http://youtu.be/nGeXdv-uPaw

via ‪Shes Alive… Beautiful… Finite… Hurting… Worth Dying for.‬‏ – YouTube.

Please write us a check for $25,000 for a new Toyota.

OR

Please VOTE (totally FREE) on July 11 in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good contest.

One click can win us some wheels.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS AND TO VOTE.

[Click Here if you want to to save the date as a Facebook Event].

Thank You!

More . . .

LAND CONSERVATION AND ADVOCACY TRUST, INC.

NAMED FINALIST IN TOYOTA 100 CARS FOR GOOD PROGRAM

Toyota to Donate Vehicle to Local Nonprofit Organizations Based on Public Votes

FRAMINGHAM, MA – JUNE 27, 2011 – Framingham-based organization, Land Conservation Advocacy Trust, Inc. (“LCAT”) is one of 500 finalists in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program, which has been awarding vehicles to 100 nonprofit organizations based on votes from the public beginning May 9, 2011.

Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program will showcase five non-profit organizations each day for 100 days on Toyota’s Facebook page, facebook.com/toyota. Visitors to the page can vote once a day for the organization that they feel is most deserving of a new Toyota vehicle.LCAT will be one of the five organizations highlighted for voting on Monday, July 11, 2011.

Local residents are encouraged to support LCAT and their quest for a new Toyota. LCAT is a new, small nonprofit in start-up mode looking to make its mark in the local community. LCAT would use a vehicle of its own in support of its two flagship programs. For the Community Food Project, a vehicle would be a tremendous help to shuttle volunteers and workers from schools and from people’s homes (especially the developmentally disabled who can’t drive themselves) to and from the program location. The vehicle would also help with some of the dirty work of agricultural production and re-purposing and revitalizing neighborhood land: transporting building materials, removing trash, debris, and demolished material, transporting people, seed, manure, soil, and, finally, delivering produce to markets and restaurants.

About the Land Conservation and Advocacy Trust, Inc.

The Land Conservation and Advocacy Trust (“LCAT”) was formed to conserve and preserve open spaces, farm land, historic architecture and natural resources so that everyone may enjoy them, now and forever.  Our vision is to create the opportunity for anyone, anywhere to have access to local landscapes, wild spaces and ecosystems that are healthy, productive and permanent features of their community. This vision is based upon our core belief that ability to meaningfully and regularly interact with a living landscape is vital to one’s physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Founded in 2008, the LCA Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Framingham, Massachusetts and works with local conservation and preservation interests throughout the United States.

LCAT activities are focused in order to:

• Promote smart-growth ideals, which aid in conservation efforts.
• Protect flood plains, wetlands and waterways.
• Preserve land for scenic/aesthetic value and recreational use; wildlife habitats, farms, corridors and greenways; and fragile ecosystems.
• Protect and preserve historic buildings, sites, structures and other architecture.
• Enhance access to public lands and promote the integration of public lands into living communities.
• Utilize undeveloped urban land for spatial definition of urban areas and to contain the threat of urban and suburban sprawl.

Some future goals of LCAT are to:

• Expand our geographical reach beyond with projects throughout New England and the United States
• Significantly develop our revolving emergency fund in order to protect endangered land.
• Create a replicable model for our Neighborhood Revitalization and Community Food Programs to focus and intensify grass roots interaction to engage and benefit local communities.

About Toyota.

Toyota (NYSE: TM) established operations in the United States in 1957 and currently operates 10 manufacturing plants, including one under construction.  Toyota directly employs nearly 30,000 in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design.

Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where it does business and believes in supporting programs with long-term sustainable results. Toyota supports numerous organizations across the country, focusing on education, the environment and safety. Since 1991, Toyota has contributed more than $500 million to philanthropic programs in the U.S.

For more information on Toyota’s commitment to improving communities nationwide, visit http://www.toyota.com/community.

Media Contact:

Steve Meltzer

Land Conservation and Advocacy Trust, Inc.

873 Concord Street

Framingham, MA 01701

508.872.3300

www.lcatrust.org

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The psychic grandeur of the human heart was fashioned to behold the world in the vitality, warmth and wonder of color because the soul craves beauty.

It doesn’t take a lot to provide a place of natural respite and bounty. This video inspires me to think smaller to accomplish something big . . .

The Perennial Plate Episode 57: Lord, Lord, Lord from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
- J.R.R. Tolkien

Peter Kareiva from the Nature Conservancy raises the question, shouldn’t we be thinking about urban conservation?  My answer is simple.  We are, why are you just asking this question now?  Perhaps the Nature Conservancy should have thought of this a long time ago.

