Book Reading, Orchard Planting, and Victory Park Clean Up on May 5th!

Bioneers by the bay
May 5th at Victory Park from 10 am – 1pm!

Connecting for Change: A Bioneers by the Bay Conference (CFC), a program of the Marion Institute, is excited to invite you to get your hands dirty and help us plant an orchard with the orchard donation recipients, the New Bedford Department of Parks, Recreation, and Beaches, on Sunday, May 5th from 10am-1pm. This free event will take place at Victory Park, located at 244 Brock Ave. in the South End of New Bedford, MA.

In 2012, CFC donated two orchards, sponsored by RainforestMaker. The donation recipients would receive fruit trees, plus a consultation with orchardist and Chelsea Green Publishing author, Michael Phillips, to ensure the longevity of the trees for the community. Jeffrey Glassman of Rainforestmaker remarked that his group was “honored to sponsor the donation of two orchards during the Connecting for Change Conference and now we are very excited to plant those trees. We love these opportunities and enjoy quality time together with our dedicated volunteers who have fun getting their hands dirty! We hope that others will embrace this moment and come out on Sunday to experience the joy for themselves.”

We are proud to announce that one orchard recipient is the New Bedford Department of Parks, Recreation, and Beaches! We invite you to be a part of this celebration by participating in the tree planting and listen to a reading of the children’s book, The Giving Tree, by JoAnn Tschaen of Trips for Kids. During this event, participants will learn how to plant fruit trees, as well as, discover more about the park and garden’s history, and connect with several community groups. The fruit tree planting will be held from 10:00am-12:00pm and the book reading will shortly follow the planting at 12:15pm. Please email Brooke Syvertsen at brooke@marioninstitute.org or call 508.748.0816 for more information about the planting. For more detailed information, please visit our website www.connectingforchange.org.

victory park
Lend a helping hand, beautify New Bedford and learn something! (Click to Enlarge)

“This is a perfect partnership and opportunity for the Marion Institute to further our mission, supporting root cause solutions, by planting trees with deep roots and baring fruit for generations to come,” says Desa Van Laarhoven, Executive Director of the Marion Institute.

About Connecting for Change: A Bioneers by the Bay Conference (CFC)
CFC is a solutions-based annual conference with a focus on social justice and the environment. CFC brings a diverse array of people to discuss food and farming, health and healing, green business, indigenous knowledge, environmental justice, women and youth empowerment to catalyze a movement to heal our world. The 9th annual conference will be held October 25-27th in beautiful downtown New Bedford, MA.

About The Marion Institute
The Marion Institute is dedicated to identifying, promoting and incubating programs and serendipity projects that seek to find a solution for the root cause of an issue, both on local and global levels. We believe that when individuals are offered practical and visionary solutions, they become inspired, realize their potential and will act to restore a healthier balance.