The Awesome Foundation of Los Angeles is pleased to award its most recent grant to Strive Kitchen. Strive is an after-school academics and arts program operating in the Watts community of South Los Angeles, with the mission of educating well-mannered, academically prepared, individually responsible children who do not allow their lives to be defined by personal circumstances. As part of Strive’s efforts to educate students about nutrition and health, the program is introducing the Strive Kitchen and Cafe, where students can have a nutritious meal and buy daily homemade treats. This month’s grant will go towards Strive’s goal of transforming their kitchen into a classroom and training facility, where students can not only learn about healthy eating and lifestyle choices, but also develop skills as cooks, servers and managers. As the Strive program approaches its 25th anniversary next year, the Awesome Foundation is proud to contribute to their efforts to make physical health the basis for academic success. Learn more at www.strive-la.org, and congratulations to Strive Kitchen!
Calling all dreamers. The Awesome Foundation is raising the bar and doubling our normal cash prize to $2,000 for a project that SCREAMS “awesome!” and makes Baltimore an even more awesome place just by existing. We want your wild schemes, your spectacular flights of fancy, your semi-deranged space-monkey rocket launches. We’re looking for Snark-hunters, white-whale stalkers, and King-Kong conquistadors. Something so explosive it’ll make the gunpowder plot look like a pop-gun, so off the wall it’ll bounce off the plaster like Tigger on crack, so far outside the box that right angles start to weep and cry for mercy. Something like … “I want to build the world’s largest hammock.” “I want to start a fashion line for diabetics with a cheeky name that makes wearing an insulin pump hotter than toting a Fendi bag.” “I want to recreate the boulder scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark in an urban environment so people can run screaming through back-alleys with a giant plush ball rumbling after them.” What we don’t want: NOTHING BORING. The usual suspects will be rounded up and shot. No gallery exhibitions unless you’ve found a way… read more →
Have you ever planted a seed in soil and returned five years later?If you have, you’ll know the potential of one tiny seed and the impact it can have on a community.Luckily, long-time Girl Scout Lori from Back To Natives has a commitment to bringing trees to our concrete city.Her goal is to enable youth to lend a hand in community conservation.Through Back To Native’s habitat restoration program, she plans to take a group of interns and volunteers on a seed collection trip to the National Forest.They will return with the seeds and plant them in our local Los Angeles wildlands. https://hrvatskaedfarmacija.com Date for next seed collection trip: September 23. Meet at Back to Native’s Nursery at 7AM and head over to Silverado Canyon and up Maple Springs Road.Return by 3PM.If you’re interested, please email: volunteer@backtonatives.org.Address: Back to Natives Nursery at Santiago Park600 E Memory LaneSanta Ana Ca, 92705
The submission window for our September grant will be open from August 1 – 20, 2014. The funds will be awarded April during the chapter’s Awesome Hour to be held September 17 @7pm at Fork and Juniper – 125 1oth Street – Atlanta, GA
A portion of last month’s Awesome Grant was awarded to magician and storyteller David London to assist with the creation of his latest production, the Creative Spirit Seance. Presented for just 12 participants per seating, The Creative Spirit Seance is an intimate, fully interactive experience that explores various ways in which human beings communicate with the unseen world. Combining performance, ritual and creative play, David will guide audiences through the mysterious realms of imagination, creativity and the Great Beyond. The world premiere of the seance will take place from August 14th-24th at Church and Company, located at the intersection of 37th and Falls Road in Hampden (directly above Hunting Ground). Tickets available here. If you are not familiar with David or his work, he has a long history of producing experimental magical creations. Along with five theatrical productions, including …Art of Dreams, Cerebral Sorcery, and The Adventure to the Imagi Nation. He has also created a variety of interactive experiences, including the Winter Festival of Wonders, Sensorium, the IMAGINE Device and the Scoposcope, and is the co-founder and director of operations for the Circus of Wonders. David has been dreaming of creating an original seance for over 15 years, and views this production as the latest in his ongoing efforts to spread… read more →