We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Amanda Benavides for recruiting 30 people to the Plant With Purpose facebook cause! Since this is the most people recruited by one person, Amanda will receive a $100 gift card! Way to go Amanda, and thanks for helping us spread the word about Plant With Purpose. P.S. Even though the contest has ended, you can still encourage your friends to join our cause and help advocate to reverse the vicious cycle of poverty in the lives of the rural poor. Click here to join our facebook cause!

Thailand Community Spotlight: Huai Mak Liem

Plant With Purpose works with rural hill tribes in Northern Thailand to help holistically address the social, economic and environmental issues plaguing these upland farmers and their land. Since 2003, we have built relationships with 55 families living in the Huai Mak Liem community in the Palaung village in Thailand. The biggest projects these people are working on, in conjunction with our local partner the Upland Holistic Development Project (UHDP), are backyard agriculture, fish farms, building latrines and cisterns, animal husbandry and a community pig project, and family gardens. One community member, Mr. Sang Lawan, is a 62 year-old former community leader who specializes in making Palaung jewelry. He is only 1 of 3 in the entire northern Thai region who can make this unique type of craft. Mr. Sang purchases 1.5 kilos of silver at an acquisition cost of 15,000 baht, but is able to convert that into 35,000 to 40,000 in a few months. He acquires much of his silver from Indian coins, (rupees) that circulated around in the early 1900’s and he melts them to make the jewelry. Once he is finished, he is able to sell a silver bracelet for 1,000 baht with a cost of 400 baht. Mr. Sang says that he sees Palaung jewelry as an important part of the Thai culture and he wants to preserve this tradition. Unfortunately, he has an eye problem and has not been able to make any jewelry lately. He is being treated by a doctor and hopes to return to his craftsmanship soon. According to Mr. Sang, the biggest felt need in the community is the lack of land. Most land is owned by one family. The owner does not charge rent, the tenant’s residence is only a verbal agreement, but he is willing to sell to the tenants at 5,000 baht for each house. Therefore Mr. Sang is worried if something were to happen to the landowner. Since the agreement is verbal, he is concerned about the stability of the community’s living situation. A total of 11 families have moved here with the owner’s permission. That’s all for now…stay tuned for more updates from the field! Click here to read more about Plant With Purpose's work with local farmers in Thailand. Click here to sponsor a village in Thailand.

Plant With Purpose HD Video

by Aly Lewis The other day I saw a girl with a shirt that read “Don’t Just Hug a Tree, Plant a Tree,” and, besides trying to slyly take a picture of her with my camera phone to send to my coworkers, it got me thinking about what it means to be a “tree hugger.” As someone who strongly believes in caring for Creation, I like the idea of hugging trees, but I don’t feel particularly compelled to actually hug trees—unless it’s the tree from my childhood favorite, The Giving Tree, or Mother Willow from Disney’s Pocahontas. Luckily at Plant With Purpose I can do something even more meaningful (and less splinterful) than hugging a tree. I can plant them. Plant With Purpose offers environmental solutions to humanitarian problems. Or, as I like to say, we hug trees to love people. Or is it love trees and hug people? If we’re going to get technical we don’t actually hug anybody, or at least hugs aren’t mentioned explicitly in any of our strategic plans. Regardless, the good news is that I don’t have to choose between caring for the Earth and helping people. At Plant With Purpose, there is no distinction. To love God is to love people is to care for the Earth. Thus we plant trees. And help people care for them once they’re planted. And their land becomes fruitful. Their children are well nourished. Their economic situation does a 180. Their lives are transformed. No hugs involved, but that sounds a lot like love to me. Join Plant With Purpose and show some love by planting trees! To plant a tree for just $1 per tree, visit our Trees Please! page.

Lots of great things going on!

you could win me!

