Make a little time. Make a big diference. Family-friendly activities you CanDo together. Fall’s almost here but CanDo members are still in full swing. As a brand new 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the group strives to engage Napa County volunteers, young and old, in enterprises that benefit us all. Here are two projects fit for families that deserve your attention and a bit of your precious time. S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 69 Fresh local prod uce for Napa Valley Food Banks by Karen Garcia Sometimes generosity tastes like a plump red tomato. Napa Valley CanDo members are always on the lookout for unmet needs in our communities. At last year’s “Food Day” in Napa, CanDo volunteers and some of our Master Gardener friends realized that Napa County Emergency Food Pantries need more fresh produce for their clients. They decided to do something about it, and because they’re CanDo kinds of people, a “seed” was planted. We in CanDo refer to new ideas as “seeds.” We choose them carefully; nurture them in every way; and help them grow into tasty projects, drawing in new volunteers with the vision and energy to make things happen. Our newest project is, literally, all about seeds as we work to supply local Food Bank pantries with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and other fresh local produce. Fittingly, this new project is called CanDo CanGrow. The Napa Community Garden and Connolly Ranch have already agreed to donate some garden space to raise plants for the Food Bank. Here are ways you, too, can help: Have a home garden? A garden at your place of work or your child’s school? Just pop an extra plant or two in the ground when you plant. Later, you can take that fresh produce directly to your local Emergency Food Pantry, or contact us if you need help. For locations of Napa Valley Emergency Food Pantries, go to canv.org or call 707-253-6128. Have extra seeds or plants to donate? Email: CanDoCanGrow@gmail.com. Give an hour or two of your time. Volunteers are needed to help prepare beds now and later to harvest or transport produce. You’ll be on a list to help only when it works with your schedule. FFI: Email Karen CanDoCanGrow@gmail.com. Help CanDo so that all our neighbors taste the riches of the Valley. One cucumber, one tomato at a time, together we can help provide better nutrition to all Napa County residents. CanDo Wat erwa ys Keepers: Helping to Keep our Wat erwa ys Sparkling by Margret Smetana Pittavino There is a growing movement worldwide to reduce litter in the environment, especially before it leaves land and ends up in our waterways. In the Napa Valley, debris enters from upriver and moves down, blows in from the banks and also flows back up from all points south when tides come in twice a day. The Waterways Keepers of Napa Valley CanDo join many organizations, bringing together volunteers to protect wildlife and the natural beauty and health of creeks and the Napa River. They can be seen along the banks removing styrofoam plates, plastic bags, cigarette butts and broken toys left behind by people who let their trash get away. But the benefits of this effort don’t stop here. Our river connects to waterways leading to the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean. Result: healthier, more abundant wildlife, cleaner recreational waters and less garbage added to the huge trash heap known as the North Pacific Gyre. Here are a few simple ways you can help: • Have a litterbag in your car. Keep it in the same place to get in the habit of using it. Cover loads in pick-up trucks so items don’t blow away. • If you smoke, never drop cigarette butts on the ground. They’re often eaten by birds that sicken and die, or wash straight down storm drains and directly into our waterways. Toxic chemicals in the filters enter aquatic ecosystems, threatening marine life. • Carry reusable bags with you instead of plastic ones. Plastic bags blown into waterways pose multiple hazards to wildlife. Remember to return clean bags to the bins in front of large grocery stores and pharmacies. • Avoid buying products like take-out food with styrofoam packaging. It breaks into tiny pieces that simply can’t be removed from the environment except by birds and fish that mistake them for food. • If you see something on the ground, pick it up. That’s one less piece of trash littering our landscape and waterways. • Join a clean-up event. One local opportunity involves CanDo Waterways Keepers clean-up days. FFI or to volunteer yourself, family or service group, email: Margret Smetana Pittavino at marsmetana@comcast.net. To learn more about what’s cooking with these and other CanDo projects, and how you can participate even more fully in your community, sign-up for CanDo’s weekly email newsletter, the “CanDo Connection.” It’s quick, fun, and we promise never to share your email address. Go to www.NVCanDo.org and click the “Join us” button or call 707.252.7743. To learn more about Napa Valley CanDo go to www.NVCanDo.org, email NVCanDo@ gmail.com or phone 707.252.7743
NVLife_SeptOct_2014
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