nichole warwick’s door to...

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(continued next page) Summer 2013 Newsletter Nichole Warwick’s Door to Healing Interview conducted by Ceres Executive Director Cathryn Couch Nichole Warwick greets me at the front door of her Forestville home with a big smile and a hug. She looks vibrant. In June her doctor confirmed what I sensed, telling Nichole, “I think you are very healthy now.” It’s an incredible success story given what Nichole faced over the past seven months, and Ceres Community Project had a big part to play. A consultant to the Sebastopol School District and the mother of 13 and 16 year old boys, Nichole had spent the past few years bringing a host of exciting programs to elementary and junior high school students, from yoga and movement to recycling, composting and food growing. Her work was deeply meaningful. “I started these programs because they fed me and I was part of the community,” she told me. Everything changed the day her doctor called to tell her that she had stage 2 Breast Cancer with lymph involvement. “It was incredibly hard leaving my work. I suddenly felt so isolated and disconnected.” Within a week, on October 8, she began every other week chemotherapy sessions. For eleven days after the first session she could barely keep anything down – including pain medications she’d taken for years for Fibromyalgia. Withdrawal complicated and exacerbated her side effects. And then after just two sessions her doctors told her the drugs weren’t working. With limited choices, Nichole chose to have a double mastectomy. Ceres began delivering meals to Nichole, her husband Al and her two boys on October 19th. “When I was in the midst of those first chemotherapy sessions and not able to eat it was incredibly comforting to know that those meals were there for my family. And when I was able to eat, every Friday was like a mini holiday! Sometimes I would put all the food away in the fridge and then take a picture and share it with friends telling them ‘So much bounty! I feel so well loved.’” Nichole also credits the Ceres meals for making a big difference in how quickly she recovered from the surgery and told me that her doctors were also very surprised at how well she did. Getting the meals from Ceres helped Nichole feel connected to and nourished by the community. Thank you for helping us provide 34,500 meals to 240 clients in the first 7 months of this year – 70% more than last year. We’re excited to introduce COLOR to our newsletters. New technology allows us to share all the vibrant color of Ceres for just pennies more than our black and white costs. Nichole’s ordeal wasn’t over. Six weeks after the surgery, her doctors recommended a different form of chemo. Despite her reservations, she finally agreed to go ahead. Then, during her first session, Nichole went into anaphylactic shock. “For 10 days I thought I was going to die,” she told me. After she recovered Nichole followed her instincts and chose to focus on nutrition, acupuncture and other wellness practices. Nichole’s ‘Door to Healing’ art piece in process CERES COMMUNITY PROJECT

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Page 1: Nichole Warwick’s Door to Healingcerescommunityproject.org/PDF/Publications/2013SummerNewsletter_WEB.pdf · inspiring. Ceres’ meals inspired me and taught me how I wanted my vegetables

(continued next page)

Summer 2013 Newsletter

Nichole Warwick’s Door to HealingInterview conducted by Ceres Executive Director Cathryn Couch

Nichole Warwick greets me at the front door of her Forestville home with a big smile and a hug. She looks vibrant. In June her doctor confirmed what I sensed, telling Nichole, “I think you are very healthy now.” It’s an incredible success story given what Nichole faced over the past seven months, and Ceres Community Project had a big part to play.

A consultant to the Sebastopol School District and the mother of 13 and 16 year old boys, Nichole had spent the past few years bringing a host of exciting programs to elementary and junior high school students, from yoga and movement to recycling, composting and food growing. Her work was deeply meaningful. “I started these programs because they fed me and I was part of the community,” she told me. Everything changed the day her doctor called to tell her that she had stage 2 Breast Cancer with lymph involvement. “It was incredibly hard leaving my work. I suddenly felt so isolated and disconnected.”

Within a week, on October 8, she began every other week chemotherapy sessions. For eleven days after the first session she could barely keep anything down – including pain medications she’d taken for years for Fibromyalgia. Withdrawal complicated and exacerbated her side effects. And then after just two sessions her doctors told her the drugs weren’t working. With limited choices, Nichole chose to have a double mastectomy.

