Let's Fulfill Grandma's Promise

It took a village to fulfill Grandma’s Promise. Bookmobiles cost hundreds of thousands per year to staff, supply, and maintain. And there were administrative complexities far beyond Grandma's means. But we searched high. We searched low. Then we struck upon a solution that has Grandma so excited she can’t sleep. Tony Hillery from Harlem Grown has offered to build free libraries, aptly named ‘Grandma’s Promise,’ in his urban farms across the city. These farms are safe spaces that serve thousands of the exact same children that Grandma dreamed of reaching with her bookmobile. Grandma will personally curate the collections with “books to represent the children that are going to have them: uplifting, positive stories of people who overcome obstacles and do great things.’

But take a seat.  It gets even better. Because Tony is currently building a Harlem Grown Mobile Teaching Kitchen that will spread the message of nutrition and healthy eating to children across all of Harlem. It will conduct community events and educational programs. It will also partner with food banks and pantries to distribute nutritious food to communities that currently lack these options. But now the MTK will also serve an additional purpose. At each stop, it will distribute books from the Grandma’s Promise collection. Grandma has decided 110% that the Mobile Teaching Kitchen was the ‘bookmobile’ she was seeing in her visions. She told me that a butterfly landed on her today. Twice. 

Here's where we come in. First we need to refill Grandma’s secret stash. Before Grandma can promise anything, we need to make sure she’s got some solid ground beneath her feet. Or more accurately—a solid brownstone beneath her feet. She’s got a loving community around her. But we also want a roof over her head. So the first $50,000 raised in this fundraiser will go to Grandma, just to give her a little breathing room. The remaining amount will go to Harlem Grown—for the purpose of building Grandma’s legacy. 

Following the construction of her small system of free libraries, Grandma hopes to empower the Mobile Teaching Kitchen, so that she and Tony can reach all the children of Harlem. Even the ones who don’t live near the farms. In the words of Grandma:  “Many of these children are both physically and emotionally malnourished. Now we can help with both at the same time.”

In addition to building the Grandma's Promise libraries, all donations will go toward keeping the MTK staffed, supplied, and fueled for as many years as possible. So that it can reach as many children as possible. “I haven’t felt this way since the birth of my kids,” said Grandma. ‘This is the beginning of something. Something that will make everyone proud, even when I’m gone." Please consider chipping in for these two community pillars of the Harlem community, as they work together to fulfill Grandma's Promise.