Stone Soup Worcester

Saturday, April 4
1:00 on – Volunteer Work Day at Stone Soup
All are welcome! Bring your friends!
Items needed: RESPIRATORS! ELECTRIC FANS! EXTENSION CORDS! Work gloves, rubber gloves, RAGS, box-cutters, contractor bags, crow-bars, cleaning supplies.

6:00: Community Meal at Castle St Garden Donations of vegetarian/vegan friendly foods are requested, contact Becky 860-573-5181. Before 6:00, food donations may be brought to the Artichoke Food Coop at 800 Main Street. For more information contact Stephanie Katz at 603-305-0323.

~ Upcoming Events ~ Stone Soup Wish List ~ Volunteer Skilled Labor ~

For those interested in helping Stone Soup to rebuild and support its community members after the fire, these links might be of interest (they are also linked in the ‘pages’ section on the right side of the page):

Upcoming Events and Ways to Get Involved

Stone Soup Wish List

Thank you for all your support. We have had overwhelming response from the community in the face of this tragedy, and are confident that we will bounce back from this stronger than ever. More updates as they come.

Coverage on WCCA.

Image by Steve Lanava, Worcester Telegram and Gazette

Sarah Assefa (508-579-6916 / sarah@worcesterroots.org)

Our 4 King Street building, home to Worcester’s beloved arts, activism,
and community center, was damaged by a fire late Thursday, March 26. The
fire began in the basement–the cause is as yet unknown. No one was
injured.

We are committed to continuing and rebuilding at 4 King Street. The
building is currently unusable, but organizations will continue their
important social and environmental justice work thanks to the generous
support of dozens of other community groups.

Stone Soup needs your help to rebuild. We are asking for donations of
time, money, and other items. Check back here soon for more updates about materials and skills needed.

Donations can be made out to Stone Soup and sent to:
Stone Soup c/o Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center
301 Pleasant St.
Worcester, MA 01609.

We would like to correct the factual error in the T&G article published
this morning that stated that no one lives in the building - two resident
caretakers had occupied the space. We are working to meet the needs of
these individuals as well as the needs of other Stone Soup COOKS.

No pueden quemar nuestros sueños.
Our dreams cannot be burnt down.

Please continue reading for work day information, community meetings and
community needs.

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

Saturday, March 28
10:00- All Day Volunteer Work Day at Stone Soup
All are welcome, please bring shovels, rakes, gloves, brooms, etc.

5:00- Community Meal at Castle Street Garden (Rain location: Pilgrim Church)
Donations of vegetarian/vegan friendly foods are requested, contact
Stephanie 603-305-0323. Before 5:00, food donations may be brought to the
Artichoke Food Coop at 800 Main Street.

7:30- Fundraising/Media/Outreach Committee meeting at Lucas’ house
(contact Becky for directions: 860-573-5181).

Tuesday, March 31
6:00- Community dinner/Music/Painting behind Stone Soup (4 King St). Bring vegan/vegetarian friendly food and come together to celebrate our community.

Friday, April 3
5:30- Committee meetings for Fundraising and Logistics Committees at the Woo Church (911 Main St)
6:00- Stone Soup General meeting at 911 Main Street

Saturday, April 4
1:00- Volunteer Work Day at Stone Soup
All are welcome, please bring shovels, rakes, gloves, brooms, etc.

DONATIONS
Donate online or send donations (checks made payable to “Stone Soup”) to The
Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center at 301 Pleasant Street., Worcester, MA 01609

INFORMATION
For status updates, work day updates, and other information, please visit
http://www.stonesoupworcester.org

Telegram & Gazette Coverage.

First article.

NECN TV Coverage.

Stone Soup is working on grand renovations to make the 3rd floor in to live-work space, and on the kitchen to make it a beautiful, commercially certified community resource.

The new Fun Committee, the “Spice Rack”, is busy with some fun events, save the date and more info to come:

1. Sat. March 7th, 3pm - Painting, Pizza, Popcorn and Puppets
Help us paint the walls and have some fun.

2. Tues. March 24th, 6pm - Spring Celebration with Green Food Potluck and Rounds Singing followed by a panel discussion at 7pm:
Foreclosures, Gentrification and Housing Cooperatives

3. Sat. March 28th, 5pm - 2nd annual Pizza Taste-Off

Stone Soup had a very successful 2 Year Anniversary Party this past Saturday, Dec. 6th at Centro Las Americas. We’ve made a video for those of you who missed the event, it features the procession from 4 King St to Centro, Toxic Soil Busters and primarily the amazing Murga band, La Klandestina. It’s only 7 minutes, watch it right now:

Congratulations those who received awards:
–Worcester Immigrant Coalition
–Becky Rothberg
–Cosme Sierra

Thank you to those who made this event possible:
Centro Las Americas - great accommodating space
La Klandestina - amazing performance
Walter Rodriguez - excellent food
Patrick Keaney - irreplaceable transportation (http://GreenGreaseMonkey.com)
Earn-A-Bike and Randa - delicious cupcakes
Dozens of Stone Soup members

STONE SOUP
Celebrates 2 years
at 4 King St, Worcester

Sat. December 6th, 2008
6:00pm
at Centro Las Americas, 11 Sycamore St, Worcester

FEATURING…

Uruguayan MURGA group
L A K L A N D E S T I N A
(what is murga? see photo below)

And Uruguayan Candombe drum troupe
T R U E N O C E L E S T E
(what is Candombe? See this youtube videos:

Video 1 of the Candombe group
Video 2 of the Candombe groups

***Also at 4pm - Candombe drumming workshop.
Contact Paula for more info: harrisop@gmail.com***

Sadly, Pueblo Nuevo Band will not be able to perform as earlier announced

English Flyer

Spanish Flyer

Did you know that there is an all volunteer-run artist /
activist collective and community resource center in Main South called
S T O N E S O U P
at 4 King St, Worcester?
You probably did, but maybe you didn’t know this…

Download the latest Stone Soup Flyer
Download the Spanish Flyer here.