Ceres began delivering meals to Nichole, her husband Al and her two boys on October 19th. “When I was in the midst

of those first chemotherapy sessions and not able to eat it was incredibly comforting to know that those meals were there for my family. And when I was able to eat, every Friday was like a mini holiday! Sometimes I would put all the food away in the fridge and then take a picture and share it with friends telling them ‘So much bounty! I feel so well loved.’” Nichole also credits the Ceres meals for making a big difference in how quickly she recovered from the surgery and told me that her doctors were also very surprised at how well she did.

Getting the meals from Ceres helped Nichole feel connected to and nourished by the community.

Thank you for helping us provide 34,500 meals to 240 clients in the first 7 months of

this year – 70% more than

last year.

We’re excited to introduce COLOR to our newsletters. New technology allows us to share all the vibrant color of Ceres for just pennies more than our black and white costs.

Nichole’s ordeal wasn’t over. Six weeks after the surgery, her doctors recommended a different form of chemo. Despite her reservations, she finally agreed to go ahead. Then, during her first session, Nichole went into anaphylactic shock. “For 10 days I thought I was going to die,” she told me. After she recovered Nichole followed her instincts and chose to focus on nutrition, acupuncture and other wellness practices.

Nichole’s ‘Door to Healing’ art piece in process

C E R E S C O M M U N I T Y P R O J E C T

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“There are so many things about Ceres that were vital to my healing,” Nichole told me. “When I had to give up my work – the thing that had fed me for so long – Ceres became the way I kept connected to the community. Every week I would look at the Delivery Letter and read the names of all the teens that had helped prepare my meals. I always knew at least a few of them and I’d think about the fact that I had mentored them and now they were pouring love into my food.”

Vegetables now play a starring role in her family’s diet, making up 75% of the meal instead of 25%. And when her husband cooks these days Nichole’s request is at least three vegetables instead of the one she used to insist on. “The food we received was incredibly good, and the combinations of flavors were really inspiring. Ceres’ meals inspired me and taught me how I wanted my vegetables to taste.”

So many clients tell us that learning to receive is one of the hardest lessons – and biggest gifts – of being a Ceres client. Nichole agreed and shared that the five months she and her family received meals gave her the time to reconnect with her own body and learn how to better care for and nourish herself. “That’s where my biggest learning came,” she told me. “I used to tell myself I could only eat at a certain time, or eat a certain amount of food. If the boys weren’t hungry I wouldn’t eat even if I was hungry. I had certain attitudes about my body and food that impaired my ability to love myself. Receiving the meals from Ceres gave me the time to unwind those beliefs and helped me learn to give my body what it needed for optimum health.” These days Nichole is learning to trust her body, napping when she’s tired, eating nourishing food when she’s hungry, and making time for what she cares about. She told me that she feels

great, and for the first time in years she is off all the pharmaceutical drugs she was taking for Fibromyalgia.

Recently a friend invited Nichole to create an art piece for an exhibition called “Open Minds Open Hearts Open Doors” for the Open Doors Art Project benefiting Habitat for Humanity. Nichole’s inspiration was “my door to healing”. While it’s hard to let her door go to its new home, she’s taking comfort that the images that nourished her will ripple out to heal others in the months and years to come. ♥

Requests for Service Way Up over 2012

The demand for Ceres’ services is higher than it’s ever been. Nichole’s family is just one of the 240 clients that you’ve helped support with 34,500 meals during the first seven months of 2013. This represents a 70% increase over the 20,300 meals Ceres delivered during the first half of 2012.

Ceres clients come from all walks of life. During the first half of 2013 more than half of our clients have had household incomes below $25,000 and 29% had

household incomes below $10,000. For these clients in particular, the high quality organic meals that Ceres delivers would be out of reach without our support. Two-thirds of clients have been women and one-third men. Clients have ranged in age from 22 to 91 years of age, with 10% under age 40, 44% between 41 and 59, and just 46% 60 or older. For the 54% of clients under age 60--who don’t qualify for Meals on Wheels--Ceres is the only available option for prepared and delivered meals during their illness. ♥

“Receiving the meals from Ceres

gave me the time to unwind

those beliefs and helped me learn to give my body

what it needed for optimum health.”

Nichole Warwick

Inaugural “Local Foods” Parent Dinner A group of lucky parents recently enjoyed a local foods feast and gained a deeper understanding of the role their teens play at Ceres and in our community. About 60 parents and friends gathered on June 22nd for a Ceres-style dinner planned, prepared and served by our teen chefs and gardeners, and featuring foods sourced from within 100 miles of Sebastopol.

