A Voice from the Eastern Door

Elder's Care Package Project Takes Off

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." Mother Teresa.

Jessica Shenandoah intends to do just that. Shenandoah has been busy organizing, gathering, preparing, and packing Elder Care Packages. Each package will include locally grown, whole and organic foods, dried medicine and salves, and home canned foods.

She worked on a similar project in early fall with summer interns using harvested food from Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Kaienthohsera Initiative/Garden Project.

The Garden Projects goal was to have summer students work with community members on their gardens, as the project developed, she found that most garden owners took care of their own. That left summer students with time on their hands and this is where she turned their energy and time into creating Elder Care Packages. She delivered 45 care packages throughout Akwesasne and each care package included freshly harvested vegetables, medicine and medicinal slaves, and even a small bundle of sweet grass.

Shenandoah said, "I'm so proud of my summer students, I felt like their 'Auntie'."

This time Shenandoah is on her own, gathering supporters and assistance along the way. Armed with 'experience' of the first care package delivery, she is confident she can assemble one hundred care packages for the Elders of Akwesasne's.

Shenandoah was inspired by Linda Black Elk efforts to deliver care packages to elders in North Dakota. Black Elk (Catawba) is an ethnobotanist specializing in traditional foods and medicines of the Great Plains. She is currently the Director of Food Sovereignty at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, ND, and is the mother to three Lakota sons. She also helped run the medical tent at Standing Rock in 2016-2017.

Shenandoah said, "I was going to wait to announce my project until I raised all the money, but I think now's the time with all the rising cases in Akwesasne. I wanted to do this project again and this time do 100 elder care packages. The project will cost around $7000 USD and I was going to fundraise all by myself. I reached out to several companies as well, who are willing to give me discounts on dried beans etc. So far, I have $2050 in donations."

She added, "These foods will be whole, healthy foods, from the garden or from the wild or from organic farms, dried beans and white corn etc. There is still time to get a few medicines, but there's not much left out there with all this frost."

The Onkwe Project reached out and is donating bear fat to be rendered down into a medicinal salve. Lea Zeise donate wild rice which will be repackaged into smaller bags. Sturge Lazore and his son donated white corn which will be washed, dried and ground for elders to use in corn mush, corn bread and other dishes. Jessica Danforth donated one hundred boxes of Traditional Tea (brand) and Whole Harmony donated one hundred packets of tea. Dr. Jessica Dolan will contribute $3000 in funds and volunteer work to assemble the food boxes, supported by a Community Action Program grant she obtained from Fulbright Canada, this fund is connected to Dolan's work as an ethnobotanist and staff member of Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance (NAFSA).

Also making a donation is CKON Radio, through their radio bingo Community Fund.

A number of community members gave monetary donations directly to Shenandoah's project through PayPal. Shenandoah and Erin Seymour are organizing on Online Elder's Care Package Auction which starts on Thursday, November 12 at 7:00 PM and ends on Saturday, November 21 at 11:00 PM . This can be found on Facebook.

Shenandoah said, "The Akwesasne community is so generous. Without their help, this wouldn't be anything. It bringing people together during this very challenging time. I want to thank everyone for their support."

Shenandoah plans to deliver Elder Care Packages in December.

If anyone is interested in donating to this project or partnering with Jessica Shenandoah, she can be reached on Facebook.

Monetary donations can be made at;

Paypal jessica_shenandoah@yahoo.com

etransfer jessica_shenandoah@yahoo.com

Donations for the online auction can be made by contacting Jessica Shenandoah or Erin Seymour.

 

Reader Comments(0)