Veterans' Greenhouse Feed America
Donation protected
Veterans' Greenhouse Feed America
www.veteransgreenhouse.org
The Veterans Greenhouse project is intended to address a variety of issues ranging from ecological to social concerns. With global food shortages becoming an issue worldwide, the demand for inorganic fertilizers and pesticides will only increase. The dispersal of these compounds over the vast portions of land devoted to the agricultural industry have already begun to display harmful effects in the surrounding ecosystems. It is through a concentrated effort to automate the aquaponic growing method that we hope to significantly reduce, if not entirely obliterate, that demand. Along the way to achieving a marketable system of automation for aquaponic endeavours we hope to address issues within our United States veteran communities. Namely those social issues are that of their disproportionate representation in the homeless and unemployed demographics. Beyond the primary ecological issues we hope to address the benefit of embracing aquaponic growing systems is multifaceted. Everything from carbon output, overfishing, to water, and land requirements can be significantly reduced. The climate controlled environment provided by our warehouse infrastructure is not only readily scalable but capable of buffeting the growing operation from local weather conditions and famine. At present aquaponic facilities are unable to compete with traditional agriculture primarily because of the significantly advanced harvesting equipment that has already been developed for soil agriculture. Such an automated system is also capable of finding applications beyond the warehouse setting, with applications ranging from pesticide free commercial pest control to more accurately mapping the species of plant life in a given area. Today’s computer analytics are more than capable of performing the tasks required to automate this operation, and more. We just need your help to assemble all the parts. Aquaponics itself is the combination of Aquaculture: the commercial breeding and raising of fish as livestock, and Hydroponics: the cultivation of crops using water instead of soil to provide nutrients. This method of growing crops can see water savings over 90% when compared against traditional soil based agriculture. The nutrients provided to the plants are ultimately derived from waste produced by the fish within the aquaculture side of the operation. Accumulated waste from the bottom of the tank is processed by algae cultures within the water to convert the ammonia nitrites into nitrates in a form that are directly usable by the plants within the hydroponic side of the operation. As the plant nutrients are produced by the system, the only outside materials that need be added fall into the categories of fish food, and water treatment. Aquaponics, while efficient in terms of material requirements, lacks mainstream commercial acceptance mainly because of the high work-hour requirement these systems demand for operation. It is our intention to use the Veterans Greenhouse as a platform for researching, developing, and subsequently testing a new set of tools for the automation of aquaponic greenhouses. Automation has seen a home in fields such as warehouse inventory management and automobile production. The automation of aquaponics facilities itself is not a terribly unique idea with several projects already being undertaken throughout the world, however ours is the only endeavor meant as a gift for the people. Our plan of attack differs in that our grow space does not have to be custom built, our design can be tucked away into pre-existing warehouse space and be made to account for any potential floor plans. We’ve applied space aged technology and drone platform automation to war, don’t you think it’s time we apply those same technologies to something that benefits all of us more directly? If you or your organization are interested in making a more significant contribution, we have additional documentation as to the project’s scope available upon request. I know what your thinking, “Why you? Why your nonprofit from thousands of others?” From the beginning: William James Thomas is a wonderful human. William and I have known each other since elementary school. We were even in most of the same classes until middle school when he transferred to a private institution but never crossed paths after those initial formative years. We finally spoke again when he returned to the local public high school. We met once more during art club and I had to help him make a pottery bowl (since he wasn't the artist type). After that, I never thought I'd see William again. He had joined the United States Army after his senior year in 2003 while I went to prom. He was fighting, while I was dancing the night away. Once more we crossed paths after he was placed on medical leave, preparing for retirement from active duty service. I could only look at this as fate putting me on the path to my future. Maybe even providence... Now, in 2016 we had a lot of things happen. Our beautiful baby, Jillian, was born into our lives. We were married in the same year. Over the course of our time together I learned Will was a truly amazing human being. He had been talking about helping Veterans for as long as I can remember. I believe it brings a peace to