Only three more days left to recruit enough people on our facebook cause to win $100 big ones! Right now there is a tie for first place between Cristen Renick and Amanda Benavides with only 21 recruits! Since the beginning of the contest we have more than doubled the number of people who follow our Plant With Purpose cause! In the last three days there is still time to invite up to 180 (limit 60 per day) of your friends! Think about it, if just twenty-some of those friends join you could win $100. Click here to invite your friends! (Remember that Corbyn, Scott, Aly, and Kate are employees of Plant With Purpose and are not in the contest to win!) There are a lot of exciting things going on around our office here in San Diego as well as around the world. We currently have programs staff in Thailand, Tanzania, and Haiti working with our partners to record field data and testimonies and research new communities to expand the reach of Plant With Purpose. In other big news… We created a fund raising goal a few months ago on facebook to raise $10,060 dollars in order to help reach our goal of funding 25 new villages for our 25th anniversary and last Friday at about 3 pm we reached that goal! With an enormous thanks to all our donors we were able to partially sponsor three more villages! Also, in case you didn’t know, any recurring donation made to Plant With Purpose will be matched by a generous donor for the WHOLE first year! Turn $30 a month into $60 just by using your credit card to make a monthly commitment at www.PlantWithPurpose.org Thank you all for your support of the rural agricultural farmers that Plant With Purpose works with in order to give them the tools and skills to lift themselves up out of poverty.

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“Would you rather have 100 more soldiers or 10 agronomists?”

by Doug Satre Sounds like the beginning of a joke, but actually this was a question Gen. Karl Elkenberry, America’s leading general and now Ambassador to Afghanistan, routinely asked his field commanders. The answer he got back, 9 times out of 10, was that his commanders would take the agronomists. Surprised? To see the article click here: The answer highlights the often-overlooked role of agricultural development that lies at the heart of some of our world’s bloodiest conflicts. Historically, many of our planet’s wars have been fought to control farmland. Rome conquered Egypt, not just for the monuments, but so that it could become the “bread basket of the Roman Empire.” Current conflict in Zimbabwe, Congo, Ethiopia, etc have more to do with farming-related issues as it has to do with political ideology. PWP sees this reflected in many of the places where we work, especially on the Haiti- Dominican border, and in Burundi, where returning refugees are struggling to settle back into their old communities and find land to farm. We see first-hand the crucial role that sustainable agriculture plays in overcoming conflict and establishing peace in rural communities. It can seem like slow going, at times, but the results are long-lasting. Yet, most of the money our country spends abroad still goes towards weapons, or at best, emergency food aid, rather than actual agricultural development. (Foreign Affairs recently reported that in Africa the US spends 20 times the amount of money on emergency food aid as on agricultural development.) I wonder why that is? Maybe because sending more soldiers, or air-drops of more food, seems to promise immediate results, providing short-term solutions to pressing problems. Maybe it’s because we are moved to action by a crisis, and farming sounds kind of boring. I wonder if those commanders in the field ever got their agronomists? What do you think?

A Glimpse of the Garden

The following article was recently posted on Sustainlane, an online sustainable living resource. The Executive Director of Plant With Purpose, Scott Sabin, blogs here monthly on environmental, social justice, and poverty issues. Enjoy!

Finding Beauty on the Border By Scott Sabin During a recent trip to the Dominican Republic, I caught a glimpse of what the island must have looked like a few centuries ago. Driving through the steep mountains in Sierra de Neiba National Park near the Haitian border was like stepping back in time. As our group’s two pickups struggled through the grass and rocks that covered the road, it was clear that we were the first vehicles to pass this way in at least a few days. To our right, branches festooned with reddish bromeliads shaded our path, while a thin mist drifted through the trees and obscured the tops of the mountain. To our left, a vertigo-inducing drop off into thin air, the valleys of Haiti visible far in the distance. Perched high on the mountaintop, overlooking the valley, I was stunned by the breathtaking beauty. Driving through this forest, it is easy to imagine how things were meant to be in the Garden. We can only speculate what Creation in a pre-Fall world must have been like, yet for all that has been tainted because of all that human sin has done to degrade it, the beauty of what God has made shines through even the most unlikely places. Whatever has changed, God’s ability to work things together for good is apparent in the intricate ways that ecosystems like this fit together so perfectly. Nothing is wasted and everything has its niche. Everywhere, life springs forth from death and resurrection is foreshadowed. However, all too soon our pick ups drop out of the trees and back into reality. The view is still spectacular, but now there is much that is clearly broken. On one side of the gorge, huge eroded hillsides bisect the bean fields which blanket all but the steepest of impossibly steep slopes. The other side, above the flood-scarred dry wash which marks the border, raw rock shows through everywhere and dozens of Haitian homesteads dot the hillsides. Every available inch shows an attempt at cultivation, no matter how apparently futile. The first village we come to, a collection of wooden shacks, a one room school and a military border checkpoint, has been nicknamed “The Armpit.” But even here, there is hope. There is Good News and there are options. The people may be disempowered, but they are not helpless, even if they feel that way. Perhaps they just need to be reminded of their own God-given talents. Like all of us, they need to be reminded of their own importance in the eyes of God and of the love He has for them. In the few years that Plant With Purpose has been working in this area we have begun to see growth as individuals and communities begin to use their God-given potential. We have seen people’s lives transform from poverty and misery into hope. Hills that were left barren by slash and burn agriculture are now covered with crops. For example, in Angel Feliz, a small village near the Haitian border, we visited one farmer named Florido. During our visit, he eagerly zig-zagged up and down the steep hillside, pointing out blooming vegetation here and there as we scrambled after him, gingerly stepping in between cabbage and celery plants in our clunky hiking boots. He proudly told us how last December he made $1,000 by selling Christmas cabbage, and he anticipates that this year will be no different. In a place where the land and weather can be extremely volatile, this is indeed good news. Florido’s story, like those of so many other Dominican farmers, is one of hope and prosperity. As we look to the future, we pray that, as in other areas where we have worked, people’s relationships with God, neighbors and the land will be transformed. When that occurs, we see glimpses of the Kingdom - the final restoration of the land and its people. In those glimpses there is tremendous beauty.

