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Green Bronx Machine: Year In Review

As the year comes to an end, we can’t help but reflect on our massive impact in 2021. This includes:

  • Helping to feed 10,000 people on Thanksgiving
  • Supporting 1,500 teachers online
  • Planting 100,000 seedlings
  • Launching 3 new food pantries
  • Serving more than 50,000 high-need students
  • Growing 10,000 pounds of vegetables with students
  • Rescuing 10,000 pounds of food from landfill
  • Delivering another 100,000 pounds of food to families in need
  • Cutting the ribbons on 10 tiny homes for foster care children in
  • Appalachia – their first homes EVER!
  • Reaching more than 2 million students through Let’s Learn with Mister Ritz
  • Launching a Tower to Table to Tummy Cooking Show
  • Testifying before US House of Representatives
  • Launching our Food for Good Campaign with Danone
  • Partnering with Quest Diagnostics to bring Green Bronx Machine programming and curricula to multiple cities across America
  • Welcoming new board members, including Linda Femling (Google), Ana Garcia (NY Presbyterian), Joel Makower (Green Biz), Catherine Nelson (Columbia Threadneedle Investments/Ameriprise Financial)

And the world, our peers, and media have noticed! We were proud to:

From the Bronx, to the world! In 2022, we will be embarking on Year 1 of our five-year strategic plan, developed in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers, which will bring Green Bronx Machine to 20,000 schools throughout the country. We are poised, ready, willing, and able to do the work! Our work has always been organic and grassroots, supported by local people who love and appreciate what we do and how we do it: one child at a time, one classroom at a time, one school at a time, one community at a time. Today, we are asking for your support. Be it $1 or $100,000! Every drop of kindness helps fill the cup and gets us closer to making epic happen!

We thank you and we appreciate you!

DONATE NOW

Stepping Stones, Inc. And Green Bronx Machine Founder Celebrate Expansion of West Virginia Foster Youth Tiny Home Village

Green Bronx Machine Donates Newman’s Own Foundation Gift to Outfit Tiny Home Kitchens

Newswise — LAVALETTE, WV, December 16, 2021 –  Green Bronx Machine Founder Stephen Ritz joined with Stepping Stones, Inc. and its Youth Transitions Project (YTP) leaders to mark the growing tiny-home village with two soon-to-be completed additional homes and the framing out of a third.  Stepping Stones is the revolutionary foster care facility in the heart of Appalachia.

Longtime supporter and urban farmer Ritz also announced that Green Bronx Machine (GBM) will pay forward a generous $25,000 donation from its partner, Newman’s Own Foundation, to Stepping Stones to outfit all homes’ kitchens with appliances from local retailer Big Sandy Superstore.  In addition, GBM has spearheaded a “Fill Them with Love” campaign, providing each tiny home with all the household supplies needed for to start a first home. 

YTP is a public-private partnership focused on youth ages 16-21 transitioning from foster care or experiencing homelessness. The project’s centerpiece is a tiny-home village.  Its goal is to support disconnected West Virginia youth as they transition into adulthood so they may reach their full potential and become productive, contributing citizens.  When completed next summer, there will be eight tiny homes, a village school that provides high school equivalency and career and technical education classes, a building and construction certification program, a substance treatment program, and a commercial greenhouse that provides residents with healthy foods combined with employment, paid sustainable farming skills building, and employment and job coaching and placement. 

“This holiday season, GBM is delighted to provide these young people the tools they need to eat and prepare healthy food for themselves rather than depend on cheap, fast, convenient food.  Fostering good nutrition habits is key to Stepping Stones and YTP’s intentional, multi-dimensional program designed to help these youth as they successfully pave their pathway to adulthood and independent living,” said Ritz.  “In this process, all of us – Stepping Stones, Newman’s Own, GBM and Big Sandy – want them to know they are loved, supported and valued.”

Ritz and GBM have been working with Stepping Stones since 2018 on its Growing Hope initiative – a commercial greenhouse with 20 sustainable gardens using Tower Gardens® aeroponic growing systems on property.  Using GBM’s propriety curriculum, Stepping Stones youth are trained to manage the greenhouse, growing their own food and donating excess to local communities in need. 

