy-free by the World Health Organization. While poverty remains to be a major challenge, hope springs eternal because the mystical island's beauty has caught the attention even of The National Geographic mentioning it in the Best Trips of 2011 (http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/best-trips-2011-photos/).

Inspired by the eco-tourism potential and the power of social entrepreneurship in addressing social issues especially poverty,
www.kawiltours.com to re-connect the magical island to the rest of the world. Mainly operated by Culion talents supported by former
Yuppie volunteers, Kawil Tours has attracted guests from Europe, US and Asia generating revenues for the community. Sadly, the operation 
relies on availability of rented boat that hampers the growth of this highly promising social enterprise.

Thus, we are launching this crowdfunding where we hope to seek your financial support through online donation via

http://www.thesparkproject.com/

And look for KAWIL TOURS TOUR BOAT

You may also watch:

Kawil Tours - Spark Project

In return, you will get a free inspirational book, a cd, travel discounts and other perks.

Help us help people who help people.

Blessings,
Javy Alpasa, SJ

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/building-integrated-philanthropy-platform-to-raise-money-for-the-community/x/519136

 

By partnering with the private sector and non-profits, we have created an open platform for businesses to adopt social responsibility and philanthropy. We, the community, believe that if we can converge all our partners together it will eventually lead to solidarity and strengthen community building in Southern Nevada via a horizontal and vertical community integration platform. Hence, the concept of paying it forward to others.

Devotion to Communities (40+ States) Across the County Preview Trailer
http://vimeo.com/61044274

We have also built an entrepreneurial mentoring program within Kona Ice Las Vegas and Henderson to help aspiring business owners learn the fundamentals of building a nationwide company. Coming from a background of working with Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies, we have advised executive directors / senior management of non-profits, start-ups, and small businesses learn best practices in sales methodologies, operational strategies, brand promotion, value propositions, and building a roadmap to success.

see also https://www.facebook.com/rick.passo/posts/686308764729152

http://seedstock.com/2013/06/11/desert-research-institutes-greenpower-program-engages-students-with-hydroponics-in-a-box/

 

There are many hydro-centric businesses emerging in the area, said Amelia Gulling of DRI, who is the administrator for the institute’s GreenPower Program. “And there are going to be some international businesses hopefully coming specifically to Las Vegas to do larger scale hydro-farming,” Gulling said. “And because of that, we want to make sure our future generations can possibly work for and can have an understanding of how hydro works — we want to educate them. They are our future decision makers.”

 

http://greenpower.dri.edu

 

To promote such education surrounding hydroponics and other environmental science topics, DRI launched its GreenPower Program in 2000 to serve as the institute’s outreach program to get students excited about science. The Institute’s GreenPower Program’s lessons, designed for Nevada teachers and students, don’t rehash the mundane science topics of yesteryear (there are no boring labs in these unit plans.) The Institute’s lessons concern fresh, new topics, such as hydroponics and permaculture. The GreenPower Program also supports professional development for Nevada teachers and provides them with various educational materials, such as the Institute’s Green Boxes.

 

https://www.facebook.com/DRIgreenpower/info

http://conference.seedstock.com/

 

Seedstock will be hosting The 2nd Annual Seedstock Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Conference – Farming: Fundamentals and the Future, which will explore solutions and business models with the potential to assist local producers in increasing their presence in the supply chain. Slated for Tuesday and Wednesday, November 5-6, 2013, the conference will address the economic opportunities and environmental and societal benefits of embracing, developing, and investing in sustainable farms, practices, technologies, and start-up companies. 

http://www.farmplate.com/about-us

FarmPlate@FarmPlate

http://www.FarmPlate.com  - We make it fun & easy to find and enjoy real foods near you. Join our community of farmers, food artisans, restos and foodies today!

Hanover, NH · 

https://www.facebook.com/farmplate

 

Use FarmPlate to:Discover & Connect

From truck farms and fishermen to crop mobs, microbreweries and apiaries—we've got them all covered. Search for real food businesses near you. Just type what you're hungry for in the blue search bar above and let us do the work!