The evening gave Ceres’ staff a chance to honor the commitment, heart and skill that our teen volunteers bring to the kitchen and garden each week, while parents had a chance to connect with

each other and learn more about Ceres and just how beautiful, delicious and nourishing the food is that their teens prepare. As Margaret Howe, Director of Sonoma County Programs, said to the parents that evening: “Teens get a bad rap out in the world, but at Ceres we see them differently and know that the common attitude about teens is way off. We experience teens as creative, caring, capable and wanting to engage and make a difference in the world; your teens make us (Ceres’ staff) cry every day.”

We look forward to making this gathering an annual tradition at Ceres! ♥

Ceres Community Project Teen Program intends to have each teen:

1. Experience growing, cooking and eating healthy, whole foods.

2. Gain cooking and gardening skills, and learn how to prepare a healthy meal.

3. Understand where food comes from and why organic, local sources are crucial to a healthy life and planet.

4. Discover new parts of themselves, gain self confidence and become more empowered.

5. Understand the link between what they eat and both their health and the health of the planet.

6. Discover that they hold the ability to positively impact lives and their world, and that there is joy in doing so.

7. Experience working with a wide variety of people and how to work as a team.

8. Gain real-life job skills that will translate into the work world and beyond.

9. Awaken a greater capacity for compassion and gain a greater ability to be with suffering.

I wanted you to know that there are so many lessons that my daughters, and I’m sure all the teens, are getting from being with such sweet people, who are dedicated to doing right for others. Lily’s bent on choosing a career “that will make a difference in the world” and it is good for her to see that “chefs” are in that category as well as environmentalist, doctors, biologist, zoologist etc.

So continue changing the world, one meal, one client and one teen at a time.

Love and gratitude, Teen Parent Julie

A Ceres Teen…• Works as part of a unified team.

• Takes responsibility.

• Keeps her/his energy positive and enthusiastic.

• Honors commitments.

• Is caring and welcoming to all.

• Puts passion and love into the food.

• Looks for what is needed and does it.

Nichole’s “door to healing” is on display in the Community Garden at First United Methodist Church in Santa Rosa until September when it will be auctioned.

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Clients Make Healthy Eating a Priority

What clients say about their Ceres experience:

I feel like strangers somewhere are helping me survive cancer and find hope.

Ceres gave me a foundation for making positive changes in my way of eating.

I learned how to begin to view food as medicine and to make healthy dietary choices in my life. . . and that there is no end to the possibility of eating for life.

I felt love from strangers and discovered that I wasn’t alone.

I am the healthiest I have ever been in my life.

• Clients increase their fruit consumption by 50% and their vegetable consumption by 61%.

• Nearly 80% of clients say they are eating less packaged/processed food, fast food and white flour.

• 100% rated it extremely important that the healthy food helped them recover more quickly, and 83% rated it extremely important that they learned a lot about nutrition and healthy eating.

• 82% of clients told us that their weight moved in a positive direction because of the meals we provided.

This year we’ll deliver 60,000 beautiful, delicious and nutrient-rich meals to more than 400 clients struggling with a serious illness. The meals provide vital nourishment, help clients know they are cared for, relieve stress and help teach them to become committed to healthy choices:

• The percentage of clients who describe their diet as “Only dinners from scratch with lots of fresh vegetables” more than doubles from 17% - 39% of respondents.

• The percentage of clients who rank “Healthy for me” as their most important priority when choosing what to eat increases by 49%, from 53% - 79% of respondents.

Ceres Delivery Angel Heather dropping off the week’s food to Client Ron

Barry and Client Cris enjoying a Ceres meal

We hope you are as excited as we are by seeing the tremendous difference that our work is making – for the clients and their families that we support, and for the youth that help make it all happen every day in the Ceres Community Garden and kitchen. Thank you for helping renew health and hope – one family, one teen, and one garden fresh meal at a time. ♥

Teen & Client Survey Results Prove Big Impact!Every day at Ceres we hear and see how our work together is giving people hope, nourishing them and their families, and helping young people learn to cook and eat for health while they discover their power to make a difference. Now we are excited to share preliminary results from a US Department of Food & Agriculture funded evaluation study. It shows that both teens and clients are profoundly impacted by their participation at Ceres, and are making changes that will pay dividends for a lifetime.