“Green Bronx Machine has been a catalyst in helping us to follow our passion and making dreams come true by pushing us to think outside of the box and literally feed our boys with hope,” said Susan Fry, executive director, Stepping Stones.  “Stephen and Lizette Ritz are family to all of us and this amazing GBM donation, thanks to the generosity of Newman’s Own Foundation, is a blessing for our tiny home residents.  Just as importantly, it shows our young people the power of partnership and working together to make a positive impact.”    

Capping the festivities, Big Sandy Superstore’s delivery truck arrived at the tiny-home village and Fry, Ritz and others helped unload five refrigerators, five stoves, and five sets of stackable washing machines and dryers.  

“Most of us don’t crash land into Life. We benefit from the experience of life-long co-pilots, maintenance crews and navigators. Now imagine bringing your craft in successfully with neither solo flying experience or any of that support,” said Don Perdue, president of Stepping Stones, Inc.’s board of directors.  “That is what aging out of foster care is like. The crash is almost inevitable.”

 

All the tiny homes are the result of a large, caring community of supporters, funders and volunteers, including Pallottine Foundation of Huntington, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, Milan Puskar Foundation, Newman’s Own Foundation, Green Bronx Machine, Cabell Huntington Hospital, Toyota Motor Manufacturing WV, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, Sprouting Farms and Transition, West Virginia Schools of Diversion, Marshall University, Wayne High School CTE Engineering Class, Tolsia High School CTE Class, Truist Bank, Bernard McDonough Foundation, Braskem America Neal Plant and interior designers Pam and Tammy Watts, among others.

About Stepping Stones, Inc.

Established in 1975, Stepping Stones, Inc. is a fully-licensed child welfare and behavioral health provider with over 46 years’ experience working with West Virginia’s troubled and troubling youth and their families. The therapeutic milieu is family-centered and youth-focused and provides youth with an opportunity to enhance cognitive competence, internalize coping skills and develop an “I Can” attitude. Through restructuring, reeducation and reintegration, Stepping Stones seeks to strengthen the youth’s relationship with family and community. The Program firmly believes that discovering and uncovering the connectedness of the youth and his family with the community is paramount in treatment delivery.  For more information, visit https://steppingstonesinc.org.

About Newman’s Own Foundation

Newman’s Own Foundation is an independent, private foundation formed in 2005 by Paul Newman to sustain the legacy of his philanthropic work. Funded entirely through the profits and royalties of Newman’s Own products, the Foundation does not maintain an endowment, raise funds, or accept donations. The Foundation believes that each of us, through the power of philanthropy, has the potential to make a difference. Since 1982, when Paul Newman first declared, “Let’s give it all away,” more than $550 million has been donated to thousands of nonprofit organizations helping people in need around the world.

Green Bronx Machine’s Lizette Ritz Named to City & State Magazine’s 2021 Responsible 100 List

Newswise — BRONX, NY, DECEMBER 15, 2021 – Green Bronx Machine Executive Director Lizette Ritz was recognized today by City & State Magazine as one of New York’s Responsible 100 in its 2021 annual list published in this week’s issue.

Ritz and the other honorees – leaders in business, government, nonprofits and advocacy – exemplify the optimism and idealism that make New York a national leader.

I am humbled and very proud to be among the leaders called out by City & State for my work with Green Bronx Machine,” said Ritz.  “For far too long, those least responsible for injustice, inequity, failing education, health disparities, poverty, social and environmental racism have had to bear the brunt of the burden and consequences. Social responsibility means moving those who are apart from success to becoming a part of it in ways that benefit everyone. High-performing schools, happy, healthy children, living wage jobs – we are farming and growing citizens and success at Green Bronx Machine.”

Each year, City & State shines a light on socially responsible leaders in New York with The Responsible 100 Award. The award honors 100 of New York’s most outstanding responsible executives, thought leaders, visionaries and influencers who are setting new standards of excellence, dedication and leadership in approving their communities and making transformative change.  See the full list of honorees and read about these extraordinary individuals HERE.