Rate & Review

Can’t wait to share your latest find from the farmers’ market? Taste a new dish at your favorite farm-to-table restaurant around the corner that others should know about? Post your opinions and “dig” businesses you love. Discover the places and products other people are talking about.

Explore & Learn

FarmPlate's glossary has more than 300 sustainable food terms for you to browse, plus we've got a valuableresources section that's guaranteed to be your go-to guide for information about sustainable foods and farming.

http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/veterans-become-farmers/

 

“I’ve seen that work­ing with liv­ing things (plants), work­ing in our green­houses, is like being in a decom­pres­sion zone. You get to actu­ally see the fruits of your labor. And you’re still inter­act­ing with the com­mu­nity, you’re still pro­vid­ing a ser­vice, which I think a lot of our guys and gals are kind of miss­ing when they come back, not know­ing how to break into civil­ian life. Even if they don’t choose farm­ing as a career, it’s a great tran­si­tion period.”

 

Exciting and Rewarding

The tech­niques taught to these vet­er­ans include a full under­stand­ing of grow­ing. “It’s basi­cally all controlled-environment agri­cul­ture,” Adams explained. “We teach organ­ics, hydro­pon­ics, aero­pon­ics and also ver­ti­cal grow­ing tech­niques. We use tow­ers that allow us to grow 11 feet inside the green­house, so we’re look­ing at a 10,000- to 12,000-square-foot green­house being equiv­a­lent to an acre green­house, and that being equiv­a­lent to about 10 acres of land crops. We teach them the basics of plant biol­ogy, cli­mate con­trols, and how the plant works in the sun­light with CO2 and pho­to­syn­the­sis. We teach nutri­ent pro­grams and green­house maintenance.”

For Adams him­self, see­ing these vet­er­ans win­ning at life is a reward unto itself. “It’s been a ride for sure,” Adams con­cluded. “It’s like we kind of plugged in and away we went, and we’re just rid­ing this wave that’s com­ing at us. But it’s been super-exciting and super-rewarding work­ing with these guys and girls.”

For more infor­ma­tion, please visit

www.veteranstofarmers.org

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151759074821289&set=a.10151222712921289.515985.167677766288&type=1

 

see also http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/farmery-willy-wonka-sustainable-agriculture.html

 

https://www.facebook.com/thefarmery/info

We are creating an urban farm and market out of shipping containers. We grow our food and sell it at the same site. We consolidate the distribution system to lower costs and raise the value of the produce by providing the freshest produce possible. We have finished our prototypes and are now looking for investors and a site in the triangle region of North Carolina.

 

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/how-to-build-a-startup-stanfords-new-free-course/21949?tag=main;river

 

The university is offering the course “Startup Engineering” on campus, but a version of the course is now available for free through Coursera, a massive open online course platform.

https://www.coursera.org/course/startup

Jun 17th 2013 (10 weeks long)

http://www.kauffman.org/research-and-policy/the-coming-entrepreneurial-boom.aspx

 

Several facts have emerged in the course of Kauffman Foundation research that indicate the United States might be on the cusp of an entrepreneurship boom—not in spite of an aging population but because of it. This study shows that as the economic recession plagues the job market, more and more "baby-boomers" are becoming entrepreneurs. The decline of lifetime employment, the experience and knowledge of the age group, longer lifespan, and the effect of the current recession are all factors contributing to the increase in entrepreneurial activity in the baby boom generation. The study was conducted by Dane Stangler, senior analyst at the Kauffman Foundation.

Key findings: In every single year from 1996 to 2007, Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 had a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity than those aged 20-34, averaging a rate of entrepreneurial activity roughly one-third larger than their youngest counterparts.
The 20-34 age bracket has the lowest rate of entrepreneurial activity.
Long-term employment has fallen dramatically for people ages 35-64 over the past fifty years.
With longer life expectancies and greater health in later life, older generations may continue to start new firms—or mentor young entrepreneurs.
Since the first Internet-era recession, transaction costs and barriers to entry have fallen for entrepreneurs of every age.
- See more at: https://www.facebook.com/rick.passo/posts/686372181389477?notif_t=like

http://www.livingwallart.com/do-it-yourself/grow-a-vertical-garden-indoors/

 