Teens Become Advocates for Healthy Eating

This year nearly 300 young people will help grow the vegetables and prepare the meals for our clients during 13,000 hours of service learning. We ask teens to complete a survey when they join the program and then again after they’ve participated for six months.

Teens that are part of Ceres Community Project eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, increase the variety of vegetables they eat, cook more often, and become advocates for healthier eating among their friends and family. Here are some highlights:

• The percentage of teens who say they cook from scratch at least once a week increases by 31% from 64 to 84% of respondents.

• The percentage of teens who rank “Healthy for me” as their most important priority when choosing

what to eat increases by 65%, from 23% - 38% of teens.

• The percentage of teens who report eating at least 3 servings of vegetables a day increases by 27% after six months at Ceres.

• Teens are 48% more likely to encourage their friends to make different healthier food choices, and 50% more likely to encourage their family to do the same.

• Consumption of nearly all categories of unhealthy foods declines (the only one that doesn’t is baked goods – which we hope they are now making themselves!).

• 61% of teens say they are extremely confident that they can prepare a healthy meal and the remaining 39% say they are fairly confident that they can do this.

What teens say about their Ceres experience:

We care so much about each other and that is the reason our meals are full of love for our wonderful clients.

[I’ve learned] how food can change people’s lives.

Working at Ceres is an honor that I take very seriously and I always look forward to one thing about my week – going to Ceres.

It’s such a positive, healthy environment to work in and I’ve benefitted from it so much.

I’ve learned what a shocking difference eating healthy can make in your everyday life.

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WHOA Farm Grows Vegetables with Love for People in Need

With t-shirts that read “The best food money can’t buy” our partners at Work Horse Organic Agriculture share Ceres Community Project’s mission to insure that everyone – regardless of income – has access to high quality, organically grown fruits and vegetables. With more than 100 acres off Petaluma Hill Road in Santa Rosa, WHOA Farm is the brain-child of Leadership Donors Eddie Gelsman and Wendy Mardigian. Although they’d been feeding their family from a two-acre home garden for years, in 2010 Gelsman and Mardigian realized that they had to do more. “We just couldn’t

sit on the sidelines anymore,” Gelsman said. “Too many people are going hungry. We wanted to start the fight locally.”

The idea was to grow organic produce, model farming with horses (the work horse part), and give everything away to non-profit partners that help feed people in need and educate the community about the power of healthy eating. Starting with a 5-acre parcel, they’ve slowly bought 100 acres and currently have 15 acres in production. Farmers Elli and Balyn Rose, who met while studying sustainable agriculture at UC Santa Cruz, joined the team in

2012 and live on the farm with their one-year old daughter Olivia. WHOA Farm’s goal is to create a model of sustainable

farming with low carbon impact, and to have the produce they grow make the biggest possible difference for families in need.

WHOA Farm’s partnership with Ceres developed after Eddie and Wendy attended our 2011 Harvest of the Heart event then came to Ceres to see the teens in action as they prepared meals for our clients. “We were so moved by how Ceres empowers young people, and by how productive and engaged the teens are. We want the food we grow to have real impact. With youth involved and clients learning about good nutrition as well as getting these beautiful meals, Ceres really leverages the contribution we make. We can’t imagine a more perfect partner.”

Last year WHOA Farm grew more than 15,000 pounds of produce and Ceres was the grateful beneficiary of a third of this bounty – some 5,000 pounds of produce and nearly 500 dozen pastured organic eggs valued at about $14,000. Eddie’s a regular visitor on Monday mornings, arriving with cases of freshly picked and nutrition-packed produce that our teen chefs turn into beautiful, delicious and nourishing meals for our clients. In addition to supporting our Healing Meals program, WHOA also partners with Ceres’ Nutrition for Wellness Program, every other week nutrition education classes offered free of charge to West County Health Centers’ patients. During heavy production months WHOA delivers

Ceres Culinary Class offers Teens School Credit for ServiceStarting this fall, teens working at Ceres will have the option to earn school credit for their volunteer service. Thanks to a partnership with Sonoma County Office of Education, Ceres will be home to the first non-school based Regional Occupational Program culinary class. Called Ceres Culinary Class, students will work 7½ to 8 hours in the kitchen and garden as well as attending a 2½ hour

class taught by Ceres Executive Chef Rob Hogencamp. Enrolled students can earn 10 credits per semester.

