Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Holidays from California! As many of you know, 2013 has been another year of international adventure for me. I spent the first half of 2013 living and working in Nicaragua, and most recently moved to California to commit year round to an organization I deeply believe in. Luckily, my travels have now culminated in a job that I am extremely passionate about. This year I am asking for your help and support for the holiday season!

I am the Program Coordinator for Global Student Embassy, a young non-profit working to address food sovereignty and environmental justice throughout Northern California, Nicaragua and Ecuador. As the program coordinator, I spend 3-6 months each year in Nicaragua leading exchange programs for students from Northern California while also supporting the development of school garden projects in our partner community of Chacraseca. The students spent their Spring Break helping build gardens in schools in Chacraseca. Chacraseca is a an agricultural community outside of Leon, Nicaragua that has been damaged by industrial agriculture practices that left the land infertile and the people hungry or malnourished. GSE’s school garden program in Chacraseca engages the local community in creating sustainable food systems, by starting bio-intensive school farms that produce healthy food for a free breakfast and lunch program while also educating the local community about organic agriculture methods.


GSE’s goal in Nicaragua is to build 13 school gardens in the community in order to teach students how to sustainably farm, and to provide the community with healthy fruits and vegetables. During the months I spent leading exchange programs in Nicaragua, we built 2 new school gardens, an irrigation system, and a greenhouse. The work I did along side our students has produced over 3,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables. All of the food produced has been donated to the free breakfast and lunch programs at the schools, which provides meals for the students daily.

In February 2014 I will be returning to Nicaragua to build five more school gardens, allowing more students and community members to have access to healthy food. However, in order to accomplish our goal we need help! My goal is to raise $5000 which will provide Chacraseca with 2 new school gardens and educational support for 60 students for an entire year!

Please join me in supporting the work that I will be doing in Chacraseca, Nicaragua. Any support you can give will make a tremendous difference and no donation amount is too small. You can donate on empowered.org or make a check out to Global Student Embassy and mail it to PO BOX 544, Sebastopol, CA 95473 . Your donation is tax-deductible and tax ID information will be sent to you following your donation.


Thank you in advance for your thoughtful contribution and for making my work possible!!

With love,
Chrissy