Community Development: Daring to Dream

by Aly Lewis When I began my job as Plant With Purpose’s Grant Writer I was relatively new to the International Development scene—microcredit and sustainability aren’t exactly staples of the Creative Writing major’s vocabulary. But in my time at Plant With Purpose, I’ve found the key to successful development programs isn’t based on knowledge or jargon. Success in the development world comes from being human and viewing others as such. I may not know a whole lot about development (although I’m learning), but I do know what it’s like to be human. I know what it’s like to feel hopeless and disempowered. I know what it’s like to not want to be overlooked or have my skills and talents disregarded. I don’t like to have things done for me, and the only way I actually change or grow or solve problems is when the problem solving approach is something completely unique to me. The people who’ve been most influential in my life—my mom, my best friends, college mentors—have all been people who help me unlock my gifts and talents, helping me become more fully who I was meant to be. That’s what Plant With Purpose does. Sure we work with communities to plant trees and apply sustainable agriculture techniques. We supply microloans and train church leaders to respond to the needs of their congregations and communities, but the most significant part of Plant with Purpose’s work is that the work or “development” being done isn’t Plant With Purpose’s work at all. It’s the communities’. Plant With Purpose takes a “community development approach.” In other words, we empower communities to start to take responsibility for the solutions to their own problems. Plant With Purpose views the farmers we work with as partners, not fix-it-projects or mere passengers on this development journey. Lasting change cannot occur unless people want to change—and more importantly—believe that they can change. You can’t actually force anyone to grow—just ask any mother of a teenager. That’s why Plant With Purpose conducts a Participatory Rural Appraisal before starting work in any community. During these appraisals the community decides what their greatest needs are and what needs to be done to solve them. Only if Plant With Purpose’s expertise aligns with the community’s needs do we begin to work with them. Plant With Purpose empowers hopeless communities to begin to dream again. The communities provide the vision and the dream; we provide the tools, training, and means to turn their dreams into reality.

Highlight on another great international cause- International Justice Mission

Over the years I have been involved with a lot of different organizations and non-profits. Each of which supported different causes and reached people in different ways to raise awareness about their individual missions. I have learned that it is necessary to ask a few questions when you hear a non-profit asking you to support their cause. What is it they do that I am passionate about? What drives them to do what they do? Who do they support? Who supports them? There are great tools online (Charity Navigator is one) that can help you make responsible decisions on how to spend your time and money. I have also found myself getting in involved with organizations because a close friend or source that I trust has told me about the great work being done by great people. One such organization I am involved with is International Justice Mission (IJM). IJM is an agency dedicated to protecting human rights and securing justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. I have come to be a supporter of the work they do through a previous co-worker’s passion to ending human trafficking. She is now working for IJM in Washington D.C. She says one of the main reasons she loves working for IJM is their ability to address the major needs to create lasting change while at the same time not forgetting about the individuals that they serve. Her dedication and self-sacrifice for her cause was what brought me to be a part of International Justice Mission’s purpose. As the Outreach Coordinator at Plant With Purpose I see the necessity of building relationships between non-profit organizations. As Plant With Purpose works to keep subsistence level farmers from being forced to seek economic opportunity in urban slums because their land is no longer producing, IJM works to bring justice to the oppressed who oftentimes become involved in human trafficking for lack of economic opportunity. So while Plant With Purpose works with rural farmers and International Justice Mission works with sex-trafficked slaves, each of these organizations work wholeheartedly to be the best at what they do. I have seen each of them firsthand as they work tirelessly to improve the quality of life for individuals around the world. Here at Plant With Purpose we support IJM because in the long run it will take both of our organizations and many others doing what they do best in order to reach the poorest of the poor, comfort the oppressed, and bring justice to those who have been wronged. Take this opportunity to join us in support of another worthy cause through something as simple as purchasing coffee. In the month of May, Storyville Coffee Company is supporting IJM with 100% of their revenues from sales of their incredible coffee in their Give it all away in May pledge. Here at our office in San Diego, we are proudly brewing fresh Storyville Coffee through the month of May, endorsing the great work that IJM does in 12 countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. All places that we hold dear to our own hearts. Who is it that you are supporting? And who do they support? Let us know; we’d love to hear from you. Corbyn Small Outreach Coordinator