1 - There are rooms available in Stone Soup! You can start your art project, your grassroots group, your micro-enterprise or co-op business, you-name-it for really cheap, and have access to the computers, meeting rooms, kitchen and extended stone soup community. We’re talking $200-300/month all included. Or be a caretaker (we’re looking for caretakers starting in November). Get in touch if you’re interested and we’ll show you the space. General Stone Soup number: 508-755-4974.

2 - We’re open most week days during the day and often in the evening, but we’d like to be open more… we need YOU to volunteer with us for open hours. Contact Paula to find out more: harrisop -at- gmail.com

3 - There are hundreds of rad books on topics from Latin American social movements to gay liberation, from anarchism to cultural studies in the Firecracker Lending Library - but the library collective needs your help sorting, cataloging and tracking the books to make this resource functional and available! Contact Lauren to help out: tankgrrrl12 -at- hotmail.com

4 - There’s a very welcoming community bike shop and a place to earn a free bike. Worcester Earn-A-Bike operates out of the Stone Soup basement and is open Weds. 4:30-6:30, Sat. 2-4:30, and Sun 7-9 (Sun. is age 17+). Bike donations welcome, as well! Contact Gray for more info: gray -at- worcesterearnabike.org

5 - There’s a full capacity Graphics Shop with screen printing and printmaking machines. Open to community participation. Contact Cosme for more info: csierra9407 -at- charter.net

6 - And at 5:00 on the first and third Sundays of the month, join EPOCA to learn about grassroots community organizing to reform our criminal justice system, and our democratic, worker-owned biodiesel cooperative.

7 - Stone Soup Collective has open general meetings every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at 6pm. Come bring your ideas and energy to help us make this space even more useful to artists, activists and the community.
Some of the ongoing projects include a newsletter, building a commercial kitchen, 3rd floor renovations, a co-op online bookstore, winterizing, energy saving and more.

Next meetings are:
Tuesday, Sept. 23rd, 6:00pm
and
Tuesday, Oct. 13th, 6:00pm

8 - There are monthly opportunities to get your hands dirty for environmental justice. Worcester Roots Project hold hands-on volunteer days on the last Saturday of the month, meeting at 10am at Stone Soup, 4 King St. Help the Toxic Soil Busters Co-op tackle contaminated yards and learn about plants that pull toxins out of the soil! Next hands on volunteer day is Sept. 27th, 10am.

Now you know. All this and a lot more at
Stone Soup
4 King St
Worcester, MA
508-755-4974
http://www.StoneSoupWorcester.org

Hundreds of community members, local artists and activists came out to put the UNITY back in CommUNITY. The event was organized by Stone Soup, Worcester Roots Project’s Toxic Soil Busters Co-op, EPOCA and the Worcester Lead Action Collaborative.

The day of events included a basketball tournament, a march to “End the War in Wor-town”, a talent show, food, action tables, games and all the fun a block party encompasses.

Check back soon for a video of the event!
See a few photos of the Block Party here

It took place Saturday, August 23rd
4-8pm

See details and download flyers here:
http://worcesterroots.org/blockparty08.html

Please consider donating all or a portion of your “economic stimulus” rebate to Stone Soup, a new community center that is truly revitalizing Worcester’s inner city.

Help support our work for true community improvement:

1. Stone Soup members are creating worker and housing cooperatives to provide secure jobs and to prevent future home foreclosures.

2. Volunteer-based sustainability projects for people and the planet at Stone Soup:

• Earn-A-Bike promotes bicycling culture in Worcester
• Worcester Roots Project helps create healthy green spaces for growing food
• Ex-prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (EPOCA) is developing a green-collar jobs program.
• Stone Soup also strives to be an example of sustainability with roof-top gardens, recycling/composting and future plans for green building.

3. Cultural projects and events. Stone Soup has hosted 16 cultural events since its inauguration in January of 2006. We just held the first “Encuentro Jíbaro de Primavera/Springtime Puerto Rican Musical Gathering” on April 20th, which was a great success.

4. Incubator of new projects and community-based endeavors.

We invite you to work together with us, building on our collective strengths towards a positive, sustainable future for all.

We are currently fundraising for improvements to the space such as wheelchair accessibility, commercial kitchen, and insulation. To donate to Stone Soup, send a check made out to “Stone Soup” to 4 King Street, Worcester, MA 01610. For a tax-deductible donation, make the check out to our fiscal sponsor, Worcester Common Ground, and send it to the same address above. Or DONATE NOW ONLINE:







 

CELEBRATE 1 YEAR
of S T O N E S O U P
AT 4 KING ST

SATURDAY, DEC. 8TH
6:00pm

FEATURING:

~“Lest We Forget”
Music Video Premier
with Mingo & Epinero
Watch it on YouTube

~“Toxic Soil Busters”
Video Premier

~Stone Soup Graphics Shop
Demonstration & Tour

~Live Music

Free food by:
Food Not Bombs

also apprearing…
~EPOCA

~Tertulia Julia de Burgos

~Stone Soup Learning Co-op

~Stone Soup Puppet Lab

~Bike Raffle by Earn-A-Bike

at Stone Soup
4 King St, Worcester

(508) 755-4974
stonesoupworcester@gmail.com
http://StoneSoupWorcester.org

Download the flyer!