Team Members:
I am Cynthia and I come from Endicott, which is located in Broome County, part of the Southern Tier of upstate New York. Our area is a mix of small cities, towns, villages and rural farmland. While not always the case, unfortunately it is now the second poorest County in the State so we have high rates of food insecurity and homelessness.
For more than 10 years I have engaged heavily with VINES, a not-for-profit organization that works to create a just and sustainable food source for everyone. One of its many programs include management of 24 Community Gardens throughout the County. I am the volunteer Site Coordination for the two (2) located in Endicott.
Nearly a year ago, I teamed up with another individual to create a proposal for a Food Forest on a piece of vacant FEMA land in my community. This is part of an initiative of the Broome County Food Council, a different organization, but equally committed to getting food to the people and people to the food.
This project is still in its infancy and I hope to learn more about fruit trees, among other topics, from my fellow cohort members.