https://smilefarms.org/

Smile Farms at CP Unlimited will host its ribbon cutting ceremony, opening the 9th Smile Farms campus in the New York City metro region.
Smile Farms is a not-for-profit that develops partnerships with other NFPs to create jobs for people with developmental disabilities. Smile Farms at CP Unlimited will create 22 such opportunities for Staten Islanders, teaching them to grow produce (hot and sweet peppers to be used to make hot sauce!, among other things), providing them with marketable skills, independence, and mental wellness benefits. They will also support “Good Neighbor Organics” grown nearby and distribute it in local SI neighborhoods identified as “food deserts.” Smile Farms was founded by Long Islander and 1-800-FLOWERS.com Founder/Executive Chairman Jim McCann, inspired by his brother who has developmental disabilities.
Fun Facts: Since its founding in 2015, Smile Farms has:
– employed more than 200+ people with different abilities in the NY metro area
– harvested 629+ lbs. of peppers (and counting!) that have been made into 1,773 bottles of “BurnAbility” hot sauce ??????
– delivered produce to nearly 600 food insecure customers
– farmed produce for 55 group homes, feeding 400 residents
– wholesaled 62,000 planted pots of annuals and perennials
– provided produce for celeb Chef Tom Colicchio’s newest restaurant, Small Batch, and much more.
This is SUCH a feel-good story. If you’d like to interview James Cuomo, (a Smile Farmer at CP Unlimited), Jim McCann (Founder/Chairman Smile Farms, Founder/Exec Chairman of 1-800-Flowers) or Susan Constantino, (President and CEO of CP Unlimited), I’d be glad to arrange it for you. I’ve attached a media advisory for you and a flyer about Smile Farms.

Jim McCann – Bio

As a child, McCann grew up in Ozone Park, Queens, and is the oldest of five siblings in an Irish-American family; McCann is a third-generation American.[1][2] For college, McCann attended the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, and graduated in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.[1]

McCann first entered the flower business in the 1970s, when he purchased flower shops in New York City.[1][3] He had previously worked as a social worker and as a part-time bartender in the Queens and Manhattan, respectively.[1][4]

According to his autobiography, “Stop and Sell the Roses”, he came up with the idea of building a nationwide flower service while “listening to the radio as he was shaving”. In 1986, he bought a nearly bankrupt company in Texas which owned the phone number 1-800-Flowers.[3] McCann changed the name of his chain accordingly.

In 1992 and 1994, McCann established deals with online pioneers CompuServe and AOL, making his company one of the first retailers to establish an online presence.[3] In 1995, McCann established the website www.1800flowers.com, becoming one of the first retailers to establish a web presence. The company went public when it filed its IPO in 1999 under stock ticker FLWS.[1][5][6]

As of 2016, McCann stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of 1-800-Flowers in favor of his brother Christopher G. McCann.[1] McCann owns 40% of the company.

McCann serves as a director for Winthrop-University Hospital, a trustee for Hofstra University, a trustee for the Cancer Research Institute, Inc. and Children’s Progress Inc.[6][7] He is often sought after to speak on topics of entrepreneurship, marketing and the Internet. He also serves on various corporate boards.[6]

#produce #purpose #staten #island #smile #farms #jim #mccann #smilefarms #disabilities #1-800-flowers #1800flowers #skills #independence #mental #wellness #benefits #neighbor #organics #neighborhoods

find out what Jim McCann thinks about Peace, go to http://goodnewsplanet.com/what-does-peace-mean-to-jim-mccann/

The post Growing “Produce with a Purpose” on Staten Island, we speak to Good Samaritan and Founder of Smile Farms, Jim McCann appeared first on Good News!.

BeTerrific produces positive original content and programming. We are storytellers and enjoy telling stories that enrich, enlighten, inform, inspire and engage you. We focus in sports, technology, entertainment and business. We take you behind the scenes and into the world of the icons and people we cover. We provide this through shows and segments both live and non live. Some shows from our studios and some are done remotely. Meanwhile others in the field or on location. Everything is archived here on our site too.