Students from any high school in the county can enroll for this ROP class. To enroll, sign up at Ceres with Margaret Howe ([email protected] ) or Rob Hogencamp ([email protected]), or register at your school in the Fall. ♥

Last year WHOA Farm grew more than 15,000 pounds of produce and Ceres was the grateful beneficiary of a third of

this bounty – some 5,000 pounds of produce and

nearly 500 dozen pastured organic eggs valued at

about $14,000.

freshly picked bags of produce to the clinic and every patient coming to class goes home with a bag of beautiful food to help them put what they’ve learned into practice.

Like Ceres, WHOA Farm is an expression of love and of the responsibility and opportunity we each have to make a difference in our world. Every day, WHOA’s produce nourishes and

transforms people’s lives, knitting relationships of caring across our community. Thank you WHOA Farm for helping us create meals that heal for our clients struggling with serious illness, and for helping our teen chefs learn to cook and eat for health while discovering the joy of giving. To learn more about WHOA Farm visit them at whoafarm.org. ♥

Balyn with his one-year old daughter Olivia

Wendy Mardigian and Eddie Gelsman

Without this program I probably would never have gained an appreciation for something as simple as food or something as complex as life. I have learned not to take these things for granted and appreciate what I have.Ceres Teen Chef

Ceres Executive Chef Rob Hogencamp inspecting a recipe with Teen Chef Jenna

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Save the DateMusic, Munchies and Beer - a New Ceres Event at Lagunitas Beer Sanctuary, PetalumaTuesday, October 15th, 5:30-8:30pm $25.00 per person

Bring your friends and gather with the Ceres community for a fun and puposeful evening. Stay tuned for details on live music and more!

Upcoming Classes & Events

Visit our website to register

and get more information about

our classes and events.

www.CeresProject.org

While you’re there, like us on Facebook and sign up for our

monthly e-newsletter.

All events and classes take place at

7351 Bodega Avenue unless otherwise noted.

Harvest of the HeartCeres Community Garden August 17, 5:00-9:00pm See page 10.

Upcoming Volunteer OrientationsAugust 20 or September 17 or November 19, 5:30-6:30pmTake the first step to becoming a part of our vibrant community of volunteers. Please register at www.CeresProject.org.

Tea & Talk: Ceres Community Connections

Wisdom Healing Qigong with Cherie Goodwin-Lippard August 27, 6:00-7:30pmThrough gentle movements, visualization, sound and conscious intention, this ancient practice restores the life energy and creative power within, helping to prevent and heal illness.

Tea & Talk: Ceres Community Connections

Love Life: The Healing Power of Celebrationwith Maria Freebairn-SmithOctober 22, 6:00-7:30pmUsing the tools of Motion Theater®, this evening will combine lively conversation, simple sounding and movement explorations and the rich exchange of our everyday lives.

Healing Foods Cooking Course SeriesSeptember 6, 13, 20, 27 OR October 18, 25, November 1, 8Learn more about or register for this 16-hour interactive, hands-on course geared towards those recovering from serious illness by visiting our website. www.CeresProject.org/HFCC

Healing Foods BasicsSeptember 24 OR November 26, 6:00-7:30pmCome and learn about Ceres’ food philosophy and our approach to wellness, while connecting to others in your community. www.CeresProject.org/HFB

Exchange Bank: a Model of Community Spirit

Exchange Bank has been sponsoring Ceres Community Project since 2011, and this year they have doubled their investment in our work by signing on as major sponsors of Harvest of the Heart, our annual fundraising event.

Exchange Bank is a local leader in giving back to the community. Their longest standing and perhaps best-known program has been the Doyle Scholarship, which since 1948 has awarded $76 million to 115,000 Santa Rosa Junior College students.

The bank’s efforts have been recognized with a number of recent awards, including the United Way’s Campaign Excellence Award for 2012-2013, Blue Ribbon Corporate Sponsor Award from the Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Fair (2013), the Association of Fundraising Professional’s 2012 Spirit of Philanthropy Award, and the Corporate Champion prize for the 2012 Human Race for raising $60,186 for local nonprofits.