him that many others who served also deserve. We are small and solid core team of skilled and motivated individuals. I am in the process of doing all I can to help get Veterans’ Greenhouse where it needs to be, for my husband and for every other man and woman who signed a blank check, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, in order to ensure our nation and the promise of freedom it represents never fades from this world. Veterans’ Greenhouse is located in Winslow, Arizona. We need help to build a strong following and individuals dedicated to the mission. We need you to step up and be a hero, just like those that we help decided to be your heroes. If we can establish a self-sustaining ecosystem to feed veterans than we can surely establish more to help others in need of sustenance, belonging, and a therapeutic environment to calm the soul of those who have seen so many horrors and freely chose to face them for us. The best way to start is to help those who have been helping us. Our Veterans need to know that their sacrifice was not in vain and that the scars they bear are a badge of honor, not shame. At Veterans' Greenhouse we believe it's in a good meal and a welcoming environment. A good meal is exactly what we aim to provide for the veterans and the surrounding communities. We plan to house large agriculture environments, including greenhouses, to supply those who are not as fortunate as others with healthy, nutritional food all while teaching them invaluable skills and providing them with a peaceful environment. This is a massive effort in the beginning stages and we desperately want to branch out on a much larger scale. It is time that we make a concerted effort to honor those that served with such honor. We believe there is a serious issue with the food supply provided to our communities and we aim to correct that by providing the highest quality produce and agricultural products through the most advanced and quality driven methods while keeping it pure and organic. This will all be done in an efficient and automated manner requiring less space to accomplish more output, labor applied in an efficient manner, and to provide our veterans with an environment where they can find the same peace of mind Will did. Thank you, Amanda Emily Breen-Thomas I Know the amount Veterans' Greenhouse is asking will not get everything done but we are hoping it will help get things started and even help get us aligned with the people that can help us file grants, get construction started and development the relationships we need to make this a larger effort. We are in the final process of getting our 501c3. www.veteransgreenhouse.org
www.veteransgreenhouse.org
The Veterans Greenhouse project is intended to address a variety of issues ranging from ecological to social concerns. With global food shortages becoming an issue worldwide, the demand for inorganic fertilizers and pesticides will only increase. The dispersal of these compounds over the vast portions of land devoted to the agricultural industry have already begun to display harmful effects in the surrounding ecosystems. It is through a concentrated effort to automate the aquaponic growing method that we hope to significantly reduce, if not entirely obliterate, that demand. Along the way to achieving a marketable system of automation for aquaponic endeavours we hope to address issues within our United States veteran communities. Namely those social issues are that of their disproportionate representation in the homeless and unemployed demographics. Beyond the primary ecological issues we hope to address the benefit of embracing aquaponic growing systems is multifaceted. Everything from carbon output, overfishing, to water, and land requirements can be significantly reduced. The climate controlled environment provided by our warehouse infrastructure is not only readily scalable but capable of buffeting the growing operation from local weather conditions and famine. At present aquaponic facilities are unable to compete with traditional agriculture primarily because of the significantly advanced harvesting equipment that has already been developed for soil agriculture. Such an automated system is also capable of finding applications beyond the warehouse setting, with applications ranging from pesticide free commercial pest control to more accurately mapping the species of plant life in a given area. Today’s computer analytics are more than capable of performing the tasks required to automate this operation, and more. We just need your help to assemble all the parts. Aquaponics itself is the combination of Aquaculture: the commercial breeding and raising of fish as livestock, and Hydroponics: the cultivation of crops using water instead of soil to provide nutrients. This method of growing crops can see water savings over 90% when compared against traditional soil based agriculture. The nutrients provided to the plants are ultimately derived from waste produced by the fish within the aquaculture side of the operation. Accumulated waste from the bottom of the tank is processed by algae cultures within the water to convert the ammonia nitrites into nitrates in a form that are directly usable by the plants within the hydroponic side of the operation. As the plant nutrients are produced by the system, the only outside materials that need