Global Assembly Dialog

Attended by:  Max, Judith, Eliza, Ann, Lyndsay, Jim, Evie, Maribeth, Lisa, Melody, Grace, Erik, and Carla

Next month's potluck will June 21 at 9:00 am at Maribeth and Sandy's place in Seattle.  Please RSVP for directions.

At every potluck we have great food, but this month the food was exceptional.  Many cool refreshing healthy yummy dishes.  Lyndsay brought a spectacular salad and she is willing to share the recipe.  So it will be the inaugural recipe for our recipe sharing on our new website (see below for our new website details).  As you can see this month was very well attended and I felt a very "family like" feeling.  This was fitting since the theme was centered around "Building Community."  We spent most of our time going around the room sharing about why each of us were at the Heifer potluck.    A lot of history was shared as well as new energy for continuing our work.

Program  Discussions:

1)      Erik talked about a new partnership starting between Heifer Education and the Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI.org).  NWEI's mission is "Inspiring people to take care of the Earth".  Sound familiar? They work towards this mission by offering volunteer led community discussion groups centered around taking action to live in more sustainable communities.  Before even knowing about the Heifer partnership, Erik just took "Voluntary Simplicity" and found it life altering.  At the potluck, there was lots of interest around taking "Menu for the Future" together.  This class would meet once a week for 6 weeks and there is about an hour of reading to prepare for each class. Check out the website for more info.  If you are interested in taking this class with our Heifer community, then send Erik an email with the following info:

a.       Your level of interest from "might be worthwhile"  to "I have to be there"

b.      What month / season works and doesn't work for you.  Should we wait until the fall or start in the summer

c.       What days of the week work and don't work.

d.      Where do you live and how far would you be willing to travel

 e.  If you are willing to host.

                Ideally the class sizes are 7 – 12 people.  So depending on the number of people who are interested, we may have multiple sessions.  We will try to accommodate everyone's busy schedule the best we can.  This is open to everyone and not just Heifer folks.  We can invite future Heifer volunteers as well J.  So talk about this with your friends.

2)      Erik talked about a new web community http://www.wiserearth.org .  This is a website designed for connecting all of the countless groups of people trying to heal our planet and its inhabitants.  The website allows groups to create discussion groups, share web pages, files, pictures, and lots lots more.  We have created 2 groupsfor Heifer thatyou will be most interested in:

a.       http://www.wiserearth.org/group/nwheifer - this group is where Eliza and Isaak post information and resources for us volunteers.  This will also help us stay connected with other volunteers in our larger region.

b.      http://www.wiserearth.org/group/seattleHeifer - this group is for our Seattle community to share meeting minutes, activities, links, etc.

Please check this site out.  Join the site.  Edit and add content.  Please feel free to send any questions that you have to Erik and he will help you out.  The site will also be a tool for us to connect with other groups and like-minded people.

Upcoming Activities: Note that there are many opportunities for leadership roles below.  Please consider taking on a leadership role even if it is new to you.  There are plenty of folks who would be happy to help you out.

“Spring Fling” – Come celebrate the success of the Read to Feed program as part of Lake Hills Elementary’s “Spring Fling” from 6-8:00 PM on 5/29.  The students have raised around $4000!  Tina Freed, who has spearheaded this project, will have a Heifer booth there, and Kelsey Creek Farm is bringing some small animals to add to the fun.  Lake Hills Elementary is at 14310 SE 12^th Street in Bellevue.

Farmers' Markets – We are going to booth as many Farmers' Markets as we can this summer.  Lisa Gallo (lisa.gallo@gmail.com) will be coordinating this effort.  Here is the webpage where we are sharing info: http://www.wiserearth.org/article/ed903bcd610c8736c9d35773ee31cacf/group/seattleHeifer

 Contact Lisa if you:

-       are interested in staffing a Farmers' Market

-       know of details about a local Farmers' Market

-       need to know what to bring to a booth

Garage Sale – Lisa will also be coordinating our garage sale.  If you would like to help plan, let her know ASAP.  More details about the time and place will be coming shortly

Portland Heifer Urban Agriculture Trip – On June 3^rd we will be touring a Heifer project in Portland.  Please let Eliza know if you are interested.

King County Fair in Enumclaw- Friday July 18th thru Sunday July 20th.  The county fair is going "green" this year & Heifer has been invited to participate.  Eliza could really use help coordinating this fun fair event!  Please let Eliza know if you can either help coordinate or help staff.

Evergreen State Fair – We will have a booth from 8/27 – 9/1.  This is the fair where we showcase our "zero grazing goat pen."  We need a leader to coordinate finding volunteers to fill 3 hour shifts for the fair.  Let Eliza know ASAP for more details of this leadership role.  Gretchen Wilson has led this for a couple of years and will be available to help with the details.  We want to create some new & interactive displays for this large booth & need your creative help & leadership!  Please let Eliza know if you are able to be a lead coordinator for this event or if you're able to help cover shifts.

Local Heifer Volunteer Planning and Training Session  – Eliza is planning a full day of training and goal setting for our local volunteers.  This will be in the next couple of months.  Let her know if you are interested and what types of sessions or trainings that what interest you.