I hope you will take a few minutes to enjoy this amazing video submitted by our #Giving Tuesday Video Contest Winner – Meredith Bogush. We asked folks to make a short video about “What Sweetwater means to You.” We gave only about 10 days to shoot the video, edit, and get it back to us. I hope that you are as impressed and as moved as I was after watching it. Sweetwater is, after all, the embodiment of all of our efforts as a Community to create something meaningful, useful, and sustainable.
Just a little over a month ago, one of our Board Members emailed a video clip to the rest of the Board and asked us all to watch it. It was a Simon Sinek video about how to inspire great leadership. Simon’s talk centered around one major point – the idea that people often devote themselves to a specific cause or organization because they believe in WHY the organization does what it does.
And while Sweetwater “strives to be a model of a progressive, healthy and sustainable community in Tampa Bay” (taken straight from our strategic plan), I think that each of us have made some kind of personal or financial commitment to the Farm for our own special reason “WHY”. As the Program Director for the Farm for 4 years, I can tell you that I do what I do because we provide a creative environment for aspiring young farmers to learn about and grow beautiful food with the intention of healing our bodies and the earth. The whole process of mentoring and educating people; caring for the plants; and sharing the food creates an interconnection between the earth, the farmer, and our community that is unique and special. This interconnection and the strength it brings into my life is my personal “WHY”.
I’d be interested in knowing some of your “WHY’s”. If you’d like to share your story with us or provide feedback about Meredith’s video, please email me at programs@sweetwater-organic.org.
Speaking of “why”… I want to personally thank the 60 or so devoted Farm fans that called the weatherman’s bluff on Saturday evening and came out to our Planter’s Ball to enjoy this great place and some home-made food. We sure had fun.
I look forward to hearing from you. See you at the Farm.
Andrea Harms
Program Manager
programs@sweetwater-organic.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?