The Philadelphia Foundation last week granted Triskeles money to fund an organizational effectiveness project to map out potential partners and clients in our area. We project the following outcomes from The Philadelphia Foundation grant:

• There will be a significant increase in Triskeles’ organizational strength and capability at minimum cost.
• We will enhance our ‘virtual capacity’ with new partnerships
• Triskeles’ visibility, as a leader in the provision of food education and programs, will be increased
• More area residents, youth and adults, will be served.

 Connie Carter, Corrine Sylvia (of Sylvia Carter Associates) and Laura Yayac (of Yayac Associates) are helping us on this grant.

A team of four from Professor Ray Sarnacki’s SJU graduate MBA class have taken on upgrading some of Triskeles’ marketing and publicity materials as a group project for the class. We were happy to meet with Carrie, Tina, Joe, and Tony on February 1st and get started with their work.

They will be working up their project proposal in the next week; the topic is upgrading some of Triskeles’ marketing and publicity materials. They seemed to have a lot of good ideas and we’re sure that we’ll benefit from their assistance. Three years ago a similar project laid the groundwork for the complete re-branding of our organization: new logo, color scheme, taglines, etc –all of which followed the SJU work and was funded by The Philadelphia Foundation.

St. Joseph's University MBA group: Carrie, Tony, Tina, and Joe at work at Triskeles

Mark meeting with Joe, Tina and Carrie

Triskeles has been fortunate to have lots of great people who are helping us to grow and add to our capacity to get things done. Especially this year we’ve been lucky to have two volunteers who put in long hours on several projects. Pandu and Lekha Rao moved to PA from Michigan to be near family, but they’ve taken on our cause in a wonderful way too. Both are frequent contributors to planning, fund raising, and other vital activities. We’re very grateful for their regular support

Pandu and Lekha at the main table and hard at work as usual

Two recent articles, one on a speech by Michelle Obama at the US Conference of Mayors and the other by Josh Viertel, head of the Slow Food movement, are worth reading. I’ve put their links to the right of this blog, please take a look!

Also, just in: An important posting by Allergy Kids. Summary:

“Today, one out of every three American children now has allergies, asthma, ADHD or autism, with 20 million children now affected by one of these conditions. The goal of AllergyKids is to inspire parents to protect the health of their children with food allergies. Our goal is to make it easier to identify a child with life threatening food allergies through our universal symbol for food allergies and to provide comprehensive independent research so that you can make the healthiest choices for your family.”

As the first independently funded food allergy organization, AllergyKids highlights previously undisclosed research addressing the recent introduction and engineering of allergens, proteins, food additives and dyes into our food supply and the impact that these novel proteins, chemicals and allergens have on the health and well being of women and their children.

In the last twenty years, the new childhood epidemics of allergies, asthma, autism and ADHD (also obesity and cancer) have increased dramatically:

€ 400% increase in allergies,

€ 300% increase in asthma,

€ 400% increase in ADHD

€ and an increase of between 1,500 and 6,000% in the number of children with autism-spectrum disorders.

Also, a book review:

The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It

In a first-person story as shocking as it is inspirational, The Unhealthy Truth reveals the alarming relationship between the manipulation of our food and the increase in dangerous allergies in our children and cancers in our families—and offers a road map to healthy living.

Link to the Right, folks!

Triskeles now has a Facebook group page!

We’ll  announce events and post photos, but also welcome you to write or share event photos.

We’ve posted two upcoming events: Making Worm Bins Wednesday, Jan. 27th in Germantown, PA and Seasonal Workshop at the Waldorf School in Kimberton, PA on Saturday, Feb. 6th. See the activities, time and place details on “Triskeles Inc.” events page of Facebook.

Join our conversation. Learn about upcoming events. Share us with your friends.

Triskeles was delighted to be honored by a drop-in visit from Kate Gundersen, the assistant Food For Thought director during our 2008 summer program. Kate is a senior at Colgate U this year, after a ‘grueling’ semester in France last spring perfecting the language, experiencing the dramatic French social activism, and mastering the fine French wines.

She said that she’s delighted to see the blog and many of the wonderful students she met during the ‘08 summer, and wishes them all well–as we wish her in her new adventures (still to be determined) as a college grad.

Ms. Kate and Mr. Mark in the Triskeles office

A visit to Organic Mechanics

With a movement toward local and organic gardening, it seems only natural that organic potting soil would play a role. Enter Mark Highland and his company, Organic Mechanics, which produces earth-friendly, 100% organic potting soil. They offer several varieties of soil that are mixed right at their local site, and have clearly thought through the environmental impacts of their products. Their peat-free products leave peat bogs undamaged, and the compost they use as a component helps reduce local waste (and contains lots of nutrients!) Their delivery trucks and equipment run on bio-diesel from local sources. You can find Organic Mechanics potting soil at many retailers, or check them out online at http://www.organicmechanicsoil.com/index.html .

Mr. Mark checks out the soil mixer

Coir, from coconuts, expands to 5 times this size when soaked.

The Triskeles Youth Fund was established this year to introduce young adults to philanthropy and giving. Triskeles Foundation President Clemens Pietzner did a summer workshop on philanthropy for the youth in our Food For Thought (FFT) program. Youth and staff then made small donations to a fund; money from sales of baked goods made during Food For Thought and sold at the farmers market were added, and Triskeles Inc Board President Ray Schneider added a donation.

Three youth from the summer program were chosen to decide where the money would be gifted. They chose organizations which had provided services to the communities where they lived: The Food Bank at the First United Church of Christ in Spring City (where the Park Spring garden donated food this summer); the Clinic in Phoenixville (which provides medical care to people without insurance); and Phoenixville Area Positive Alternatives (now housed at the great Franklin Commons complex on the North Side of Phoenixville.

Three of our FFT youth, Andre Griffing, Alexis Bacon, and Megan Appling-Lester, went with Youth Programs Director Mark Birdsall to each of these organizations on December 15th. One of the youth presented a check for $100 at each site to the staff. In turn, staff at each site talked with us about the mission of their organizations and the services they provide.

What a wonderful feeling to be able to give as a young person to organizations which are doing so many vital services in this area. Our thanks again to Donna Kern at the First UCC; Debbie Shupp, Marsha Hill, and Krys Sipple at the Clinic; and Emily Ashinhurst and Sandy Booth at PAPA for all the food, medical care, and educational/recreational programs they offer in Chester County. We wish it could have been $100,000 !