Greetings, friends!

I am happy to announce that Arts for Our Children, Inc. has been awarded a substantial grant from Children’s Youth Investment Trust for iThings 2 Collard Greens – a six week summer camp for girls ages 5-13 to be held from June 25 – August 3 at the Davis Center in Northwest Washington, DC. Girls from Wards 4 and 5 may attend the camp for ONLY $50.00 which includes free breakfast and lunch. We have an exciting program for girls in back-to-basic life skills training – the “ways of woman” – to include etiquette training, health, hygiene and nutrition, sewing, knitting, meditation, affirmations, yoga, gardening, cooking, games, women’s history, oratorical speaking and more of what our girls need to increase their self-esteem, self-acceptance, self-love and capacity to serve! This program is dedicated to the legacy of a phenomenal woman – Nannie Helen Burroughs, a 20th century educator, activist and founder of a boarding school for girls.

Please forward the attachment to your community list-serves and others who may know young girls eligible for this program. Girls outside of wards 4 and 5 will pay $800 for the six weeks. We look forward to an exciting summer of service!

Click Here to View the Summer Camp Application Package

Thank you for forwarding this and be well!

Kathy English Holt
kathyenglishholt.com
ithings2collardgreens.org

Give thanks for a full house and successful run of “Nannie Live!” during Black History Month.  It was delightful working with the Multi-Media Training Institute.  Many took advantage of their capacity stream live the performance.  Visit www.mmtidc.org, pay $15.00 and they will send a code for you to input to see this performance online  and this performance includes Kathy singing with her son, Corcoran, on bass! Or course, 50% of proceeds go to support the girls’ summer retreat! Thanks to Lynn Dyson, Carol Dyson and the crew!

March also known as Women’s History Month finds us in Alexandria joined by the recreation center’s children’s choir and The Davis Center’s dancers.  Thanks to M.D. Abdalla and Bea Davis for collaborating with this performance!

April finds us in Atlanta at Morehouse University on Thursday, April 12 and the Shrine of the Black Madonna on Saturday, April 14.  Stay tuned for more information.  We will submit for the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival in October to continue to spread the work, words and deeds of Miss Nannie Helen Burroughs. Please spread the word and let us know of other organizations which may be interested in hosting the show.

DVD’s of the February performance are on sale.  To purchase contact us at senghorb@hotmail.com or 202-256-2518.  Donations of $15.00 to Arts for Children, Inc. go towards the summer retreat in SC!  Thank you for your support!

Imagine a little girl digging out a plot of land in an inner city backyard, planting seeds, watering them and watching her vegetable seeds grow into plants. The harvest comes and she picks the food from her vegetable garden to donate to a family or organization in need. This is what Katie’s Krops is all about and two precious girls connected to iThings 2 Collard Greens have just submitted applications to receive a small grant to do just that. We hope that one of these girls wins the grant and can have this experience.

iThings 2 Collard Greens wishes to educate and empower our girls to make a difference not just in their lives but in the lives of others and growing food is a wonderful way to do just that! We realize that even in the 21st century hunger is a real problem and having inner city gardens is a way we can help!

The first fundraiser for iThings 2 Collard Greens at The Davis Center in Washington, DC was  a roaring success.  Women, children (and some men) enjoyed Mama Kathy’s reenactment of Nannie Helen Burroughs delivering her speech “There is Nobody Home”  (see youtube video).  We also heard from a special surprise guest, Mrs. Mattie Robinson, a former principal of Nannie Helen Burroughs School in Washington, DC.   Mrs. Robinson shared tidbits about Miss Burroughs.  One nugget is that Miss Burroughs shut her office door at 12 noon everyday and got on her knees for 1/2 hour.  Neither student or staff dared enter her office during Miss Burroughs time with God!

Bea Davis, Mattie Robinson, Mama Kathy

Thanks to Edwina Davis, Stephanie Vann and Kasmin Holt for the wonderful DVD they created of little girls sharing what they did and did not do around the house to help their parents.  Each little girl was delightful and expressed interest in going to the country and escaping technology for a week – as long as we made it fun and interesting!  No worries there.  We have a fun curriculum and staff who are little girls at heart!

After Mama Kathy shared the curriculum we broke bread with collard greens, sweet potatoes, cornbread, homemade cakes, tea and apple cider.  Kudos to all the sisters of Nannie’s Circle who prepared the spread. . MMMMM Good!

Special thanks to Miss Bea Davis, proprietor of The Davis Center and Mama Kathy’s mentor  for her overwhelming love and support.  See photos of the event.  More to come . . .

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