Home from Flourish 2009

Doug and I just returned from the Flourish conference at Cross Pointe Church in Atlanta. What a wonderful and refreshing few days! We had a tremendous list of great speakers, among them Joel Hunter, JoAnne Lyon, Andy Crouch, Chris Seay, Rusty Pritchard, Tri Robinson, Mathew Sleeth, and Peter Illyn. The conference was under-attended, which I am sadly getting used to, but it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and mix with a wide variety of people working in creation care, and to share with them a little of the work that we are doing. Finally, it was a blessing to catch up with so many old friends, many of whom have been involved in this work as long as I have, as well as to meet so many of the new voices. Jonathan Merritt and his father James Merritt, who pastors Cross Pointe, were our hosts. David Neff of Christianity Today provides a bit of a summary of the conference in his blog. Jonathan Merritt also shares his analysis.

Win $100 Bucks just by inviting friends to our Facebook Cause!

The easiest $100 dollars you ever made! We are having a contest to see who can get the most of their friends and family to join the Plant With Purpose facebook cause! (This contest excludes staff! Which means the current leaders who are staff; Corbyn, Scott, Doug, Kate, Becky and Aly will not be competition!) The contest will end May 28th and the person who has recruited the most people by 2 pm to our cause will get a $100 visa gift card! This is a great way to share the Plant With Purpose message and helps us spread the word across the country. Inviting people is easy! Just click here, then click “JOIN” and it will ask you to log into facebook, join the cause by allowing the Cause Application and invite up to 60 of your friends to join each day! You can add a personal message to your invite asking your friends and family to join and why you support Plant With Purpose. Taking the pledge to invite 100 people will help you choose people to invite! If you have any questions feel free to email Corbyn@PlantWithPurpose.org

Gardening Gab

by Aly Lewis

So far my adventures in Earthboxing/container gardening have proven to be slightly less than exhilarating. Turns out growing food the old-fashioned way is a little more time intensive than, say, hitting up Vons after work. This is definitely not Fast Food. In the last week, we’ve transferred our beloved Earthbox to the front yard per the instructions of my recently graduated Master Gardener mother (way to go, Mom!). In addition to the location change, we’ve also watered the adorable little seedlings, on average, every two to three days or, more honestly, whenever we remember.

Although my mom is a Master Gardener and promptly sent me articles on growing tomatoes and spinach in a home garden—complete with scientific names, nutritional values, and even a problem diagnosis section—I’ve never grown anything on my own. So as a novice gardener, I’d like to glean as much gardening knowledge as will fit in my already information-overloaded mind. And that’s where you come in.

Have any of you tried container gardening? Do you have any tips on growing food in a small space? What’s worked for you? What hasn’t? Any gardening disasters or lavish successes?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Pet-Peeve Enlightenment