be added fall into the categories of fish food, and water treatment. Aquaponics, while efficient in terms of material requirements, lacks mainstream commercial acceptance mainly because of the high work-hour requirement these systems demand for operation. It is our intention to use the Veterans Greenhouse as a platform for researching, developing, and subsequently testing a new set of tools for the automation of aquaponic greenhouses. Automation has seen a home in fields such as warehouse inventory management and automobile production. The automation of aquaponics facilities itself is not a terribly unique idea with several projects already being undertaken throughout the world, however ours is the only endeavor meant as a gift for the people. Our plan of attack differs in that our grow space does not have to be custom built, our design can be tucked away into pre-existing warehouse space and be made to account for any potential floor plans. We’ve applied space aged technology and drone platform automation to war, don’t you think it’s time we apply those same technologies to something that benefits all of us more directly? If you or your organization are interested in making a more significant contribution, we have additional documentation as to the project’s scope available upon request. I know what your thinking, “Why you? Why your nonprofit from thousands of others?” From the beginning: William James Thomas is a wonderful human. William and I have known each other since elementary school. We were even in most of the same classes until middle school when he transferred to a private institution but never crossed paths after those initial formative years. We finally spoke again when he returned to the local public high school. We met once more during art club and I had to help him make a pottery bowl (since he wasn't the artist type). After that, I never thought I'd see William again. He had joined the United States Army after his senior year in 2003 while I went to prom. He was fighting, while I was dancing the night away. Once more we crossed paths after he was placed on medical leave, preparing for retirement from active duty service. I could only look at this as fate putting me on the path to my future. Maybe even providence... Now, in 2016 we had a lot of things happen. Our beautiful baby, Jillian, was born into our lives. We were married in the same year. Over the course of our time together I learned Will was a truly amazing human being. He had been talking about helping Veterans for as long as I can remember. I believe it brings a peace to him that many others who served also deserve. We are small and solid core team of skilled and motivated individuals. I am in the process of doing all I can to help get Veterans’ Greenhouse where it needs to be, for my husband and for every other man and woman who signed a blank check, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, in order to ensure our nation and the promise of freedom it represents never fades from this world. Veterans’ Greenhouse is located in Winslow, Arizona. We need help to build a strong following and individuals dedicated to the mission. We need you to step up and be a hero, just like those that we help decided to be your heroes. If we can establish a self-sustaining ecosystem to feed veterans than we can surely establish more to help others in need of sustenance, belonging, and a therapeutic environment to calm the soul of those who have seen so many horrors and freely chose to face them for us. The best way to start is to help those who have been helping us. Our Veterans need to know that their sacrifice was not in vain and that the scars they bear are a badge of honor, not shame. At Veterans' Greenhouse we believe it's in a good meal and a welcoming environment. A good meal is exactly what we aim to provide for the veterans and the surrounding communities. We plan to house large agriculture environments, including greenhouses, to supply those who are not as fortunate as others with healthy, nutritional food all while teaching them invaluable skills and providing them with a peaceful environment. This is a massive effort in the beginning stages and we desperately want to branch out on a much larger scale. It is time that we make a concerted effort to honor those that served with such honor. We believe there is a serious issue with the food supply provided to our communities and we aim to correct that by providing the highest quality produce and agricultural products through the most advanced and quality driven methods while keeping it pure and organic. This will all be done in an efficient and automated manner requiring less space to accomplish more output, labor applied in an efficient manner, and to provide our veterans with an environment where they can find the same peace of mind Will did. Thank you, Amanda Emily Breen-Thomas I Know the amount Veterans' Greenhouse is asking will not get everything done but we are hoping it will help get things started and even help get us aligned with the people that can help us file grants, get construction started and development the relationships we need to make this a larger effort. We are in the final process of getting our 501c3. www.veteransgreenhouse.org
Fundraising team: Fundraising team (2)
Amanda Breen
Organizer
Winslow, AZ
Matthew Chadshaquery
Team member
