green guerillas annual meeting
in 1973 liz christy, a lower east side artist, gathered her friends & neighbors together to clean out a vacant lot on the corner of bowery & houston streets. calling themselves the green guerillas, these visionaries created a vibrant community garden and sparked the modern community gardening movement in NYC.
the green guerillas tapped the time, talent, and energy of their members. they took on projects as varied and interesting as the city itself - they threw seed “green-aids” over the fences of vacant lots, installed window boxes, planted flowers in tree pits – and helped people transform city-owned vacant lots into community gardens that serve as botanic gardens, vest pocket parks, urban farms, and as expressions of art, ecology, and culture.
more than three decades later, green guerillas is a vital 501c3 nonprofit organization, and there are 600 community gardens with a whole new host of challenges.
using a unique mix of education, organizing, and advocacy to help people cultivate community gardens, sustain grassroots groups and coalitions, engage youth, paint colorful murals, and address issues critical to the future of their gardens–green guerillas rocks this town. come be a part of it!
Green Guerillas 2009 Annual Meeting - March 11th, 6 pm to 8pm
Community Church of NY - 40 E. 35th Street (Madison & Park)
Kick-off the growing season with Green Guerillas members, community gardeners, and community garden supporters. Hear about Green Guerillas program plans for 2009, learn about community garden success stories, and meet the GGs board of directors. Get information on resources available to you and your neighbors.
Free food, refreshments, and garden stories. Free raffle of t-shirts, garden tools, and gift certificates.
The fiscal crisis of the early 70’s saw the original band of Green Guerillas rally people to use community gardening as a tool to reclaim urban land, stabilize city blocks, and get people working side by side to solve problems. The current economic crisis will present a new set of challenges, and community gardeners will respond as they did in the early days: using ordinary pieces of urban land to do extraordinary things. They will bring people together to grow food, cultivate colorful gardens, celebrate cultures, and give city kids safe places to spend the summer.
Green Guerillas will work hard to help community gardeners sustain their gardens & strengthen their collective action.