About City & State Magazine

City & State a New York-based media organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy. Our in-depth, non-partisan coverage serves New York’s leaders every day as a trusted guide to the issues impacting New York. We offer round the clock coverage through our award-winning commentary and analysis, weekly publications, daily e-briefs, interviews and events.

Green Bronx Machine Partners with Danone North America to Present First Ever Food for Good Community Event

Newswise — BRONX, NY, December 9, 2021 – Green Bronx Machine is partnering with Danone North America to present the first ever Food for Good Community Event at Community School 55 in Claremont Village, Bronx, NY. This event will provide free Danone North America products, complete with locally submitted, culturally relevant recipes and on-site assistance to facilitate electronic sign-up for SNAP, WIC and EBT benefits, and access to community partners. This event is open to all residents and community members and will also provide all participants with a resource guide created in partnership with NYC Food Policy Center.

Stephen Ritz, acclaimed teacher, founder of Green Bronx Machine, and author of The Power Of A Plant: A Teacher’s Odyssey to Grow Healthy Minds and Schools, said, ”We could not be more excited to have Danone North America on board as our first food and beverage partner. Access to both organic and plant-based foods is critical for communities likes ours and we are thankful to Danone North America for providing ongoing access to them along with the education and support critical to integrating them into our daily lives. This is not a hand-out but rather a handshake and a meaningful opportunity to grow a long-term relationship where it is needed most. I could not be more excited to share healthy food and access opportunities with our students, teachers, parents, and community at large. This is the exact type of partnership that aligns to our vision for food access, food justice, health, wellness, and nutrition and I’m proud that Green Bronx Machine and Danone North America are leading the way and setting the bar: from the Bronx, to the world!”

“We are thrilled to be working alongside Green Bronx Machine,” said Terrance Irizarry, chief diversity officer for Danone North America. “Our partnership represents our commitment as a business to create a positive impact in our local communities. We’re excited to launch this project and see how our relationship takes shape in the future.”

Charles Platkin, PhD, MPH, Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center Executive Director states: “Green Bronx Machine’s commitment to the health and education of NYC residents is known to all of us in the food justice space. We were delighted to support this project with our resources and knowledge base to help GBM create a user-friendly guide that ensures that every resident can understand, access, and obtain the benefits and services they are entitled to. This hyper-local model meets the community precisely where it is at with the goal of providing access and equity for all. It allows folks to get the services and support they need from already existing and under-utilized resources and puts schools and public education at the heart of our communities – win-win-win. The Food for Good Community Access Event is a recipe for simultaneous access and success.”

In the last year alone, GBM and Ritz have distributed more than 130,000 pounds of food, produced 5,000-plus pounds of produce grown locally in the Bronx, built and stocked three new food pantries, delivered weekly 152 backpacks of food to students and fulfilled more than 1,600 emergency food requests from families in need. GBM and Ritz recently won the 2021 Social Innovation Award, were named 2021 Food Hero by TMZ Live , and were awarded the 2021 Artemis CEA Disruptor Award for impact and advocacy in public schools across America. Ritz was recently called to testify for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ending Hunger in America. To date, Ritz and GBM also have trained nearly 1,500 teachers using GBM’s curriculum, impacting more than 50,000 students in the Bronx, across America and around the world (https://greenbronxmachine.org/2020-impact-report/).

About Danone North America

Danone North America is a purpose-driven company and an industry leader in the food and beverage category. As a Certified B Corporation®, Danone North America is committed to the creation of both economic and social value, while nurturing natural ecosystems through sustainable agriculture. Our strong portfolio of brands includes: Activia®, DanActive®, Danimals®, Dannon®, evian®, Happy Family® Organics, Honest to Goodness®, Horizon® Organic, International Delight®, Light + Fit®, Oikos®, Silk®, So Delicious® Dairy Free, STōK™, Two Good®, Wallaby® Organic and YoCrunch®. With more than 6,000 employees and 16 production locations across the U.S. and Canada, Danone North America’s mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible. For more information, visit www.danonenorthamerica.com/. For more information on Danone North America’s B Corp™ status, visit: https://bcorporation.net/directory/danone-north-america.

Green Bronx Machine Named 2021 Classy Award Winner

Newswise — BRONX, DECEMBER 8, 2021 –  In recognition of its impact on urban agriculture, education, food insecurity and access to healthy foods, Green Bronx Machine has been honored with a 2021 Classy Award for Social Innovation.

