In the News - garden lottery, blood drives

Registration open for Franklin Community Garden lottery

by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Blood drives to be held in Franklin

by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Franklin, MA

Community Gardens: Build Day

Volunteers worked in teams to put the beds together:



The beds are located at the King St fields:



Some of the beds close to the entrance provide handicap access with a good stone dust surface:



Work in progress on Saturday afternoon:



More info about the Community Gardens can be found
http://www.franklincommunitygardens.org/


Franklin, MA

And then there were gardens!

The Community Gardens made great progress on Saturday, that large step from a dream to reality happened! Over 40 folks participated, overcoming some minor obstacles (re-charging handheld tools, and a hail storm) to put together the 46 garden beds.

Time lapse photos shows the progress during the course of the day (photos every 30 seconds)




Julie Balise from the Milford Daily News came back to gather info for her story:

Garden takes shape in Franklin park

by Julie Balise/Daily News staff

Master gardener, Chris Clay wrote about the success on his blog (the source of the time lapse photos)
http://thecluelessgardeners.blogspot.com/2011/05/gardening-for-greater-good.html

A longer post is on the Community Gardens website here
http://www.franklincommunitygardens.org/2011/05/build-day-success.html


What's next?
If you want to plant and garden on one of the beds, sign up for the lottery before the drawing on May 23.
http://www.franklincommunitygardens.org/2011/05/garden-registration-is-officially-open.html


Thanks to all, the hard work is done.



Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: School Committee - Agenda - 5/10/11

Vision Statement

The Franklin Public Schools will foster within its students the knowledge and skills to find and achieve satisfaction in life as productive global citizens.

Mission Statement

The Franklin Public Schools, in collaboration with the community, will cultivate each student's intellectual, social, emotional and physical potential through rigorous academic inquiry and informed problem solving skills within a safe, nurturing and respectful environment.

"The listing of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law."

1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the April 27, 2011 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills Mr. Glynn
Payroll Mrs. Douglas
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: Budget to Actual

2. Guests/Presentations
a. New Assistant Principals
b. Teen Angels
c. Music Department – Nancy Schoen
d. Art Department – Mike Caple

3. Discussion Only Items
Policy - First Reading – KF – Community Use of School Facilities

4. Action Items
a. I recommend acceptance of the donation from the Franklin Music Boosters as detailed to the FPS Music Department. (Total donation value: $3,628.24)
b. I recommend approval of the Middle School Music student trip to Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH on Friday, June 17, 2011 as detailed.
c. I recommend acceptance of a check for $294.00 from Wells Fargo for in-house enrichment at FHS.

5. Information Matters
Superintendent’s Report

School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
School Committee Liaison Reports

6. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.

7. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations

8. Adjourn

Budget Monitor: The House Fiscal Year 2012 Budget

Explore our online budget database Is our research helpful to you? Support our work Contact Info   Noah Berger   President   nberger@massbudget.org   (617) 426-1228 x102   Tom Benner   Communications Director   tbenner@massbudget.org   (617) 426-1228 x100 Budget Monitor: The House Fiscal Year 2012 Budget May 6, 2011     The final budget approved by the House of Representatives for Fiscal Year 2012 includes modestly more funding than recommended by the House Ways & Means Committee in several areas, but largely follows the HWM proposal in implanting deep cuts across state government.  The most significant amendments adopted were in health care accounts, specifically funding for a half year of the Commonwealth Care Bridge program, which provides health insurance for close to 19,000 legal immigrants, and adult day health services for the elderly and disabled. These and other amendments affecting areas throughout the state budget are described in the new report Budget Monitor: The House Fiscal Year 2012 Budget.  The report also compares the final House budget to the Governor's proposal and to the current budget (Fiscal Year 2011), and provides some comparisons to funding levels from before the recent recession.      The report is available at www.massbudget.org or by clicking here.  See MassBudget's Budget Browser to explore Massachusetts state budgets from Fiscal Year 2001 to the present, as well as budget proposals for the next fiscal year as they are offered by the Governor and the Legislature.     MassBudget provides independent research and analysis of state budget and tax policies, as well as economic issues, with particular attention to the effects on low- and moderate-income people.