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We have been founded by our CEO 5 time Emmy Award winning host, producer, journalist and director Michael Artsis and a team of award winning journalists and video production specialists. The concept is to create positive content and to spread positive vibes and messages and inspire people. A lot of positive that happens in the world and we rarely here it as this is something that is foreign to typical, traditional media. We also want to create a daily newscast of positive news happening in everyones world that is curated from your good news. We are for everything good and we will continue to bring a lot of positive to you.

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Nine years ago, I had a vision — to produce a broadcast that would engage a global audience with a simple message — that peace is really possible and that its up to each of us, as citizens of the earth, to make it happen. As the founder of Unity Foundation, and one of the executive producers of the PEACE DAY GLOBAL BROADCAST, I respectfully invite you to join us as peace broadcasters, To advance our mutual goals, we make it possible for everyone to embed our broadcast on their own websites. We hope you will help us make this entertaining, educational, inspiring and empowering production available to as many people as possible.

To embed the broadcast, click on the share button beneath the broadcast player on the www.peacechannel.com home page. Then click on the embed button and you will be directed to the page with the embed code.

Most days, the news reports all the problems of the world – war, violence, disease, hunger, corruption – but it seldom offers solutions. The PEACE DAY GLOBAL BROADCAST is different. We look squarely at the problems and spotlight practical solutions developed by organizations and ordinary people throughout the world. We highlight the vital work of the United Nations, its humanitarian agencies, and organizations throughout the world working for peace, the environment, human rights, and social and economic justice.

This year’s theme, “Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All” reflects a global initiative that promotes respect, safety and dignity for everyone forced to flee their homes in search of a better life. The broadcast promotes the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We look at stories of how these goals touch individuals in many troubled parts of the globe.” A teenage girl promotes education and wins the fight against child marriage in her refugee camp. A farmer in Peru devises planting methods to preserve the rainforest. A farmer in Burkina Faso holds back the desert. Neighbors in Bangladesh raise small fish to fight malnutrition. Young mothers in South Sudan clear land mines from village farms. A teenage boy deploys his own low-cost technology to filter tons of plastic garbage from the Pacific Ocean. These stories and many others are featured in the Peace Day Global Broadcast.

The 2017 Peace Day Global Broadcast will stream around the clock around the globe on the Peace Channel www.peacechannel.com, from September 20th through September 24th, joining global dignitaries with world-famous actors and musicians in a marathon of video entertainment and inspiration celebrating the United Nations International Day of Peace. Dignitaries include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former US President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafazi, Canadian tribal leader Marilyn Baptiste, and global peace ambassador Prem Rawat. Featured performing artists include UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Katy Perry and Shakira, Beyonce, Bono, Janelle Monae, Linkin Park, Melissa Etheridge, Ringo Starr, Sting and Stevie Wonder. The broadcast includes calls to action by Leonardo DiCaprio, official UN Messenger of Peace, Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy of the UN High Commissioner on Refugees, Liam Neeson, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and Forest Whitaker, Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation of UNESCO on Children and Armed Conflict. The street musicians of the not-for-profit Playing for Change blend their artistry in videos shot around the world and blended into seamless streaming productions.

The 2017 Peace Day Global Broadcast will stream live from United Nations headquarters in New York, beginning September 20th to 24th. The broadcast will also stream on numerous organizational websites and Facebook pages. Viewers will enjoy peace messages from citizens around the world, including such notables as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jane Goodall, Michael Douglas, Tavis Smiley, Joe Walsh, Kenny Loggins, Michelle Phillips, Edward James Olmos, Ed Asner, Marianne Williamson, Dolores Huerta, Linda Gray, Lou Ferrigno, Olympian Marilyn King and others.

Our goal is to inspire and empower people throughout the world to work for peace, sustainability and prosperity. Please join us in achieving this goal by becoming a peace broadcaster.

In Peace & Gratitude

Bill McCarthy
President
Unity Foundation

Unity Foundation President Bill McCarthy and Vice-President Laurien Towers are the founders and executive producers of the annual Peace Day Global Broadcasts. David Weinberg, Darlene Shelton and Bill McCarthy are the producers of the 2017 Peace Day Global Broadcast. Darlene Shelton is the program designer.

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