Exchange Bank supports numerous local non-profits and fosters a spirit of volunteerism among their employees. One such employee is Lori Zaret,

Assistant Vice President and Human Resources Officer, who learned of Ceres from two members of our Board of Directors and went on to serve on Ceres’ Human Resource Committee, helping us to design our Employee Handbook and programs. Other bank employees serve as Delivery Angels through their Rotary Club.

In Lori’s case, volunteering for Ceres became a family affair once her son also got involved as a Teen Chef. Lori shared that his involvement in Ceres changed his life, and caused him--and by extension, his family--to completely transform their approach to eating. Lori credits the lasting changes her family made to their diet with helping her to improve her health and lose forty pounds.

We’re grateful to all of the sponsors of this year’s Harvest of the Heart event, including Exchange Bank. It’s thanks to their underwriting of event costs that 100% of the money we raise at the event goes straight into funding our programs, bringing the experience that Lori and her son had to more families, and delivering more healing meals to individuals and families facing a health crisis. ♥

Board Members

Sharon Keating, PresidentJoe Marshall, MBA, TreasurerDeborah Vogan, SecretarySonya Dexter, Teen MemberKen Maiolini Kellie NoeJudi PereiraPadi Selwyn

Ambassador Council

Donald I. Abrams, M.D., Chief of the Hematology-Oncology Division, San Francisco General Hospital

Dr. Keith Block, Co-Founder, Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment

Jed Emerson, Executive Vice-President, ImpactAssets

James S. Gordon, M.D., Founder and Director, Center for Mind Body Medicine

Rebecca Katz, MS, Author, Cancer Fighting Kitchen

Michael Lerner, President and Co-Founder, Commonweal

Dr. Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN, CHN, Author, Digestive Wellness

Michael Pollan, Author and Director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism, University of California at Berkeley

Brian Swimme, PhD, Professor of Cosmology, California Institute of Integral Studies

Teen Education Challenge Gift CampaignOur heartfelt thanks to the over 122 people who contributed to the teen education challenge gift campaign. Through a huge outpouring of last minute donations we far exceeded the $20,000 that we needed to secure the $20,000 challenge gift.

Simply put, this means we now have over $50,000 to grow the impact of the Teen Education program!

We’re deeply grateful for this wise and wonderful investment that so many have chosen to make. It not only supports our teens. It will also provide organic, whole foods meals to our clients and their families.

Working together with you we are creating a future built on compassion, generosity, connection, nourishment, and the recognition of our profound interdependence.

Thank you! ♥

Ceres works so well because of its many teams; the teens, the volunteers, the staff, its board and its donors. As a donor I feel even more connected to the Ceres family when I’m part of a challenge-grant team. We don’t know each other but we all know it feels doubly rewarding when we write that check!Ceres Leadership Donor, Ron Treleven

I have found a love for helping people and spending time with others who do as well. The only place that I have ever found this is at Ceres. Thank you so much for the opportunity.Ceres Teen Chef

Bill Schrader, President and CEO, Ed Gomez, SVP/Credit Administrator, Gary Hartwick, EVP/Chief Operating Officer, part of Exchange Bank’s 2013 Human Race team

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Highlights from our AuctionEat well. Do good.

An Invitation to Harvest of the Heart, Ceres’ Annual FundraiserSaturday August 17, 5:00 to 9:00pmCeres Community GardenO’Reilly Media, 1005 Gravenstein Hwy N. Sebastopol

Tickets $150 each, tables of 8 - $1200

Please join us in the Ceres Community Garden for an evening of food prepared by a gathering of the finest chefs in Sonoma County paired with some of the world’s best wines, all served in the Ceres way—with warmth, generosity, and abundance of spirit!

You’ll not only enjoy yourself thoroughly—you’ll also help us raise needed funds to provide 60,000 organic healing meals to our clients and their families this year!

The evening begins with a garden reception featuring an array of culinary delights paired with local wine, cider, beer, and a signature naturally fermented soda. Bid on an exceptional selection of silent auction items ranging from gift certificates to favorite local restaurants

One of a Kind Sculpture from Patrick Amiot and Brigitte LaurentObjects destined for the dump are integral to the renowned junk-art sculptures created by Patrick Amiot and meticulously painted and brought to life by his wife, Brigitte Laurent. Now you can have your own unique sculpture created by Patrick and Brigitte exclusively for Harvest of the Heart.