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Calling for the Pantry

$20 will feed your neighbor for a month.

The First Annual "Calling for the Pantry" phone drive was successful but you can still help by making a contribution.

You can write out a check and mail it to the Food Pantry:

Franklin Food Pantry
P.O. Box 116
Franklin, MA 02038-0116

If you would like to make a secure online donation you can do so here:

$

The Food Pantry and those we serve, thank you for your contribution!

The Franklin Food Pantry is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

We believe in the power of community. Our mission is to connect the resources needed to sustain a healthy life.

The Food Pantry website can be found here: http://franklinfoodpantry.org/

Join us Saturday, May 7th or next Saturday, May 14th

A Big Thank You to all neighbors who received calls for help this past weekend and to all our volunteers.  More than 40 volunteers reached out to our community for our first annual Phonathon.  We are so grateful to be surrounded by very generous neighbors.  Pledge forms were mailed out this week and we look forward to calculating our final numbers.  Donations are still being accepted securely on our website, www.franklinfoodpantry.org. 

Join the Franklin Community Garden in building 46 raised garden beds, Saturday, May 7th @ the King Street Playground (located off of King Street near the intersection of Forest Street). Volunteers will be building the beds and then filling them up with gorgeous soil!  There are 2 shifts (9am - 12noon or 1pm - 4pm) or you can join us the whole day!  No amazing "building skills" required.  All the wood will be pre-cut, so if you know how to hold a piece of wood or can help shovel, all extra community hands are welcome!  Please bring cordless drills, shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, pitch forks etc. if you have them. 

Next Saturday, May 14th is Stamp Out Hunger day. Stamp Out Hunger is the Nation's Largest Single Day Food Drive.  We need many volunteers from 2pm - 6pm @ the Pantry to help us sort the thousands of pounds of anticipated food donations.  Please consider leaving a bag of items from our attached needs list at your mailbox on Saturday morning, May 14th and our letter carriers will pick up and deliver to the Franklin Food Pantry.  Thank you to the Franklin Post Office and Letter Carriers. 

Season 2 of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution will return with all new episodes beginning Friday, June 3rd at 9pm ET/8pm CT. If you've missed either of the first two episodes, they will be airing back-to-back on Friday May 27th at 8:00 and 9:00 pm ET (7 and 8 CT) or you can watch them on www.abc.com.   We invite you to help by spreading the word and joining the revolution: 

Are you a backyard gardener (or do you know a backyard farmer)?  Do you want to plant an extra row this year to help our neighbors in need?  We are starting a Plant a Row program and are getting ready to open registration and distribute row markers and brochures.  If you are interested in participating, please email PlantARow@franklinfoodpantry.org. 

We are celebrating a recent grant received from the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation to launch our Produce Points program at the Franklin Farmers Market in June 2011.  Produce Points is modeled after the Double Value Coupon Program developed by Wholesome Wave.  Stay tuned.

Michelle Clay of Franklin has generously volunteered to create a food resource cookbook for the Franklin Food Pantry and is inviting you all to be recipe testers.  You can find more information and many recipes here  (Thank you Michelle!)  http://pantrycookbook.blogspot.com/ Good food nourishes the body and the spirit. With regular, nutritious meals, we are free to grow, to think, to smile, to live.  In 2011, we will expand our capacity to provide our clients with a wide range of opportunities for gaining access to local, fresh, nutritious food.  Our free Farmer's Market for clients was a great success in 2010 and thanks to generous Donors we look forward to working with Grateful Farm to continue this program beginning in June 2011. 

In 2011, we hope to continue to learn with you, our community, the many elements of nutrition, food systems, local resources and to explore the questions, "What is food?" and "Where does our food come from?".   We believe everyone has the right to access healthy, affordable food choices.

Please contact annemarie@franklinfoodpantry.org if you are interested in working together on any of the programs mentioned or if you have a great idea that may align well with any of the above. 

Please forward to any friends or family who may be interested.

Thank You

--
Anne Marie Bellavance
Franklin Food Pantry
43 West Central Street
PO Box 116
Franklin, MA  02038
(508) 528-3115
www.franklinfoodpantry.org