Watch Classy’s video capturing GBM’s achievements:

“Green Bronx Machine works tirelessly day in and day out to address these important issues in its communities around the country.  For us, the goal is always about growing healthy students, healthy schools, and happy and healthy communities; to inspire healthy living and learning, all around the world,” said Stephen Ritz, Founder, Green Bronx Machine. “From the Bronx, to the world, we are honored and humbled to have the Classy Awards recognize and shine a spotlight on our efforts.”

One of the largest awards ceremonies of its kind, recognizing excellence in social innovation, the Classy Awards identifies and evaluates organizations addressing hundreds of social problems around the world. The winners are determined by the Classy Awards Leadership Council, an honorary board of leaders and experts whose unique perspective and valuable insight establish this recognition as one of the highest honors in the social sector.

Green Bronx Machine was one of 10 organizations selected from over 1,400 nominations across the country to be named 2021 winners, including Blood:Water, Brookview House, Inc., Fair Labor Association, Food Forward, Hope for Haiti, mothers2mothers, Shelterbox USA, The Trevor Project and Treehouse.  

“The Classy Awards began in 2009 to shine a spotlight on outstanding programs run by social impact organizations around the world,” says Pat Walsh, Classy co-founder. “Each and every day we are humbled by the hard work and tenacity of our nonprofit customers, and the Classy Awards serve as our way to honor the sector we serve. Congratulations to this prestigious group of 2021 Classy Award Winners who are embracing new ideas and solving today’s toughest challenges.”

About Classy

Classy is a B Corp Certified Public Benefit Corporation and giving experience platform that enables nonprofits to connect supporters with the causes they care about. Based in San Diego, CA and trusted by thousands of nonprofits, from the fastest-growing nonprofits to some of the world’s largest social organizations, Classy’s platform provides the formats and flexibility to activate donors when and how they need to by creating more relevant connections to their causes. Since 2011, Classy has helped nonprofits mobilize and empower the world for good by helping them raise over $3 billion on its platform. Classy also hosts the Collaborative conference and the Classy Awards to spotlight the innovative work nonprofits are implementing around the globe. For more information, visit www.classy.org.

In Powerful Testimony to U.S. Congress, Green Bronx Machine’s Stephen Ritz Calls for an End to Hunger in American Schools

Newswise — BRONX, NY, Tuesday, September 15, 2021 – In powerful testimony to members of the United States Congress today, Stephen Ritz, acclaimed teacher, founder of Green Bronx Machine and best-selling author of The Power of a Plant: A Teacher’s Odyssey to Grow Healthy Minds and Schools, made the case for public schools’ role in ending hunger and improving health and nutrition in America. 

Ritz was invited by U.S. Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, to testify before Congress as part of its Ending Hunger in America initiative.  Launched earlier this year, Ending Hunger in America features a series of events, including hearings, roundtables and site visits to highlight the reality of hunger in America and steps Congress and the Biden Administration could take to equitably combat it.

Ritz testimony can be viewed on YouTube:

Ritz’s full testimony was entered in the Congressional Record. 

Green Bronx Machine’s Stephen Ritz to Testify Before the U.S. Congress About Ending Hunger in America

Newswise — BRONX, NY, Tuesday, September 14, 2021 – Stephen Ritz, acclaimed teacher, founder of Green Bronx Machine and best-selling author of The Power of a Plant: A Teacher’s Odyssey to Grow Healthy Minds and Schools, has been invited by United States Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, to testify before Congress on the role of schools in ending hunger and improving nutrition. 

Ritz will testify on Wednesday, September 15 at 11:00 a.m.  His testimony can be viewed live at:

“On behalf of everyone at Green Bronx Machine, I’m humbled to be given the opportunity to address our nation’s leadership on an issue that is at the top of my agenda.  The greatest lever America has for equity and ending poverty are successful public schools.  And, the most important school supply in the world is food. Communities like mine across our great nation are not only under-resourced, but are also over-extracted,” said Ritz.  “Our children are the canaries and our schools are the coal mines.  Children will never be well read if they are not well fed.  Children can’t learn if they are hungry.  At Green Bronx Machine, we grow vegetables, our vegetables grow students, our students grow schools and our schools grow happy, healthy, resilient communities.  Every school in America needs to do this.”

