May 2023 Newsletter
What’s New With Sustaining Way?
On May 25th, Sustaining Way partnered with Upstate Forever, The Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities at Furman University, and many others to hold a first-of-its-kind Electric Vehicle Equity Roundtable that brought together thought leaders in the EV space to explore how we can more equitably distribute the benefits of EVs in our community!
Our Executive Director, Michael Brown, served as the closing speaker and was instrumental in organizing the amazing group of speakers and attendees. Additionally, multiple representatives from Sustaining Way were in attendance and explored many potential projects and collaborations with the other attendees. We are confident that the discussions and connections made will lead to big advances in Greenville and the Upstate to prepare us for the coming future where Electric Vehicles will be commonplace, with all sharing the benefits.
Earlier this month, Michael stood in solidarity with regional energy security partners in Atlanta to protest Georgia Power passing 100% of their fuel costs onto their ratepayers. South Carolina has the 9th highest utility bills in the country, much of which comes from electricity use. We are mindful of the energy burdens that those we serve face every day and stand up for them.
Michael also attended the Annual Convening for Southeast Climate and Energy Network in Jackson, MS; the USCAN Southeast Delegation meeting; and board meetings for the American Community Garden Association, National Farm to School Network, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, and South Carolina Food Policy Council. Additionally, Michael went to formally recognize and accept our award of the Advancing Equity and Opportunity grant cohort administered by SCEN.
Additionally, Michael went to formally recognize and accept our award of the Advancing Equity and Opportunity grant cohort administered by SCEN.
Michael has also been helping out in the New Washington Heights community to help prepare their community garden space!
Available Positions at Sustaining Way
Come and join the Sustaining Way Team! Below are the current and upcoming openings – you can always browse them on the Careers page of our website and apply through the Indeed job posting.
Impact and Growth VISTA. Are you passionate about making a positive impact and contributing to bring about a world where all neighborhoods, people and nature thrive? Are you interested in developing yourself to be a nonprofit leader? Join our team as a Nonprofit Executive VISTA Member and take on a crucial role in driving growth and ensuring effective governance for Sustaining Way!
People Development VISTA. This VISTA project will build the capacity of Sustaining Way by helping the organization further develop existing adult and youth development programs and activities. This would include organizing educational events/programs, document/organize adult and youth programs and associated curriculum, recruit and coordinate volunteers to support development programs, develop methods to track program impacts and “check-in” on past program graduates, and assist in increasing resident engagement in development programs. All efforts will be addressed to serve the Nicholtown community, a historically marginalized community.
Our partner, South Carolina Interfaith Power and Light, also has a recent job opening! Read below for more details.
SCIPL seeks a new innovative Executive Director to help chart the organization’s direction and coordinate climate justice and energy sustainability programming. The mission of South Carolina Interfaith Power and Light (SCIPL) is inspired by diverse faith perspectives to respond to climate change and to care for the Earth and all its inhabitants by engaging people of faith to work together for a just and sustainable future. Learn more about our programming by visiting www.scipl.org.
For more information, please contact hello@scipl.org.
Program and Community Updates
Sustaining Way is starting up a quarterly community member recognition series! Every three months, we will be highlighting a member of one of our supported communities – Nicholtown, New Washington Heights, Belle Meade, and Brutontown – who we have seen utilizing sustainable living practices, engaging in sustainable education, and/or helping others to learn about sustainability.
The first community member we will be recognizing is Laura Shoun. Laura is the lead gardener of Nicholtown Community Garden. She shares our passion for growing local food for the Nicholtown community and has been great to work alongside at a garden panel at St. Matthew United Methodist Church and hosted a group of our Michelin volunteers at H.O.G. Day. We look forward to her produce at Meals and Masks this summer.
Laura described her experience with collaborating with Sustaining Way to us. “Sustaining Way is an important part of the Nicholtown Community. The staff at Sustaining Way have helped weed, mulch and plant in our garden. They have supported our efforts to give away our garden produce during their Masks and Meals food distribution. They have helped us participate in garden education by bringing youth to our garden. Sustaining Way and particularly Annie’s House continue to share knowledge about sustainable, organic, and local gardening with us and our neighbors. Thank you Sustaining Way!”
Here are the weekly sustainability tips from May! These tips can also be found on our social media accounts (linked here). Click this link to calculate your carbon footprint!
Come celebrate Juneteenth with us at Annie’s House on June 17th from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.! Food and drinks will be provided. We will have good music playing and a beautiful garden to explore. PLEASE RSVP BEFORE JUNE 8th. We can’t wait to see you all there!
Check out some of the newest backyard gardens we’ve been helping out with! As always, we thank our wonderful volunteers for helping build them.
Some SW staff and volunteers helped load up a few truckloads of compost generously donated by the Furman University Farm. We appreciate the donation and will be using it for the summer crops in our various community and backyard gardens!
Volunteer Opportunities and Giveaways
We deeply appreciate all of our volunteers at Sustaining Way and cannot thank them enough for coming to our various events. Looking to volunteer with us? Check out the new volunteer page on our website to explore all of the ways that you can get involved. We offer many opportunities to get your hands dirty and make a difference in the community.
We have updated our Garden Work and Learn Friday hours for the summer! We hold Garden Work and Learns every Tuesday from 3:00-5:00 p.m., Wednesday from 4:00-5:30 p.m., and Friday from 8:00-10:00 a.m. at Annie’s House. (Note that these times are are always weather-dependent.) These are excellent opportunities to volunteer in the Annie’s House garden while also getting all your gardening, composting, and sustainability questions answered by our amazing staff. We also hold monthly Service Days on the third Saturday of each month from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Volunteers are always welcome at any of our events. We hope to see you in the garden soon!
We hold additional virtual/remote volunteer opportunities if you are not located in the area or if gardening isn’t your thing. Our volunteer interest form contains all of the categories of opportunities that we offer.
Come drop off cardboard and food scraps for compost at Annie’s House during our Garden Work Day hours!
Volunteer of the Month:
Congratulations to Makaden for being randomly selected as Sustaining Way’s April Volunteer of the Month! Makaden started volunteering with Sustaining Way in February and has been a monthly regular during our garden workdays! Makaden will be receiving a gift card generously donated by Swamp Rabbit Tees Co. as a token of our thanks for his time spent volunteering at Annie’s House.
Congratulations to Gabriela for being randomly selected as Sustaining Way’s May Volunteer of the Month! Gabriela just recently started volunteering with Sustaining Way and has already become a regular during our garden workdays! Gabriela will be receiving free pastry cards generously donated by Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery as a token of our thanks for her time spent volunteering at Annie’s House.
Want to be entered into the raffle for Sustaining Way’s next Volunteer of the Month? All you need to do is volunteer with us any time before the end of the month and you will be entered to win!
Become a Sustainer Today!
Become a Sustainer of Sustaining Way! By giving any monthly amount, whether $5 or $500, you will be providing essential support for our life-changing programs, and provide us consistent income so we can better focus our efforts on our mission. These monthly donations make a huge difference to us and can gain you benefits like a produce card to use at our garden on site, reusable and sustainable goodies, or even a free energy home visit!
We always appreciate any donations, and similar to monthly sustainer donations, any donation amount helps to back our programs and initiatives, and ultimately our mission to use education, collaboration and advocacy to create sustainable, caring, and equitable communities for current and future generations.
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