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The APPLE Center in Nevada City will use a recent donation of more than $2,800 to help keep the group's sustainability-focused operations going, center Executive Director Mali Dyck said.
“We're still making up for the loss of grant money (that supported basic operations) from last year,” Dyck said Friday. “We have lots of things planned — book clubs, discussion groups... Having a physical hub allows us to do that.”
APPLE — Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy — operates at 412 Commercial St. in downtown Nevada City.
Funds were raised by the second annual celebration of Manna Fest, a free event with music, art, food, libations and a silent auction at Penn Valley's Western Gateway Park that drew more than 3,000 people, said Nevada County resident Mary Padua-Fischer, who organized the Sept. 11 event with friend Victoria Bliss.
Last year's inaugural Manna Fest drew 2,000 people and supported Gold Country Community Center, which operates Meals on Wheels and is working toward building a new community center to serve seniors and youth, Padua-Fischer said.
Organizers hope to host similar events in Mt. Shasta, Calif., and on Maui, Hawaii, they said.
“According to the Bible, manna is the name of the food God provided the Israelites as they made a treacherous, cross-desert journey,” Padua-Fischer said. Manna Fest is a way of nourishing nonprofit organizations in western Nevada County, she added.
“The event started when we got together to manifest this community into a higher level of love and compassion for each other by way of free, conscious music and supporting nonprofit messages,” Padua-Fischer said.
“Our vision with Manna Fest is beyond a community level,” co-organizer Bliss said. “We intend for it to be a model for other communities globally to support their nonprofits and connect regardless of their differences.”
The event's scheduling on the date of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “made the spiritual message of love, harmony and healing much more meaningful,” she added.
The event opened with a ceremony focused on healing of the planet from members of the Maidu tribe, followed by Buddhist monks blessing those in attendance and the larger community, and then a blessing for the planet by the Center for Spiritual Living.
Local musicians who played included Mumbo Gumbo, Clan Dyken, Jacobi 1, Chameleon, Bob Woods Trio and Diane Patterson and Freedom, Padua-Fischer said.
Local businesses that supported the celebration included Atlas Disposal, SPD Markets, The Union newspaper, CDL, BriarPatch Natural Foods Market, Sons & Development, Solace Graphics, Gene West, Seghezzi Enterprises, Dunlap Industries, Waste Management Inc., Grass Valley Hydrogarden and Empire Electric.
Padua-Fischer collaborated this year with her son and his music company, Unity 1 Productions.
They donated this year's net proceeds to the APPLE Center.
For more information, visit Unity 1 Productions at www.Unity1Productions.com or contact Padua-Fischer at Marypadua@yahoo.com or (530) 263-3416.
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To contact Senior Staff Writer Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.
“We're still making up for the loss of grant money (that supported basic operations) from last year,” Dyck said Friday. “We have lots of things planned — book clubs, discussion groups... Having a physical hub allows us to do that.”
APPLE — Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy — operates at 412 Commercial St. in downtown Nevada City.
Funds were raised by the second annual celebration of Manna Fest, a free event with music, art, food, libations and a silent auction at Penn Valley's Western Gateway Park that drew more than 3,000 people, said Nevada County resident Mary Padua-Fischer, who organized the Sept. 11 event with friend Victoria Bliss.
Last year's inaugural Manna Fest drew 2,000 people and supported Gold Country Community Center, which operates Meals on Wheels and is working toward building a new community center to serve seniors and youth, Padua-Fischer said.
Organizers hope to host similar events in Mt. Shasta, Calif., and on Maui, Hawaii, they said.
“According to the Bible, manna is the name of the food God provided the Israelites as they made a treacherous, cross-desert journey,” Padua-Fischer said. Manna Fest is a way of nourishing nonprofit organizations in western Nevada County, she added.
“The event started when we got together to manifest this community into a higher level of love and compassion for each other by way of free, conscious music and supporting nonprofit messages,” Padua-Fischer said.
“Our vision with Manna Fest is beyond a community level,” co-organizer Bliss said. “We intend for it to be a model for other communities globally to support their nonprofits and connect regardless of their differences.”
The event's scheduling on the date of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “made the spiritual message of love, harmony and healing much more meaningful,” she added.
The event opened with a ceremony focused on healing of the planet from members of the Maidu tribe, followed by Buddhist monks blessing those in attendance and the larger community, and then a blessing for the planet by the Center for Spiritual Living.
Local musicians who played included Mumbo Gumbo, Clan Dyken, Jacobi 1, Chameleon, Bob Woods Trio and Diane Patterson and Freedom, Padua-Fischer said.
Local businesses that supported the celebration included Atlas Disposal, SPD Markets, The Union newspaper, CDL, BriarPatch Natural Foods Market, Sons & Development, Solace Graphics, Gene West, Seghezzi Enterprises, Dunlap Industries, Waste Management Inc., Grass Valley Hydrogarden and Empire Electric.
Padua-Fischer collaborated this year with her son and his music company, Unity 1 Productions.
They donated this year's net proceeds to the APPLE Center.
For more information, visit Unity 1 Productions at www.Unity1Productions.com or contact Padua-Fischer at Marypadua@yahoo.com or (530) 263-3416.
ooo
To contact Senior Staff Writer Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.