Chairman McGovern, who also serves as co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus, launched an anti-hunger initiative earlier this year out of the House Rules Committee called Ending Hunger in America.  It features a series of events, including hearings, roundtables and site visits to highlight the reality of hunger in America and steps Congress and the Biden Administration could take to equitably combat it.

On a visit to Green Bronx Machine in June, Chairman McGovern said, “As the Rules Committee crafts a plan to end hunger in America, I want to see the important work being done on the ground in communities across the country. The Green Bronx Machine is using innovative programs to invest in students and build stronger communities. Seeing their success firsthand will be invaluable as we build a roadmap for equitably ending food insecurity in this country and continue pushing for a White House hunger conference.”

In the last year alone, GBM and Ritz have distributed more than 130,000 pounds of food, produced 5,000-plus pounds of produce grown locally in the Bronx, built and stocked three new food pantries, delivered weekly 152 backpacks of food to students and fulfilled more than 1,600 emergency food requests from families in need.  In the process, they have moved school attendance from 40 percent to 93 percent daily and helped provide 2,200 youth jobs in the Bronx.  Ritz and GBM also have trained nearly 1,500 teachers using GBM’s curriculum, impacting more than 50,000 students in the Bronx, across America and around the world (https://greenbronxmachine.org/2020-impact-report/).

In News12 The Bronx Blog, Green Bronx Machine’s Stephen Ritz Weighs in on Back-to-School

Newswise — BRONX, NY, September 8, 2021 – As New York City public schools prepare to welcome back students next week, Green Bronx Machine founder, urban farmer and educator Stephen Ritz recently shared his thoughts about the return to the classroom in these unprecedented times in a new blog published on New 12 The Bronx’s web site. 

In the piece titled “A View from the Teacher’s Desk,” Ritz calls for a reimagining of our schools, “abandoning an idea of a return to normal.”  Instead, he advocates “aiming beyond just surviving to inclusively thriving” and using U.S. Congressman Jamaal Bowman’s Green New Deal for Public Schools as the roadmap to “better schools, better communities, better infrastructure and better opportunities” for all students.

A View from the Teacher’s Desk
By Stephen Ritz

After more than 18 very long months stuck inside our houses tethered to our screens, is there anyone who isn’t excited about going back to school? As a lifelong educator, I’m ready to jump over my desk and dance with my students. I’m ready to high five my families, kiss the custodians, hug the homeroom teachers, and fist bump the food service professionals.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve heard the refrain “build back better.” It’s time to abandon an idea of a “return to normal.” Instead, we need to aim beyond “just surviving” to inclusively thriving. The question is: Are we ready to do the work?

We’ve known the problems forever. COVID just made them far more profound. COVID was, and still is, universal: we all feel it, we are all living it – some more than others. But nobody can deny that the collective lived experience is universal. For students, it’s tough to even think about schoolwork or homework when they’re worried about having food to eat or who around them is going to die next.

One of the first places trauma manifests is school: children are the canaries, and our schools are the coal mines. Every societal issue from home life to health explodes in schools. The upside: schools are also the most fertile ground for regenerative change and both community and personal transformation. U.S. public schools have been under scrutiny for decades, yet they remain the single greatest lever this nation has to achieve equity and end poverty for all. Now is the time for students to view the world through the lens of possibilities and to live in solutions, not the triage ward.

U.S. Congressman Jamaal Bowman is championing the Green New Deal for Public Schools– an idea long overdue as long underserved schools crumble, corrode, and collapse around us. The goal of this bold legislation is to invest $1.43 trillion over 10 years in our nation’s public schools and infrastructure to combat climate change.

In the Bronx, where I’ve lived and worked for decades, schools are the most vital organs, the epicenters, the very lifeblood of our communities. Everyone respects schools as sacred spaces. We now need to treat them as such. Every child deserves clean air, drinkable water, natural light, healthy food, and a school in which they can dream of and work towards a better, brighter future.