 

http://www.shft.com/reading/seattles-food-forest-is-open-for-foraging/

http://plusacumen.org/courses/

 

We created +acumen to give people a meaningful way to “add Acumen” to their lives. Our online leadership courses are an exciting new way to dig deeper into Acumen’s work and develop your own toolkit for change. Take what you learn at +acumen and apply it in your own way.  Innovation could come from anyone, and we believe that the world truly needs you to lead.

refer to https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=400685020050273&set=a.262798627172247.58987.206296172822493&type=1&theater

 

Vivienne is going to Oklahoma to "make a stand" for the victims of the tornadoes.

We just learned that children from across Oklahoma are going to "make a stand" and set up their own lemonade stands right with Vivienne! TV, radio and print news media will be there to cover this remarkable event.

That's what "make a stand" is all about: igniting hope, compassion and action in people to make a difference for what's deep in their hearts.

http://eepurl.com/AHMlr

 

Natl Good Food Netwk @ngfn 
A framework for finding appropriate financing sources for Good Food biz - webinar June 20
Elizabeth Ü, author of “Raising Dough,” will provide a helpful framework for thinking about appropriate financing sources for enterprises, sensitive to their unique values, priorities, and where they are in the business lifecycle. Her presentation is designed primarily for organizations that work with socially responsible food businesses, such as people who work for nonprofits, government offices, economic development companies, consulting firms, lenders, foundations, family offices. Of course the same principles apply to fundraising entrepreneurs themselves, who will leave with lots of tools to work with in their quest to raise money.

Gray Harris, of Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI), a community development finance institution (CDFI) in Maine, will give some detailed, illustrative examples of their investments, and investment strategies in regional food systems.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wallace-Center-at-Winrock-International/370346159689038?id=370346159689038&sk=info

Wallace Center at Winrock InternationalThe Wallace Center has been a key organization in fostering a more sustainable food and agricultural system in the United States since 1983. We’ve employed research, policy analysis and education to drive change that benefits farmers, urban and rural communities, our natural resources and the health.

http://denverconvention.com/about-us/sustainability/blue-bear-farm

Set on 5,000 square feet of growing space, Blue Bear Farm has, in just its first year of operation, already grown 1,800 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables, the company said. And that number is expected to double next year. The project was created in partnership with Produce Denver as part of Mayor Michael Hancock's Denver Seeds initiative. Its aim is to focus on sustainability and healthful eating at affordable prices.

 

see also 

http://www.restaurant.org/Manage-My-Restaurant/Marketing-Sales/Sustainability/At-Centerplate,-urban-farm’s-produce-at-center-of  

 

 

 

 

http://show.restaurant.org/Attend/Attractions/Hydroponic-Garden

 

Hydroponic Garden

The National Restaurant Association has partnered with AMB Eco to create and showcase the first-ever Hydroponic Garden at NRA Show 2013. Attendees will be able to explore a fully functioning hydroponic garden that will grow local, all-natural, pesticide-free produce - right on the show floor. The NRA Show’s Hydroponic Garden uses a combination of artificial light and nutrient-enriched water to give plants everything they need to thrive. 

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in a water and mineral nutrient solution without soil.

Compared to traditional soil gardening, hydroponics:

Provides year-round cultivationProduces a higher yleld per square footRequires no weed pullingUses about two-thirds less waterEliminates pesticide damageGrows Swiss chard, sweet basil, purple basil, dill, cilantro, parsley, chives, bibb lettuce, gourmet lettuce mix, habanero peppers, thyme, edible flowers, oregano, red lettuce, green beans, pumpkin, squash, and more

This application allows restaurants to grow fresh food on-site with a tiny physical footprint and minimal resources. Most important, this locally sourced, sustainable innovation is not just attractive to guests, but financially savvy for operators. 

http://microgreen.weebly.com/seeds.html

a crop a week of these microgreens will greatly impact nutrition while giving a family some amazing plant growing experience .... kids will go great guns when they watch the amazingly quick tray to table transformation of seeds to plants on their sandwiches and salads ..