Indiegogo Launch and Radical Generosity!

Gratitude and momentum!

Wow, what a week of community love, abundance, and momentum!

Remembering last Saturday’s Festival Beach Food Forest Fundraiser Launch Party, our hearts overflow with gratitude for the unforgettable evening of incredible generosity, love, contribution, and commitment! We extend our appreciation to all attendees, volunteers, and sponsors who helped to make this fundraiser possible and share our vision of making abundant, healthy food available to all. Whether you missed the party or made it, we appreciate all of the ways you support this people-powered initiative, and we’re excited to keeping connecting, growing, and celebrating with you! 

What’s next?! Unleash the Love Campaign!

There are two easy ways to unleash community love with the Festival Beach Food Forest this February:

1. Help raise $25K by Valentine’s Day with the Indiegogo Love Campaign! (Share with your community!)
2. Join the Festival Beach Food Forest GivePulse Team to keep up to date on volunteer opportunities.

It’s never been easier to share the story of the Festival Beach Food Forest (FFBF) and make a direct contribution, thanks to our inspiring new Indiegogo campaign and video. Many thanks to FBFF leader Jonathan Barona and our generous and talented videographer, Tyler Wiethorn, for putting this great campaign together.

This February, we’ll be expanding engagement with local schools and neighbors at the RBJ Center – let us know if you’d like to get involved working with diverse community partners!  We’ll be posting volunteer opportunities on GivePulse to make it easy to plug in. Are you looking to get more involved as we gain momentum? We welcome your ideas and contributions – email us at info@festivalbeach.org.

This issue of East Feast News is dedicated to giving thanks to all those who have helped make the kick-off of the Indiegogo campaign a great success, including:

• Inspiring community partners and speakers
• Amazing musicians and entertainers
• Contributors of Food and Drink
• Contributors to the Silent Auction
• Pie-O-Neers behind the Pie Showcase and Pie Walk
• Stellar team of volunteers and special talents

Inspiring community partners, sponsors and speakers

This grassroots project reflects the steadfast contributions of a network of community leaders.  Thank you again to Zach, Virginia, and YardFarm for hosting the party at their home and farm .

We extend special thanks to our inspiring emcee, Brandi Clark Burton of Austin EcoNetwork. We would like to thank Les Dames d’Escoffier for presenting East Feast with a $1,000.00 donation.

Amazing musicians and entertainers

The diversity at the heart of the food forest was well-reflected by the eclectic array of musical genres represented by fantastic local bands:

• Full Moon Medicine
• Honey Punch
• The Lost Pines
• WireTree
• DJ MC
• Super Smash Bros
• Mindz of A Different Kind
• Graham Wilkinson
• Minor Mishap Marching Band

Two talented fire spinners, Travis Shade & Maia Valentine, also captivated attendees.

Contributors of Food and Drink

Thank you to the local farms and vendors that contributed to the great food at the Launch Party.  Special thanks to El Milagro, Green Gate Farms, Tiny Pies, Little Lucy’s,  Farm to Table, and Johnson’s Backyard Garden. Thank you, Nubian Queen Lola’s Cajun Soul Food, for cooking some wonderful food.

Thank you to Meridian Hive, Thirsty Planet, Austin Beerworks, ABGB,  and Tito’s Handmade Vodka for generously donating beverages for the event.

Contributors to the Silent Auction

• Compost Pedallers
• Coffee Sock
• Growler Domestic
• Austin Beerworks
• Austin Beer Garden Brewery
• Dripping Springs Vodka
• Austin Eastciders
• East Side Yoga
• Bikram Yoga East Austin
• Pure Light Yoga Center
• Hyde Park Gym
• in.gredients
• Zhi Tea
• Aspire Food Group
• Joe’s Organics
• West China Tea Company
• Pew Pew Forever
• Herban Biophilliac
• Sassy Miss Waxy

Pie-O-Neers of the Pie Showcase & Pie Walk

Thank you to all of the Pie Creators and Pie Walkers who participated in the first East Feast Pie Showcase and Pie Walk!  Not only was the Pie Walk delicious fun, your contributions raised $600 for the Festival Beach Food Forest!

These delectable, lovingly contributed pies also helped raise awareness about the inspiring work underway in our community!  Stay tuned for the first edition of the East Feast Recipes for Community Nourishment cook book, featuring the recipes for these pies and the stories behind them.

Special thanks to:

• Daniela Ochoa, Sustainable Urban Solutions, for her home-grown-pecan pie
• Casey Smith, Cooking Up Cultures, for Big Polly’s Chocolate Pie
• Marisa Perales, Undoing Racism Austin, for her Sweet Potato Pie
• Fara Rivera, Serafina Org, for her Raisin and Sourcream Pie
• Donna Hoffman, Blackshear Bridge, for her Black Is Beautiful chocolate mousse pie
• Carolina Mueller, Sustainable Food Center, for her Crustless Swiss Chard Quiche
• Edie Cassell, Farmshare Austin, for the Farmshare Spinach Quiche and Vegetable Pot pie
• Gretchen DuPre, YardFarm, for the Dance Hall Pie
• Laura Cortez, UT Colony Park Sustainable Community Initiative, for her Cream Cheese Empanadas
• Emily West, for her Citrus & Frangipane Tart
• Cindy Phillips, for her Allsgood (aka Osgood) Pie
• Robin McDowell, Paige Menking, and Patricia Zavala, The Walnut House, for their Pecan Pie and That’s Amore Pizza Pie
• Elizabeth Walsh, for her Drunken Pumpkin Pie of Pennsylvanian Love