Exciting New Partnerships - Whole Foods in Newark!

There was a buzz in the air the morning of Wednesday, March 1^st as the highly anticipated Newark Whole Foods was set to open to the public!  Early that morning a large crowd assembled in the atrium of the Hahne and Company building to hear remarks from Whole Foods President Christina Minardi, Whole Cities Foundation Executive Director Meredith Smith, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. As part of the festivities, Whole Cities Foundation, a non-profit arm of Whole Foods, announced the winners of the 2017 Newark Fresh, Healthy Food Access Grant, and Newark Community Solutions was thrilled to be named one of 11 Newark recipients!  NCS’s winning plan will bring together staff, program participants and an intern from Rutgers -Newark to rejuvenate the NCS garden, part of the City of Newark’s Adopt-A-Lot Network.  Once the garden is thriving, all fruit, vegetables and herbs will be donated to the New Hope Baptist soup kitchen to complete the community service cycle of growing, harvesting, cooking and serving food to Newarkers in need.

Committed to growing the local food system and increasing access to fresh, healthy food in Newark, Newark Community Solutions is especially excited to partner with the Whole Cities Foundation and New Hope Baptist Church to begin our work providing new opportunities to members of the community.

To learn more about the ceremony, find Brick City Live’s article recapping the morning, here.

Winners of the  2017 Newark Fresh, Healthy Food Access Grant -
accepting for NCS was Planner, Jordan Otis (4th from left)