Nickolas Speed is fundraising
Project Salsa
Ujima is teaching entrepreneurship to youth in St. Louis through an innovative new apprenticeship program: Project Salsa. Participants will grow, make, and sell salsa—learning how to grow a food business from the ground up!
For many, education is an obstacle. For some, the immediate need to earn a sustaining income prevents the long-term goal of gaining an education. For those in need, education must be incentivized. That’s why we’re creating Project Salsa—to educate and empower youth in need.
Project Salsa will select between 5 to 10 teen applicants to become apprentices over an 8-month period (March to November 2021). These apprentices will earn $20/hour while they learn new skills and how to put them into practice providing food for the community and simultaneously enriching the local economy.
Over the last 10 years, the St. Louis area has had an average of 50,000 to 150,000 unemployed residents. COVID-19 pushed that number above 160,000.
This entrepreneurship program is just one of the ways Ujima empowers youth in the St. Louis community, but we need your help to make it happen. The costs of starting a training program like this are the same as the costs for starting a business. We need your support to buy supplies, rent space, pay staff, acquire the necessary certifications to prepare and sell food, and provide stipends to our youth so they can focus on learning.
UJIMA
Ujima is a non-profit pay-what-you-can service provider that provides equitable access to food, education, and employment.
We provide cooking classes, pay-what-you-can community meals, agricultural learning experiences, and education on environmental stewardship, including utilizing aftermarket and locally grown food, reducing food waste, and using compostable materials.
Ujima's Core Values:
1. Reduce, reuse, recycle: We are environmental stewards of this planet.
2. Teamwork makes the dream work: We maximize our strengths and talents individually and unite as a collective to accomplish great things.
3. Life happens: Creatively adapt and respond to change.
For many, education is an obstacle. For some, the immediate need to earn a sustaining income prevents the long-term goal of gaining an education. For those in need, education must be incentivized. That’s why we’re creating Project Salsa—to educate and empower youth in need.
Project Salsa will select between 5 to 10 teen applicants to become apprentices over an 8-month period (March to November 2021). These apprentices will earn $20/hour while they learn new skills and how to put them into practice providing food for the community and simultaneously enriching the local economy.
Over the last 10 years, the St. Louis area has had an average of 50,000 to 150,000 unemployed residents. COVID-19 pushed that number above 160,000.
This entrepreneurship program is just one of the ways Ujima empowers youth in the St. Louis community, but we need your help to make it happen. The costs of starting a training program like this are the same as the costs for starting a business. We need your support to buy supplies, rent space, pay staff, acquire the necessary certifications to prepare and sell food, and provide stipends to our youth so they can focus on learning.
UJIMA
Ujima is a non-profit pay-what-you-can service provider that provides equitable access to food, education, and employment.
We provide cooking classes, pay-what-you-can community meals, agricultural learning experiences, and education on environmental stewardship, including utilizing aftermarket and locally grown food, reducing food waste, and using compostable materials.
Ujima's Core Values:
1. Reduce, reuse, recycle: We are environmental stewards of this planet.
2. Teamwork makes the dream work: We maximize our strengths and talents individually and unite as a collective to accomplish great things.
3. Life happens: Creatively adapt and respond to change.
Project Salsa Mission:
1. We believe that access to local, organic food is a human right. Our children deserve fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs without stickers or plastic packaging.
2. The youth are our future! We must give marginalized youth every opportunity to learn about the agricultural ingenuity of their ancestors, gain employment, and have the support needed to follow their dreams.
3. Empower youth through urban agriculture, culinary arts, and entrepreneurship.
4. Give youth the opportunity to take the lead!
PROJECT SALSA
Our volunteer board members work tirelessly to provide opportunities in the St. Louis community. In 2021, we will launch Project Salsa to grant 5 to 10 under-served teens an immersive, empowering, hands-on experience growing food, turning it into a product, and marketing and selling it in a retail environment.
BUDGET
We anticipate total operating costs of $30,000 for the first year of this project. These expenses will include:
• Wages for the youth apprentices, one chef, and executive leadership
• Required permits, certifications, and licenses for food production and retail
• Food packaging and preparation supplies
• Retail and fundraising marketing and campaigns
• Seeds and seedlings
• Compostable materials for special events
• COVID-19 protective masks
• Garden supplies and repairs
• Consultants
STRETCH GOALS
Reaching our initial goal of $30,000 will allow us to pay 5 youth apprentices $300 per month. With just $12,000 more donations, we can include twice as many youth apprentices and empower a total of 10 youth apprentices to become entrepreneurs in their communities.
1. We believe that access to local, organic food is a human right. Our children deserve fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs without stickers or plastic packaging.
2. The youth are our future! We must give marginalized youth every opportunity to learn about the agricultural ingenuity of their ancestors, gain employment, and have the support needed to follow their dreams.
3. Empower youth through urban agriculture, culinary arts, and entrepreneurship.
4. Give youth the opportunity to take the lead!
PROJECT SALSA
Our volunteer board members work tirelessly to provide opportunities in the St. Louis community. In 2021, we will launch Project Salsa to grant 5 to 10 under-served teens an immersive, empowering, hands-on experience growing food, turning it into a product, and marketing and selling it in a retail environment.
BUDGET
We anticipate total operating costs of $30,000 for the first year of this project. These expenses will include:
• Wages for the youth apprentices, one chef, and executive leadership
• Required permits, certifications, and licenses for food production and retail
• Food packaging and preparation supplies
• Retail and fundraising marketing and campaigns
• Seeds and seedlings
• Compostable materials for special events
• COVID-19 protective masks
• Garden supplies and repairs
• Consultants
STRETCH GOALS
Reaching our initial goal of $30,000 will allow us to pay 5 youth apprentices $300 per month. With just $12,000 more donations, we can include twice as many youth apprentices and empower a total of 10 youth apprentices to become entrepreneurs in their communities.
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