FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Food Justice organization, Drive Change, tackles food & social inequality with monthly events in Brownsville & Union Square: great food, cooking demos, DJs, games & live entertainment.
(Brooklyn, NY) – Drive Change is bringing out their food truck to feed the souls and minds of New Yorkers with their new summer programs Awareness & Access Days (A+A), beginning in May and extending until the Fall. The call-to-action events feature Drive Change’s award-winning food truck, live performances, music and powerful information to support campaigns for social & food justice.
The experiences are crafted to emphasize the importance of community engagement and magnify the Drive Change mission to use food as a unifier to re-imagine the criminal justice system and to build community
“A+A are socially conscious events with an emphasis on experience-driven learning,” explained Kirk Archibald, operations manager for Drive Change. “The expectation is, by the virtue of being part of a shocking, jarring or engaging experience affecting fellow New Yorkers, the participants will ultimately feel the responsibility to take action.”
The A+A launches are happening in amazing, special communities.
Awareness Days commence Friday May 11th, in the storied Union Square (Broadway & East 17th St, Manhattan). The events will feed the community, entertain the neighborhood and challenge the community’s consciousness around Bail Reform . Drive Challenge will ask participants to re-imagine the issues associated with bail in New York State — in particular, cash bail and how it affects citizens unable to pay the exorbitant amounts.
The famous Drive Change food truck & staff will hand out the food, amazing artists will captivate the neighborhood and DJ Moma, of Everyday People, will create the vibe.
Union Square has a rich history as space that invites the change-agents to voice and execute their visions. The monthly events will create a want for participant-driven agency.
Access Days begin Friday, May 18th in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. The monthly engagements brings the acclaimed food truck to the The Gregory Jackson Center of Brownsville (519 Rockaway Ave at Sutter Ave). The events assist food insecure neighborhoods that circumference Brownsville with resource discovery for positive food options sourced from the area, supporting Brownsville, Ocean Hill, East New York, East Flatbush, Canarsie & Crown Heights.
Participants will enjoy food giveaways, cooking demos, live entertainment, DJs & games. Regional talent will lend their skills. East New York’s renaissance artist/urban farmer Alexis Mena & Melting Pots instructor Rodney Frazier will lead the food demos while award-winning artists Orisa Love (singer/poet) & Nicholas Nichols (poet/editor) perform.
The Access Days are designed to give the communities more options as the people shape their future.
Archibald noted Drive Change believes “in using food as a unifier to build community, Brownsville share borders with Bed-Stuy & Bushwick which makes it part of our most immediate community.”
“Cooking and serving a meal is a very intimate interaction. Loved ones and adversaries have been known to break bread together because warmth often permeates then environment when food is present.”
The May launches are grand introductions to the A+A Days for both Union Square and Brownsville.
Awareness Day – Friday May 11th – Union Square, Manhattan – Noon – 5pm Union Square Farmers’ Market – Broadway & East 17th St
Access Day – Friday May 18th – Brownsville, Brooklyn – 11am until 4pm Gregory Jackson Center – 519 Rockaway Ave at Sutter Ave
For contact: Tai Allen – heavylightexperience@gmail.com / 718.508.2680
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