By Aly Lewis I can’t stand dogs in sweaters. For some reason they freak me out. I don’t know if it’s that they’re usually being lugged around in a small tote bag better fit to transport makeup, not a squirming, usually shaved or at least distressingly groomed, small canine of sorts or if the ‘live simply’ warning light in my head flashes SUPERFLUOUS, SUPERFLUOUS. I mean, they already have fur to keep them warm, why the need to highjack grandma’s knitting skills for such an unworthy, naturally fur-clad cause? But the more I inwardly cringe and wonder, “what are they thinking?,”(they being sweater-sporting pet owners) the more I realize that over-indulging a scrawny pet or two isn’t the end of the world. Maybe I’m the one with the problem. I am so quick to write others off if they don’t fit into my eclectic yet resolute definition of what it means to be cool or sensible, caring or compassionate. I complain about dogs with sweaters, but I find it difficult to even love most people with sweaters. Dressing dogs in sweaters could just be another step in the process of learning what it means to care for creation. For starters, learning to notice the living things around us, and learning to look out for others’ well being over our own—be it canine or otherwise. Certainly, giving human characteristics to an animal is kinder than dehumanizing a person. Maybe this is more of a wakeup call than a pet-peeve (pun intended). An invitation to be a little less cynical and a little more gracious. A little less tongue-in-cheek and a little more sympathetic. And maybe that’s the point. Learning to accept others despite divergences in pet-outfit-preferences. Despite differences. Giving value to creation. Giving value to other people. Loving dogs, loving people. Pending a much-needed attitude change, the next time I see a chic dog donning the season’s most fashionable, I’ll do my best to silence my inner cynic. After all, I’d like to say I’m committed to making this world a more loving, respectful, and just place. A place where dogs, children, and all members of creation are well-fed, well-clothed, and well-cared-for.

Scott Sabin added as a main speaker at creation care conference in Georgia

Check out the Flourish Webpage here!

Scott Sabin, the Executive Director at Plant With Purpose has been asked to be a main speaker at the Flourish Conference in Georgia this week! Tomorrow Scott and Doug Satre, Director of Outreach and Development, will be heading to Duluth, Georgia where 150 pastors from around the country will come together for this national creation care conference. The conference will feature influential speakers such as Leroy Barber, Margaret Feinberg and Andy Couch. Plant With Purpose found out about the Flourish Conference through Rusty Pritchard, one of the conference organizers and resource economist. A great advocate of Plant With Purpose, Rusty understands the impact of the community development work that Plant With Purpose does internationally and the importance of restoring people’s relationship with their land as a way to not only improve the environment, but also as a way for subsistence farmers to overcome poverty. Check out one of the articles that Rusty recently wrote about Plant With Purpose . If you and your small group, church, family, or club would like to advocate for Plant With Purpose, contact Plant With Purpose’s outreach coordinator, Corbyn, at Corbyn@PlantWithPurpose.org.

Appreciate Your Mom and Mother Earth This Mother’s Day!

Leni, a mother in Tanzania, and her bag garden

Looking for a last minute Mother’s Day gift? This Sunday, show your mom you appreciate her by giving a gift that will ultimately nurture a greater mother – Mother Earth! By simply donating $25, you can help support a family garden in one of the 6 countries where Plant With Purpose works. Mothers rely on these gardens to provide nutritious vegetables for their children, as well as valuable produce to sell at market. And by planting a garden, families are enriching the soil with important nutrients, which makes Mother Earth happy. Click here to donate. In the ‘Choose a Donation Amount’ box, put $25 to contribute to a share of a family garden. After you have made your donation, please send an email to kate@plantwithpurpose.org and we will send you a special card to give your mother! Happy Mother’s Day from all of us here at Plant With Purpose!

A Big Thanks to Our Fabulous Interns!

This past Tuesday, the Plant With Purpose staff had two reasons to celebrate: Cinco de Mayo, of course, but mainly we celebrated our hardworking interns with a delicious Mexican lunch in Old Town as a special thank you for all their hard work. Our interns this spring have been very helpful in researching grant opportunities, tracking programs data, sending out important mailings, and coordinating volunteer programs. You may have seen their cheerful faces at the Balboa Park Earth Day fair, or various other events they have helped out with in San Diego. Cristen, Thomas, Hannah, Jimmy, Abigail, and Amanda – thank you so much for all your hard work and for your invaluable contribution to the Plant With Purpose team!

Planting With Prudence

By Aly Lewis

As Plant With Purpose’s Grant Writer I am charged with the task of describing our programs in detail to prospective foundations and funders. You know, explaining the endless benefits of trees—environmentally, financially, dare I say, spiritually—the way our programs are designed to involve entire communities, the inner workings of a family garden, and even attempting to elevate our composting toilets to the catchy status of “ecological latrine.” Lately I’ve been writing proposals for family gardens—how they diversify the family diet, reduce and eventually eliminate malnutrition, improve and expand varieties of food available to the community, and even create food surpluses so that families can sell and generate additional revenue.

