The Project:
The West River Community Project is raising funds to build a medium-sized timber frame pavilion that will cover a new community pizza oven!
In order to accomplish this, the WRCP is partnering with another nonprofit, TERRA Collaborative, to offer a week-long timber framing workshop for women and under-represented individuals in the trades.
The timber framing course is focused on skill building for women and other individuals who may have not had the exposure to hands-on learning. This intensive seven-day workshop, offered in West Townshend from July 6 – 12, will lead participants through square rule timber frame joinery and conclude with raising a medium-sized community pizza pavilion. The final day of the workshop will also include a community celebration!
The new community pizza pavilion will be located at the West Townshend Country Store, which is owned and operated by the West River Community Project, a nonprofit which aims to support local farmers and entrepreneurs, and seeks to improve lives and strengthen the community as a whole.
An earthen wood-fired oven building workshop later in the fall will take place under the newly built pavilion.
Please help us reach our goal of $20,000 by the end of March!
Money from this campaign will be used directly to purchase materials for the structure, foundation and pizza oven, pay for food and housing for the students taking the course, compensate the course instructors and any other skilled labor, and provide financial aid to students who need help paying for the course.
Why we are doing this project:
The WRCP is in need of a new pizza oven due to failures in the existing one. The WRCP hosts a community pizza night every Friday all year round. The new pizza pavilion will be more dynamic and appropriately located than the existing structure, allowing for a welcoming, safe and enjoyable pizza night for years to come.
By offering a timber frame workshop specifically to women and others who marginalized, the WRCP is accomplishing its mission of supporting the community and helping to tackle social and economic barriers. We hope that by empowering everyone in our community, we will have built a strong movement for the future.
Who is running this campaign:
This campaign is being run by Drew Clark, a board member, and our Development Director, Susan Grabowski.
"As a builder, I know how empowering being part of cutting and raising a structure can be. The reward at the end of the day after all the hard work you put in is a sensation every person should have access to. I also know what impact a well-designed, beautiful and functional building can have on a community. I look forward to many more events and gatherings which will be greatly improved by the addition of this new space and oven."
-Drew
How you can help:
The best way to help us accomplish our goal is to donate directly to this campaign, if you are able.
IMPORTANT: This is an all-or-nothing campaign. We need to reach our goal of $20,000 by the end of March in order to receive any of the funds. We are hoping to raise $25K as our stretch goal, which will help cover the cost of a workshop to build a new oven.
There are some really great rewards available to donors depending on the amount donated! And every $100 donation will go directly towards paying for a student's tuition!
Startsomegood is an organization that works to help nonprofits in particular raise funds for various community projects (It's safe to use!).
About West River Community Project:
The West River Community Project was established in 2011 to help foster the revitalization of our community in the West River Watershed and to promote local agricultural, economic and social activities. The WRCP owns and operates the West Townshend Country Store on Route 30 in West Townshend, which houses a donation-based café, offering breakfast and lunch, as well as delicious wood-fired pizza with live music every Friday evening. The WRCP also operates the West Townshend post office, a thrift store, the Townshend farmers market, a rentable commercial kitchen space, and so much more. You can learn even more about WRCP at westtownshend.org.
About TERRA Collaborative:
TERRA Collaborative provides training opportunities, often with a focus on women and youth, in place-based building practices, to create greater community resiliency in times of climate change impact and a resource-driven economy. Their educational work is an international effort with roots in the US. TERRA founder Liz Johndrow has been a hands-on learner all of her life and in 2004, she began to focus on natural and earthen construction. She founded her business, Earthen Endeavors Natural Building, in 2009 and launched TERRA Collaborative in 2014, formalizing the work she had been doing in Nicaragua since 2011. TERRA Collaborative now teaches natural material-based building skills in workshops and apprenticeships throughout the US and Central America. Timber
Framer Ariels Burns of Maine Heritage Timber Framing will co-teach this workshop. You can learn more at www.terracollaborative.org
