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While the Gendler Grapevine Project is moving into its sunset phase, we have been busy behind the scenes. One thing we’ve been working on is our Capstone Initiatives. These larger-in-scope and longer-term initiatives focus on two key aspects of the Gendler Grapevine Project’s goals: replicability and longevity. Both capstone initiatives reach beyond their local communities and strive to provide a solid foundation to address social justice and environmental issues.

New Roots, based out of Louisville, KY, will be building on their model for Jewish community engagement in food justice and grapevining and pollinating the project in other communities in their region. They will start this by working with two other cities with JCCs in the Ohio River Valley Region, conducting a series of small food justice workshops/discussions with leaders in these communities. They will host visits for the Ohio River Valley Region communities and develop a  plan to spread food justice into the region’s Jewish communities, either through Fresh Stop Markets or another channel that fits in with the communities’ hopes and dreams for their future. Read more about New Roots’ capstone initiative.

Hazon, based out of New York City, is a leader in developing educational materials for teachers and engaged students. For their capstone initiative, Hazon will be expanding their lesson plans and developing curriculum that will be available for Teva schools at their Connecticut-based retreat center and on their website. These classes will be built as stand-alone lessons, so they can more easily be incorporated into the school setting. In addition, Hazon will be adding a Gendler Grapevine Project curricula section to the Teva page on their website, which will include all three of their Gendler Grapevine Project initiatives. Read more about the Hazon capstone initiative.