In brief: Berkeley group seeks donations for emergency aid to Gaza

The Middle East Children's Alliance is reporting deliveries of medical supplies for hospitals and clinics along with 600 food parcels.

BERKELEY

Amidst the ongoing attack on Gaza, the Berkeley-based Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) and its partners are providing emergency assistance to families who have fled their homes to seek shelter with relatives as well as procuring emergency medical supplies for hospitals and clinics.

Every single person in Gaza is desperately hungry. Children and babies are the most vulnerable, and at least 27 have starved to death. Pregnant women can’t get enough food to give birth to healthy babies or to nurse them. The impact on their physical and mental development will be severe and could even be passed on to future generations.

Right now, MECA’s partners and volunteers in northern Gaza are delivering 600 food parcels with flour, lentils, rice, beans, and more. The cost now is $118. We are also working to get fresh produce from farmers.

Six hundred food parcels may seem like almost nothing, but for the 600 families who will get food, it is everything. MECA partners and volunteers are determined and working incredibly hard. With your support now, we can get more food to more people in the days and weeks ahead.

Food is scarce, expensive, and vanishes quickly. MECA must keep raising funds so that whenever something is available we can buy it. Please make the most generous contribution you can online at bit.ly/3U15LhW. For more information, visit mecaforpeace.org/about-us.

— MECA

RICHMOND

Homeowner sought to accommodate tiny house ADU project

THIMBY, or Tiny House in My Backyard, in collaboration with TentMakers Inc., seeks to pilot Richmond’s “Tiny House on Wheels” ordinance to provide permanent homes for unhoused folk. Accordingly, we’re constructing a mobile accessory dwelling unit (ADU) to be placed on a property with existing housing.

To facilitate this, THIMBY co-founded the Tiny House Building Academy, an organization providing education and on-site construction experience to individuals from marginalized backgrounds, preparing them for careers in the industry.

As THIMBY’s construction nears completion, our biggest priority is finding a homeowner to accommodate the ADU on their property, a process facilitated by THIMBY and TentMakers. The tiny house would be located in the host’s yard for a minimum of one year and would be managed by TentMakers, with minimal necessary involvement from the homeowner.

The ADU is equipped with solar panels and consumes less water, energy and space than larger homes. If you’re interested in hosting the ADU, please fill out our survey online at bit.ly/3w6jkoh. Also, check out our info packet at bit.ly/3Ukuzmi and website (shac.studentorg.berkeley.edu/thimby3) for more details, or email us at garrett@tentmakersinc.org.

— Garrett Pohlman

EL CERRITO

Earth Day volunteers sought for Saturday work parties

Celebrate Earth Day this weekend on Saturday! Each year in April, the city of El Cerrito celebrates Earth Day with a morning of volunteerism and work parties. This year will be no different, as El Cerrito on April 20 will feature citywide work parties from 9 a.m. to noon.

Also featured will be a complimentary seedling giveaway by the El Cerrito Community Garden Network with the El Cerrito Garden Club at the City Corporation Yard (across from the El Cerrito Recycling + Environmental Resource Center). The city of El Cerrito also welcomes volunteers to help tidy parks; pick up litter to reduce the amount of trash that ends up in the city’s creeks, waterways and the bay; and participate in activities that beautify the community’s natural areas.

Anyone interested in volunteering or hosting a work party can contact city staff at earthday@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us or 510-215-4350.

Interested parties can also pick a work activity this Saturday from a list of work parties that will be on the city’s webpage below. The city provides volunteers with gloves, bags and tools to borrow for work party activities. For details online, visit el-cerrito.org/645/Earth-Day-Celebration.

City names writer, educator Taylor its 2024 poet laureate

The city of El Cerrito has announced its selection for the city’s 2024 poet laureate as Tess Taylor, an acclaimed poet who is passionate about championing the city’s young student writers, particularly at El Cerrito High School.

As El Cerrito’s poet laureate this year, Taylor says she intends to use her position to enhance opportunities for El Cerrito students and the wider community by fostering creativity, building skills and establishing valuable connections.

“I’d like to connect local writers and editors of regional literary magazines like ‘Alta,’ ‘Zyzzyva’ and ’14 Hills’ with local high school students,” Taylor said. “I plan to pair student writers and editors with professional counterparts in the Bay Area community so that they can build connections and we can cultivate the next generation of writers.”

Born and raised in El Cerrito, Taylor has published five books of poetry, including “Work and Days,” which the New York Times named one of its 10 best 2016 poetry books. Also, the Boston Globe named her work “Rift Zone” one of the 50 best books of 2020. Finally, “Last West: Roadsongs for Dorothea Lange” was a part of the “Dorothea Lange: Words and Pictures exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art.”

Taylor received her master of fine arts degree in creative writing from Boston University and holds a master of arts degree in journalism from New York University and a bachelor of arts in English and urban studies from Amherst College.

Taylor has a long history in education and has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, St. Mary’s College, Whittier College and more. She serves as part of the creative writing faculty in Ashland (Ohio) University’s master of fine arts program.

As poet laureate, Taylor says she hopes to lead workshops for all levels of writers and help El Cerrito’s student body connect with the wider Bay Area literary community.

“Not only do I live in El Cerrito, but much of my work is about the landscape and stories of El Cerrito,” she said. “It is my mission as an artist to build the arts ecosystem, support emerging writers and encourage creativity.”

Taylor’s term as the city’s poet laureate will start April 1 and last through March 31, 2025.

— city of El Cerrito

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