East Meets West Gourmet Wine-Paired Dinner for 8East Meets West when chefs and friends John Ash and Barbara Hom team up to create an exquisite six course wine-paired dinner. Considered the “father of Wine Country cuisine,” John has been a proponent of fresh, organic and seasonal food since the 1980’s. The former manager of Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, Barbara has been a premier wine country caterer for over 20 years.

Tickets are limited! Get yours today at

www.CeresProject.org

to adventures, outings and guest stays. Enjoy live bluegrass music with Marshall and David Thiessen as you explore the garden.

Then sit down to a multi-course family style dinner prepared by Chef Josh Silvers and the Ceres Teen Chefs paired with wines from Hafner Family Vineyards and Wind Gap Wines that will delight and nourish body and soul.

You’ll hear inspiring stories from Ceres’ clients and teens. Thrill to our live auction featuring a week’s stay at a fantastic Baja guesthouse, an exciting Foodie Mystery Tour, an adorable custom-made chicken coop with all the supplies and much more! Also back by popular demand: our “Golden Ticket” raffle, with the winner choosing one of six live auction items.

A scrumptious dessert buffet with confections from renowned local pastry chefs and coffee from Bella Rosa Coffee Company will conclude the evening. ♥

Local Celebrity ChefsBarbara Hom, Nightowl Catering

Daniel Kedan, Backyard Restaurant

Jeff Mall, Zin Restaurant & Wine Bar

Karen & Lucas Martin, K&L Bistro

Frank Miller, Chef to the Stars

Josh Silvers, Three Squares, Jackson’s Bar & Oven

and Ceres’ own Executive Chef, Rob Hogencamp with our Teen Chefs

Featuring...Apple Sauced CiderBella Rosa Coffee CompanyCopain WinesCoturri WineryHafner VineyardThe KefiryLagunitas Brewing CompanyMatanzas Creek WineryOliver’s Market BakerySonoma County Poultry/Liberty DuckVillage BakeryWind Gap Wines

and…Wood-fired pizzaSumptuous family-style dinnerArtisan cheese courseDessert buffet

Wine & Cheese Tasting with Ziggy “The Wine Gal”Bring five of your best friends and enjoy an educational and fun-filled experience with Ziggy The Wine Gal. You’ll meet at Ziggy’s home and enjoy a selection of extraordinary wines from her personal cellar paired with some of the very best local cheeses.

Considered one of the most enthusiastic, authoritative and entertaining libation experts, Ziggy is a driving force behind the national movement towards making wine hip, fun and accessible.

Full House Instant Wine Cellar – Bubbles, Whites, Reds, Port, Aged Wines & Magnums

One lucky guest will go home with an instant wine cellar of incredible Sonoma and Napa County wines valued at $2,500. We’ll be selling just 52 cards for $100 each in this raffle. Includes wines from Rack & Riddle Winery, Hawley Winery, Lynmar Estate, Winsdor Oaks Vineyards and Winery, Preston Vineyards, KAZ Winery, Outpost Wines, Woodenhead Winery, ZD Wines and more!

Thanks to our sponsors, 100% of auction and

tickets sales go directly to fund our work.

The HeckFoundation

Bee Sculpture from Harvest of the Heart 2012

John Ash Barbara Hom

Ziggy “The Wine Gal”

Last Year’s Winner!

Page 7: Nichole Warwick’s Door to Healingcerescommunityproject.org/PDF/Publications/2013SummerNewsletter_WEB.pdf · inspiring. Ceres’ meals inspired me and taught me how I wanted my vegetables

CERES COMMUNITY PROJECT 7351 BODEGA AVENUE SEBASTOPOL CA 95472

WWW.CERESPROJECT.ORG

707·829·5833

Coming soon to a screen near you: a new short film about Ceres’ work and impact, starring our fabulous volunteers and inspiring clients. Watch for it in September!

Join us for our biggest fundraising event of the year,

at the Ceres Community Garden

Saturday August 17 5:00 to 9:00pm

Tickets are limited! Get yours today at

www.CeresProject.org