Awesome Pittsburgh: $1000 Grants for Great Ideas

Good citizens of our fair Pittsburgh. Imagine a world without tasty fillings wrapped in a thin French batter. A dark, depressing world with ne’er-do-wells attempting to serve you sub-standard treats. Holy horrible hotcakes – that’s awful! 

But now, citizens, there’s hope. A vigilante. A creped crusader. Not the crepes this city deserves, but the crepes this city needs right now.

Mike Good at the Union Project

Meet Mike Good, “a pretty simple guy, in name, body, and spirit – by nature entrepreneurial and socially conscious.” With his new $1,000 Awesome Pittsburgh award, he’s turning into the Creped Crusader complete with a custom push cart and extra equipment. His new Creped Crusade will make crepes more easily available, partly through partnering with local coffee shops.

Mike said, “There is still a void of crepes in the Golden Triangle. This is the greatest city in the United States and it must offer easy access to crepes.” He promised, “If there ever was, there is no longer any shred of doubt – whether you crepe at noon, or crepe at night, any crepe is indeed a great crepe when you crepe with Mike.”

The Creped Crusader and his sidekick Batterboy made their public debut (in street clothes) at the Union Project’s Flat Floor Fiesta on May 17 and will next save our city at Artists Image Resource’s June 1 fundraiser. Watch the Crusader’s website and Facebook page for future dates!

We all know someone who is absolutely enthusiastic about a hobby or activity. She keeps inviting you, finding ways to make it easy and fun to join her. You finally can’t resist anymore and jump in.

Michele Thom, our 16^th winner of a $1,000 micro-grant, is literally inviting you to jump. Out of a perfectly fine airplane while it is flying. Really.

Michelle seriously caught the skydiving bug a few years ago and wants to bring other people along for the ride. We fell hard for her enthusiasm (yes, you can groan at the pun) and didn’t want to leave her hopes grounded (groan).

Michelle has launched 60 Seconds of Pure Freedom to enable those who might otherwise not have a chance to experience the thrill of skydiving to take one tandem jump this summer.

She describes skydiving as the “epitome of freedom” because “the second you step out of the airplane door, you forget about any of life’s problems or distresses, and live entirely free and in the moment, until you land back onto the ground with an enormous smile on your face!”   Michelle and her co-organizer, Leon Boczkowski, will couple our award with a discount they negotiated with Skydive PA in Grove City for this project.  They will also solicit additional donations in order to provide the tandem jump opportunity to as many people as possible.

Awesome Pittsburgh Trustee Carolina Pais-Barreto Beyers noted, “What caught my attention was Michelle’s desire to enable others to share an experience that she finds so remarkable.

The 60 Seconds of Pure Freedom committee is taking nominations by the last day of each month, March through July 2013, and will select at least two deserving nominees by the 7^th of each following month. You can find the nomination form at the project’s Facebook page or by emailing the committee at pure.freedom@rocketmail.com. Michelle and Leon hope the winning nominees will agree to tandem jump soon after being selected and plan to join the winners the day they jump.

This spring, start looking for tea pops to pop up around town, courtesy of our 13^th award winner, Healcrest Urban Farm. The for-profit social enterprise teaches community members about urban farm production, green vacant land use, and youth employment and mentorship.

“We have had great experiences vending around town with our products, going to markets and events. We love connecting with people that way and having something to offer them,” noted Maria Graziani, Healcrest Urban Farm’s owner.

Located in Garfield, Healcrest Urban Farm has already transformed a plot of unused urban ruin into a flourishing garden rich with herbs, fruits and vegetables. Maria Graziani and Healcrest’s program coordinator Dana Launius are committed to promoting both community and physical health, including projects specializing in local grown medicinal herbs. With Awesome Pittsburgh’s $1,000 grant, the two hope to expand upon their already existing tea market into a new field.

Maria continued, “Our teas are popular at the markets we attend and depending on your taste they are delicious. We are exploring a frozen treat that incorporates tea, fruit, and herbs. With this product we can satisfy a variety of palettes and tastes with a healthy, delicious, locally grown and hand crafted treat!”

Healcrest Urban Farm currently sells its products in the spring and summer at the Pittsburgh Public Market, Reservoir of Jazz, Penn Avenue Unblurred, Bryant Street Fair, and more locations. Maria and Dana will use our $1,000 to buy a cold storage ice cream cart to take their new frozen tea pops around the community.

Stay tuned to Healcrest’s progress on Facebook or Twitter and let us know what you think when you get to taste the new treats!

Awesome Pittsburgh awards $1,000 grants on a monthly basis to individuals or groups who propose ways of making Pittsburgh stand out in the global economy, connect our communities, or celebrate art or technology and make the city a better place to live, work and play. Submit your short proposal here.