Green Bronx Machine

Hi ! My name is Suhail Gurm and I am a college student at Rowan University in NJ. I am going to be running the Stone House 50 Mile Ultramarathon on May 21 to raise money for a charity organization called the Green Bronx Machine. This organization started out as an after school program for K-12 children and quickly expanded into something much bigger. The mission of this organization is to build a thriving community by creating healthier schools. The founder of Green Bronx Machine Stephen Ritz and his students have a vision to create a healthy thriving community through local food systems, opportunity, and education. They realized that without access to locally grown organic food, their health and academic performance will suffer and so they built their own gardens form scratch in their own classrooms which had yielded 115,000 pounds of vegetables for the entire community so far ! Wit this they are able to support local people with food insecurity. This teaches children the importance of healthy eating with a hands on approach that has the kids themselves growing their own food and making a positive impact on their community. The Green Bronx Machine has also created opportunity for kids from marginalized communities to become registered voters, graduates, and earn living wage jobs.

This organization has taken a community that was fragmented and unhealthy with no ambition and turned it into something amazing which I find really inspiring. I believe that we need to support organizations like this because efforts to improve the health of the community are essential to long term success, especially for marginalized communities. I have a burning passion for improving human health and bolstering positive healthy lifestyles and the Green Bronx Machine does just that.

To support the Green Bronx Machine and their mission, I will be running the Stone House 50 Mile ultramarathon in Cambridge Ohio on Saturday May 21st 2022 to raise money for this organization. I ask that you please consider donating to this fundraiser to support my efforts in raising funds for the Green Bronx Machine. All donations will go directly to GBM Thank you !

Links for more info:

Green Bronx Machine official website - https://greenbronxmachine.org

TED Talk given by the founder Stephen Ritz (highly recommend watching) - https://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_ritz_a_teacher_growing_green_in_the_south_bronx?language=en#t-591273

This year I will be five-years cancer free. To celebrate, I will be donating my hair to support those in treatment. But I don't want to stop there! To make even greater impact, I'm launching this campaign to support Green Bronx Machine. Green Bronx Machine builds healthy and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and 21st Century workforce development using urban agriculture aligned to key school performance indicators. Join me on this journey, I'll be sharing updates along the way, including my hair donation at the end to show the power of collective kindness and generosity. Together, we can celebrate life and the power of paying it forward. Thanks kindly,