One of our gardeners asked about sunflowers falling over.  She is growing them for her husband to eat during baseball games!

Our daughter’s garden has sunflowers, and we had noticed them leaning a bit after some rain, but I didn’t realize that sunflowers sometimes need staking, like tomatoes.

This brief article online is a bit helpful for sunflower growers: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-keep-sunflowers-from-falling-over. If anyone has other suggestions, or wants to share photos, please email them to Grow And Share.

Tomorrow several Grow And Share folks will be taping a radio program.  More details will be posted here once we know when the show will air.

Freaking awesome! CAKE gives fruit trees away at concerts - http://www.cakemusic.com/gallery.html - Frank loves CAKE! (We give plants away, and hope to eventually give away fruit/nut trees.)

Introduction
Through GrowAndShare.org, we try to extend a public “thank you” to all the volunteers, donors, businesses, groups, families, and individuals who help Grow And Share.  Today, we take a moment to thank members of our Board of Directors.  These folks not only bring their business knowledge to the “business” of keeping Grow And Share going — and growing — but they also lend their hands as volunteers.  Here is a bit of what they do to help Grow And Share be successful.

Jan Alford, Director
Mr. Alford serves as the coordinator between Grow And Share and the Pilot Baptist Church free produce farm stand.  He organizes the produce collection and distributing, setting up each week they are open and ensuring volunteers from Pilot Baptist Church are on hand to assist those in need who come by for fresh produce.

Jan also lends his experience with program creation and management on a regular basis.

For the upcoming Grow And Share Music Festival 2010, Jan is helping with facilities as his busy schedule allows.

Mitch Amiano, Director
Mr. Amiano, wife Samantha, and son Craig are frequent volunteers and produce contributors.  Mitch can be seen in some of the photos on this website as he participates in most of the events and fundraisers we hold. He helped to move and rebuilt the greenhouse donated by the Tucker Family of Zebulon.  Mitch also walked — along with another board member — in the 5K Great Human Race during early 2010.

Mitch will likely be seen at the upcoming music festival, as Rolesville is his home as well as the location of our major annual fundraiser.  He was a tremendous help at the 2009 festival, helping with setup, management of children’s activities, and numerous functions during the all-day event.

Nicole Banks, Director
Located in Colorado, this far-flung board member assist by guiding our mission, ensuring we create programs that serve the youth of underprivledged communities.

Mrs. Banks flew in for the Grow And Share Music Festival 2009, providing assistance with several event functions, including overseeing some of the children’s activities at the festival.

Kim Beaver, Treasurer
As our Treasurer, Ms. Beaver assists with the financial organization and budget-setting of Grow And Share.  With her years of non-profit experience, she guides our program management, helping us to ensure money goes where it is needed and expenses are minimized.

She also volunteers for many events, from the music festival through the 5K Great Human Race, to behind-the-scenes work with the plants, greenhouse, and — of course — receipts, forms, and legal documents.

Leslie Flowers, Secretary
Ms. Flowers brings to Grow And Share her expertise with marketing, document editing, and more.  She is an expert at motivation and personal growth, and guides internally and externally on how programs may best improve people’s lives.

Ernestine High, Director
“Tina” is a great asset to the Grow And Share board.  She volunteers, gathers auction prizes for our annual music festival, and helps with various background tasks.  She is expert at organizing events and helped mold the Grow And Share Music Festival in its beginnings, ensuring it had all the necessary aspects to be a successful fundraiser.

Tina is assisting with the Grow And Share Music Festival 2010, and has already provided multiple items for the Silent Auction — a main part of this year’s fundraising during the festival.

Azuka Molokwu, Director
Azuka brings to Grow And Share his years of experience with major music festivals and media relations.  He’s helped since our start with marketing and guided our public image and contact with corporate sponsors.

Frank Whatley, Former Director
Currently serving as practically a full-time volunteer, Frank left the board in 2010 to focus on the day-to-day activities.  He oversees greenhouse production, produce distribution, and all sales contact with corporations and local businesses. His extensive sales background serves Grow And Share well as contact with sponsors and donors is integral to our growth and success.

Kay Whatley, Creative Director
Co-founder of Grow And Share with husband Frank, Kay works in the greenhouse, writes project implementation plans, and gathers the donor and expense information that is passed off to the Treasurer.  She strives to do as much as possible with little funding, ensuring many projects get off the ground even in a time of tight budgets and minimal donors.

The Grow And Share Music Festival 2010 is coming up in less than a month!  Join us Sunday, September 5th from 10:30am to 5:00pm.  We have a great time planned!

We have some great support from local organizations, musicians, artists, and volunteers.  We’re all working now to ensure you have all you need for a fun day.

Local bands have donated their time to play including Mister Felix, Sunmile, d-sass, and Jo Gore And The Alternative.

Local companies have donated items for the Silent Auction including Empire Eats, Music and Dance Productions, Ebony Child Art, Carolina Mudcats, and more.

Sponsorship provided by Play-By-Play Sports Properties LLC (MudcatsRadio.com), Cary International Minute Press, Gray Squirrel Farm, East River Road Auto Sales, Carolina Worm Castings, and Rolesville’s own Cart Company.

Volunteers are joining us from several groups, including Zebulon-area schools and local youth groups.

Thank you all for your contributions to this, our annual fundraiser, the Grow And Share Music Festival 2010!

Just got the word that our posters for the Grow And Share Music Festival 2010 are done! We’re going to the printers to pick them up.

We need volunteers to pass the posters out to local businesses this weekend and early next week.  Hours are your choice, as long as businesses are open!  All you do is visit a business area — strip malls, etc. — within 45 minutes of Rolesville.  Ask each business’ manager or owner if you can hang a music festival poster in their window.  Hang the poster, and you’re done and off to the next business.

Posters can be picked up in Zebulon.  We have volunteers to work Zebulon, Rolesville, and a few other towns but need about 6 more volunteers.  Call 1.919.269.5414 to volunteer today!

Grow And Share’s music festival fundraiser is coming up in one month.  We are distributing the festival posters all around the Triangle area, and looking for volunteers to help.

If you’d like to volunteer, please call 1.919.269.5414.  We’ll assign you an area — trying to give everyone their first choice — and provide you with a stack of posters.  Your task is then to visit all the stores/businesses in the assigned area and ask their permission to hang a poster in their establishment.  When they say yes — and many do since it is for a nonprofit — you hang the poster so their patrons or people walking by can see the music festival information.

Distribution starts this week, so call ASAP if you will help us spread these posters around.  The more people who see them, the more will want to come to the music festival, and the better turnout for our fundraiser will be!

Thank you again to Cary’s International Minute Press for their great advice and donating the printing of the festival posters.

The Pilot Baptist Church farmstand will be closed this Saturday.  Thank you to everyone who dropped off fruits and vegetables this Summer.  We hope this produce proved helpful — and healthful — to the folks in need who picked it up.

Grow And Share does have some tomatoes and peppers that were donated today (Friday) available.  We will pass them along to families in need over the weekend.

We are very pleased to have a Feature Article on Grow And Share in the quarterly issue of Triangle East Magazine!  The magazine can be picked up at many locations.

Thank you, volunteer Claire Moylan, for contributing her time and skills to this article!

Note - The article is also available online here.  You may vote for the article and add your comments.

Another week has gone by; fortunately, this one had some rain in it!  Hopefully your cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peppers, beans, and other garden plants are bearing lots of fruit.

Please do take this time to peruse your garden and harvest some to share.  Whether you take it to your neighbor in need, drive it to your local food bank, or bring it back to Zebulon for the free food farm stand this morning, it will be of help in the community and feed US residents!