It’s time we begin unpacking the decades of neglect. Separate and unequal is no longer acceptable. Windows that don’t open, toilets that don’t flush, food that is neither healthy nor nutritious – these are relics of the past. It’s time to relegate them the scrap heap.

How many generations of students must we lose to these ills and injustices? We have a chance and a choice to reclaim this generation of students and make sure we never lose another child to poverty and despair. It’s time to do the hard work. Let compassion be our new curriculum and collective empathy be our new North Star.

The mandate is simple: education not asphyxiation. It’s time to breathe life into all that we do. Imagine teachers NOT having to spend their time advocating for drinkable water, mold-free hallways, operable windows, clean air, and temperate classrooms. For our students to be well-fed by the time we all walk into class together, every morning. Instead, we teachers could focus on what’s actually important: inspiring America’s students and teaching the next generation to take on the challenges we face. We would be living in the solution.

A lifelong educator and highly effective and successful middle school principal, Representative Bowman knows from whence he speaks. So, too, our First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, who understands the power and promise of public education, of workforce development, of polytechnical training. President Joe Biden’s agenda thinks beyond the next barrel of oil, the next truckful of coal, and next quarterly earnings statement. He champions investing in the American people, especially children, to end poverty and revive the middle class. Let us remember that promise, let us embrace that purpose.

Better schools, better communities, better infrastructure, better opportunities. That’s what people are waiting for when schools open. It all starts with students equipped to envision and enable the future. High performing schools change everything for everyone. Rather than survive, we will thrive.

Beyond engagement, let’s move towards fulfillment. The eyes of the future are looking back at us and demanding that we get it right. This is our collective moment. If we don’t evolve, we are all doomed to fail.

Will we be bold enough?

It’s time to treasure our children, treasure our teachers, and treasure our collective and inclusive potential. It’s time to embrace our better nature. With dreams begin responsibilities.

Let’s not waste this moment.

NEW RECIPE! Fabulous Fatoush Salad!

We’re thrilled to share our third episode of Tower to Table to Tummy children’s cooking show!

Nothing tastes better than our child-tested, child-approved, and parent-friendly GBM Fabulous Fatoush Salad. Join El Capitan for this 10 minute, action-packed episode that will leave your mouth watering and bellies full! Even the pickiest of eaters will love this nutrient-dense, crispy, crunchy, salad with ingredients harvested right off our Tower Garden! Throw in a lesson about fractions and parts to whole and even parents will even enjoy this innovative, Middle-Eastern-inspired episode.

For those who missed it, last week, El Capitan was named Bronx’s COVID-19 Food Hero by TMZ Live!

In a riveting interview straight from our classroom with Charles Latibeaudiere – a Bronx native – and Harvey Levin, El Capitan made one thing abundantly clear: “THE BRONX IS HOME TO MANY WONDERFUL THINGS AND PEOPLE!”

El Capitan was happy to dish veggies, not scandal and talk garden, not gossip and wow, what an interview it was!

Kudos to TMZ for highlighting what is possible! We need more news and stories like ours.

Stephen Ritz and Stepping Stones, Inc. Cut Ribbon on First Tiny Home for West Virginia Foster Youth

Newswise — LAVALETTE, WV, August 30, 2021 – Stepping Stones, Inc., the revolutionary foster care facility in the heart of Appalachia, reached a major milestone in its Youth Transition Project (YTP) when it officially opened its first tiny home and welcomed its first resident on Friday.  Longtime supporter and urban farmer Stephen Ritz, a life-long educator, author of “The Power of a Plant” and founder of New York-based Green Bronx Machine, was on hand to celebrate and cut the ribbon on this first of eight tiny homes that are fully funded and under construction.

YTP is a public-private partnership focused on youth ages 16-23 transitioning from foster care or experiencing homelessness. The project’s centerpiece is a tiny-home village, offering comprehensive life skills, employment training, education and well-being supports provided by the broader community.  Its goal is to support disconnected West Virginia youth as they transition into adulthood so they may reach their full potential and become productive, contributing citizens.

According to Corey, the first resident, “I have never been gifted with such a thing. And it truly honors me to be the first in the tiny home program in Stepping Stones. I look forward to a new challenge.”