The Nature Conservancy’s chief scientist, Peter Kareiva, says it’s time for conservationists to stop neglecting urban areas. The reason is simple:  If conservation is to build the support it needs, it must energize young urban dwellers, who now make up most of the world.

What do you think? Should we care about conservation in cities?

Read the full article from Nature

via Urban Conservation.

In the article, Peter says that  ”most conservationists have ignored cities.”  I quite disagree.  I would say that most fundraising for conservation focuses on high-ticket projects in order to attract attention.  Many of us in the trenches are more concerned with conservation that matters to people.  More people are in urban areas.

I say, it is time for the Nature Conservancy to evolve.

In a presentation to Cupertino, CA officials yesterday (6/7/11), Steve Job’s unveiled Apples plans to construct a circular office to house up to 13,000 workers in a single four-story building consisting of 1 million square feet.

The design would reduce surface parking by 90%, building footprint by 30%, while at the same time increase landscaping by 350% and the number of trees by 60%, including the planting of apricot trees (the land used to be an apricot orchard).

According to Jobs, the “overall feeling of the place is going to be a zillion times better than it is now.”  Jobs believes Apple has a shot at “building the best office building in the world.”

The Cupertino officials were generally favorably disposed to the project.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtuz5OmOh_M

via YouTube – Steve Jobs Presents to the Cupertino City Council 6/7/11.

Bruce Babbitt, the former Democratic Arizona governor and Secretary of the Interior, plans to rip into the Republicans in Congress in a speech on Wednesday afternoon, saying that they have “declared war on our land, water and natural resources.” But he also chides President Obama for not having done enough to stop them.

In a text of his remarks released in advance of a 1 p.m. speech, Mr. Babbitt, 73, an ardent conservationist, said he felt compelled to speak out to bring attention to the policies of the Republican majority in the House and to urge strong action to reverse them.

via A Voice From and for the Wilderness – NYTimes.com.

In This Issue

Thursday, June 9 is my Birthday! Make An Honorary Donation FOR ME!

LCAT Named A Finalist In Toyota’s 100 Cars For Good – Vote July 11

LCAT Awarded a RSF Seed Fund Grant from  RSF Social Finance

Click this link for a web copy of the newsletter:  My Birthday and Other Big News!.

We are proud to announce that we have been awarded an RSF Social Finance Seed Fund Grant.  We are in the great company of the other Seed Fund Grant recipients:

2011 Seed Fund Grantees:

Bay Area Community Exchange Timebank (BACE)

B-Line Urban Delivery

Community CROPS

Growing Gardens of Boulder County

The Pfeiffer Center

Shining Rivers Waldorf School

________________________________________________

From the RSF site:

Announcing the 2011 Seed Fund Grantees!

 

by Catherine Covington

“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed.  Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”

- Henry David Thoreau

In April, 5 members of the RSF staff volunteered hours of their time to review and discuss the 80+ proposals we received for the RSF Seed Fund this year, a record number!  We were so inspired by the interest in the Seed Fund and the quality of the applications that we all lamented the fact that we did not have more money to grant out!  The Seed Fund provides small grants ($500 to $5,000) to help support new initiatives that align with RSF’s mission and address issues in one or more of our three focus areas (Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts, and Ecological Stewardship).   Since RSF is not an endowed foundation, the Seed Fund is supported by donations from our donor and client community.   If you would like to contribute to the Seed Fund so that we may continue to provide support to innovative projects like the ones below, please visit the donations section of our website.

via Announcing the 2011 Seed Fund Grantees! | RSF Social Finance.

VOTE FOR LCAT!!

LCAT is proud to announce we’ve been selected as a finalist in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program. Now we need your support!

Vote for LCAT at http://www.carsforgood.com/app_live/?d=2011-07-11# on July 11, 2011.

A vehicle of our own would help us enormously. For our Community Food Project, we would use the car so we were able to shuttle volunteers and workers from schools and from people’s homes (especially the developmentally disabled who can’t drive themselves) to and from the programs.

We’d also use a car to do some of the dirty work of farming, re-purposing and revitalization of the land: transporting building materials, removing trash, debris, and demolished material, transporting people, seed, manure, soil and, of course, delivering produce to markets and restaurants.

Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good program will award 100 vehicles over the course of 100 days to 100 deserving nonprofit organizations based on votes from the public. A total of 500 finalists were selected based on their application as reviewed by an independent panel of judges who are experts in the fields of philanthropy and social responsibility. They are vying for the opportunity to win a new Toyota vehicle. Winning organizations will use the vehicles to help expand their reach and mission within the community.

Please support LCAT on July 11, 2011.

Vote for LCAT at http://www.carsforgood.com/app_live/?d=2011-07-11# on July 11, 2011.