Project Report
| May 9, 2013
Mother's Day is Sunday, May 12 - Honor your mother
By Joyce King | President, Board of Trustees, Food First
![Rice farming in Northern Mali]()
Rice farming in Northern Mali
Thank you so very much for your generous support of the Food First/BERADA campaign to buy seeds and pumps for farm families of the 30 villages of Gao, Mali. As you know, drought followed by war in 2012 have DESTROYED THE LOCAL ECONOMY and many people in the Gao Region fled for their lives. Now, the indigenous farmers have to plant their rice fields in June to feed their families and those who are returning to the area.
You are making it possible for these family farmers to purchase vegetable and rice seeds and pump water from the nearby Niger River to water their crops.
Mother's day is this Sunday, May 12. You can honor that special woman or women in your life by donating again.
At the Food First's website just click on the donate now button on the left side. Then select an amount for your honorary tax-deductible donation. Below the amount options, click yes to make an honorary gift. You will be able to send your special woman an e-mail, a card by mail, or print the card and hand it to her. You also have to option of no card. If you want to honor more than one mother, you will need to go through these steps for each to generate your personal greeting on the card.
As the President of the Board of Trustees of Food First, I want to personally thank you for making this campaign a priority for funding. I realize that there are many other worthy initiatives you could fund and want you to know how honored I am that you have chosen to fund this truly life-saving project.
Gratefully Yours,
Joyce King, President
Board of Trustees, Institute for Food and Development Policy (aka, Food First)
P.S. While we have suggested amounts, you are free to write in whatever amount you would like. Happy Mother's Day.
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
Apr 29, 2013
Are you an Educator or Librarian?
By Marilyn Borchardt | Development Director, Food First
![Black Heritage]()
Black Heritage
John William Templeton, a San Francisco eduction activist, is offering to donate 25% of the price of a very special four volume anthology of the long history of contributions by Blacks to the development of California. Teachers and librarians will find many valuable lessons here.
This series is edited by John William Templeton with introduction by Food First Board President, Dr. Joyce King. Teachers who have used these materials have seen a dramatic improvement in Black student academic achievement. Our Roots Run Deep: the Black Experience in California brings the history to the present day, giving a multi-lingual context to the Golden State's history across indigenous, Spanish, Mexican and American phases. The fourth volume, The Black Queen: How African-Americans Put California on the Map, refers to that passage and how Hernan de Cortes applied the name to the western coast of North America just 15 years later while leading a party that included 300 Africans.
To learn more and order your copy of this four volume history, go to:
http://www.blackmoney.com/40068
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
Apr 29, 2013
An Appeal to End Famine in Mali issued by The Network Journal & AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com
By Dr. Joyce King | President, Board of Trustees, Food First
The humanitarian crisis in the landlocked West African country of Mali has gained worldwide attention and the engagement of foreign governments, including France and the United States. The food crisis that has gripped much of Africa since 2008 has intensified in Mali, as war involving radical Islamic groups disrupt families and communities that have been the basic elements of African survival.
As Mali’s spring growing season approaches, The Network Journal and AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com appeal to you to remember the people of Mali as they prepare to plant their own gardens and rice fields. Please consider making even a small contribution -- perhaps equivalent to the cost of a few bags of topsoil, fertilizer and seedlings -- to a modest fundraising campaign of just $10,000 to underwrite the cost of seeds and a water pump needed to feed six of the hardest hit villages surrounding Gao, northern Mali’s largest city and the epicenter of the fighting.
“Africa’s prosperity trajectory must not be thrown off course by crises of terrorism and famine. Key to that trajectory is the integrity and wellbeing of one of the world’s most important historic regions – the city of Gao and its surrounding villages in Mali. Your contribution to the spring planting season campaign for the people of this region will help to sustain these brave keepers of history and keep their need footprint on the continent’s path to prosperity,” says Rosalind McLymont, executive editor of The Network Journal, CEO of AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com and a Member of the Council of Advisors to the Paramount Songhoy Chief.
Tax-deductible donations made online through Global Giving, http://goto.gg/13625, will be funneled directly to Food First, the Institute for Food and Development Policy, www.foodfirst.org, which is partnering with BERADA, the local Malian organization that is managing this fundraising campaign. Food First was described by The New York Times as one of the country's “most established food think tanks.”![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