Corey’s new home — and those soon to come — are the result of a large, caring community of supporters, funders and volunteers, including Cabell Huntington Hospital, Toyota Motor Manufacturing WV, Wayne High School CTE Engineering Class, Tolsia High School CTE Class, Truist Bank, Bernard McDonough Foundation, Braskem America Neal Plant and interior designers Pam and Tammy Watts, among others. 

“This is an exciting day for all of us at Stepping Stones.  Our heartfelt thanks go out to our many partners for getting us here.  Their generosity of funds, time and expertise enables us to serve West Virginia’s most vulnerable young people and provide them with the tools and skills they need as they begin their life’s journey, empowering them on that journey,” said Susan Fry, executive director,

Stepping Stones.  “A very special thank you to Green Bronx Machine and its founder Stephen Ritz for helping us early on to get our commercial greenhouse, the lynchpin of our village, up and running.” 

Ritz and Green Bronx Machine have been working with Stepping Stones since 2018 on its Growing Hope initiative – a commercial greenhouse with 20 aeroponic Tower Gardens on property.  Using GBM’s propriety curriculum, Stepping Stones youth are trained to manage the greenhouse, growing their own food and donating excess to local communities in need. 

“This farm is the first commercial greenhouse in America run by foster care youth. It represents a highly replicable model and is an exemplar in horticultural therapy and whole child engagement as well as poly-technical training,” said Ritz.  “I always say my favorite crops are people. I am thrilled to see  Stepping Stones’ incredible young people continue to thrive and grow.”

About Stepping Stones, Inc.

Established in 1975, Stepping Stones, Inc. is a fully-licensed child welfare and behavioral health provider with over 46 years’ experience working with West Virginia’s troubled and troubling youth and their families. The therapeutic milieu is family-centered and youth-focused and provides youth with an opportunity to enhance cognitive competence, internalize coping skills and develop an “I Can” attitude. Through restructuring, reeducation and reintegration, Stepping Stones seeks to strengthen the youth’s relationship with family and community. The Program firmly believes that discovering and uncovering the connectedness of the youth and his family with the community is paramount in treatment delivery.  For more information, visit https://steppingstonesinc.org.

NEW RECIPE! Tower to Table to Tummy Returns! Delicioso!

We’re thrilled to share our second episode of Tower to Table to Tummy children’s cooking show and nothing tastes better during the hot, humid, summer months than our child-tested, child-approved, and parent-friendly GBM BLOWOUT BASIL CITRUS SALAD. Join El Capitan for this 6-minute episode that will leave your mouth watering and bellies full! Even the pickiest of eaters will love this nutrient-dense salad!

In case you missed Episode 1, watch Mouth-watering Watermelon Arugula Salad

Major League News & Major Leaf Growth

In the words of famous Yankee broadcaster Phil Rizzuto, “Holy cow!” June 30th was Green Bronx Machine Day at Yankee Stadium! We were honored to be seated in the Judge’s Chambers, highlighted on the world-famous Yankees scoreboard, and featured in a viral Yankees tweet. See for yourself:


From Major League to major leaf – our Food For Others Garden is just bursting with good food: tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, collards, cucumbers, and basil. It’s a feast for the senses! This year we’ve had more volunteers than ever, and we’re grateful for everyone’s participation. We’re already harvesting and delivering food across the borough.

Speaking of harvest, we are so proud to launch the new series, “Tower to Table to Tummy” filmed LIVE in our classroom with produce grown right on our Tower Garden. All the episodes are child-friendly, require no stove, and are perfect for school programs or family activities. Check out our first episode, featuring a Mouth-Watering Watermelon Arugula Salad:

We’re proud to have an international cohort of interns this summer, and our summer employee, Jily – a graduate of our program – who’s gearing up for high school and earned her first paycheck ever!

We’ll be working all the way through the summer making sure that students are well-read and well-fed to get ready to open school, after-school, and programming safely when students return in September. Your support is most crucial at this time of year, as students need uniforms and school supplies in preparation for class. THIS YEAR WE ANTICIPATE OUR GREATEST NEED EVER!

Please consider making a donation today – our students thank you!

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