Donation Update

More reasons to donate to Forage Oakland:

This summer, I've been awarded the great opportunity to participate in a four month residency/fellowship for young artists, curators, and activists in which we twenty residents will have time to work on our individual projects in which we are engaged in in our home communities. In addition, we will have the opportunity to complete a collaborative public project that benefits the city and residents of Biella as a whole. I will be spending the four months writing a series of essays that will comprise a guide to starting one's own backyard fruit barter network anywhere where there is an abundance of backyard fruit that is under harvested. The guide will consist of essays on the ethics of harvesting public fruit; how best to approach one's neighbors; how- practically- to go about harvesting fruit in large quantities; and anecdotal stories gathered from my first year's experience beginning Forage Oakland. While I am thrilled about the opportunity to have four months with a creative, inspiring group of young activists, it's a bit of a catch twenty-two: this residency will allow me to accomplish an important goal of Forage Oakland- sharing lessons I've learned with the greater community- but at the same time, it will remove me from the very community in which I am involved.

I've received a generous grant to attend the summer residency in Biella, but there are other expenses that I'll incur. Please make a donation of any amount if you think this work is deserving. Please email me for the mailing address if you prefer to make a donation through the post. Gather ten friends and each donate $5.00! Alternately, gather 100 friends and each commit to donating $10.00! Any donation denomination is appreciated, and I'd be quite happy to give a presentation to any organization that supports me in my efforts this summer, explaining how the funds were put to use.

If you cannot support Forage Oakland with a monetary donation, please take a moment to vote for it on Idea Blob, a democratic project idea forum where by the project with the most votes wins $10,000. You do have to create a profile to vote, but I promise it'll just take a moment. Right now I am in the 95%, so I have a fair chance at winning. If I win, I'll also be able to hire a paid intern for the summer and autumn.

Thank you for your support!

Donate Now!

Forage Oakland is a backyard neighborhood barter project that works to utilize surplus backyard fruit that would otherwise be wasted. Neighbors in Berkeley and Oakland join the project and make same season or inter-seasonal barters with one another and by doing so, reap a host of benefits including the following:

• Exposure to delicious fruits
• Creating a community that knows one another and builds together. We can begin by building a viable local fruit network and can use the model to build other networks
• Utilizing backyard fruit that otherwise might be wasted
  

In April 2008, Forage Oakland began as a simple idea to tap into the waste stream of backyard fruit in Berkeley and Oakland neighborhoods. Forage Oakland is one of several organizations working to redistribute East Bay surplus backyard fruit and the harvesting, delivering, and membership are all free of charge. While this project is a labor of love, there are several projects that I'd like to complete that do require a bit of cold, hard cash. If you think this is a worthy cause, I encourage you to donate to this project! Donors will be thanked with a gift of jams made from fruits foraged in Berkeley and Oakland.

If you'd like to support Forage Oakland by making a monetary donation, please click on the 'Donate' button below. Gathered funds will be used for the following:

A bicycle cart which will aide in the delivery of fruits en masse.

Printing of the Foraged City guide, which will be a user's guide to creating your own urban barter network in any urban area where there is a surplus of backyard fruit.

Checks payable to Asiya Wadud, Forage Oakland.

Thank you!