But as I learn more and more about the benefits of family gardens and growing your own food, I start to feel like maybe I’m all talk—or in this case, text. So in our first stab at gardening solidarity, my roommate and I planted our own Earthbox last week. This self-contained garden that more closely resembles a plastic box with a shower cap than any garden I’ve ever seen will apparently “double the yield of a conventional garden- with less fertilizer, less water and virtually no effort.” We are now the proud (and somewhat frightened) parents of a cherry tomato plant, two spinach seedlings, and a strawberry plant. Thanks to the Earthbox, we’ll be growing our own salads in just 55-85 days. So here’s to eating local, diversifying our household diet, and joining with the farmers in the field on a journey toward self-sufficiency.

More container gardening adventures (and misadventures) to follow.

Plant With Purpose Profile of Courage: Laurencia

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Doug Satre Plant With Purpose has the privilege of working with some very special and talented people, many of whom also happen to be very poor. They challenge my western middle-class stereotypes of poor people as somehow less intelligent, hard working or entrepreneurial. Laurencia is one such person... Laurencia lives in the village of Siha, Tanzania. Born blind and with no way to earn a living, Laurencia has struggled in extreme poverty. She has three children and providing for their needs has been a constant struggle. In many third world countries, one would expect to find women like her begging by the side of the road. Yet that is not where I met Laurencia. Laurencia is a member of a remarkable group of people in Siha, who participate in the village community savings group (or Vicoba). With coaching from Plant With Purpose trainers, the group meets weekly to pool their savings, learn small business skills, and make loans. When we visited the group we heard many testimonies about how people now have enough money to send their kids to school, or to pay medical bills or to better feed their families. The group has been formed for a serious purpose, but they also have a good time; they joke and laugh and sing and tell stories on each other. This is where we met Laurencia. She was not just a group member, she was one of the leaders, helping to facilitate the meeting and encouraging other group members as they all sought to improve their lives. As a result of her participation, Laurencia has been able to start a resale business, providing much needed income for her family. Her family is less vulnerable to the chronic malnutrition and hunger that affect so may of the world’s poor. But not only that, the group has recently donated $2,000 of their own saving to her to build her a house. They are also donating labor and materials to help keep the costs down. As I heard her story I understood Plant With Purpose's work of empowerment in a new way; not only are poor farmers now able to help themselves, they are also able to help those around them who are in greater need. It's a great example of the cycle of prosperity and hope that Plant With Purpose creates in the lives of poor farmers. What does Laurencia’s story have to do with us? Personally, Laurencia’s courage in the face of very daunting life circumstances is a reminder to me not to give in to discouragement when times are tough. C.S. Lewis wrote that, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point.” If that’s true, circumstances in our lives that call for courage have valuable lessons to teach us about our character. My prayer is that I could be as brave as Laurencia has been in facing the challenges in her life. Laurencia's story is a also a reminder of the value of community for our lives. What is impossible to achieve alone can be accomplished with the strength- and sometimes prodding!- that like-minded friends can provide. That is especially true when we are trying to make positive changes in our lives- to break bad habits, take risks, heal damaged relationships. We have been created to live in relationship with others- with God, with people and with our environment. When we pursue wholeness in all three areas, wonderful things can happen! Doug Satre is Director of Outreach & Development at Plant With Purpose, an international Christian organization that transforms lives in rural areas where poverty is caused by deforestation. For 25 years, Plant With Purpose has provided lasting solutions to heal the relationship between people and their environment by planting trees, revitalizing farms, and offering loans to create economic opportunity. This article was originally printed on Sustainlane.com under the title Floresta Profile of courage: Laurencia. Visit Floresta’s new initiative "Plant With Purpose" at www.PlantWithPurpose.org!

Plant With Purpose Featured in Relevant Magazine!

We are excited to announce that Plant With Purpose is featured in the May / June issue of Relevant Magazine! Click here to view the article, and feel free to share with friends!

Ladies of Plant With Purpose Recycle with Fashion

by Aly Lewis Last week the ladies of Plant With Purpose traded in their too-short, too-tight, or just too-often-worn pants, shirts, skirts, shoes, and even accessories for the riches of their fellow coworkers’ unwanted treasures at PWP’s second annual Ladies Clothing Swap. After the ladies drew numbers (to prevent cut throat competition and trampling) out of a pine needle basket (handcrafted by women in PWP’s program in Oaxaca) they each chose their favorite items (mine was a long, red wraparound jacket) from the array of clothes colorfully arranged in the gazebo outside the office. In the true PWP spirit, it was an hour of sharing, enjoying creation, encouraging each other (oh my gosh, that looks so cute on you!), and even practicing good clothing stewardship.