Mike and Danae Yankoski have released Zealous Love: A Practical Guide to Social Justice. “Through first-hand accounts and up-to-date facts about eight global issues, Zealous Love uniquely provides readers with the information, inspiration, and involvement they crave to personally make a difference in their world.” Contributors include Eugene Peterson, Dr. Matthew Sleeth, Wendell Berry, Francis Chan, and our own Megan Robertson among other. Included is information about A Rocha and practical things we can do to better steward our world.

Join us Sunday, January 24 at Ocean Hills Church, 9:30 AM at the Majorie Luke Theater, 721 E. Cota in Santa Barbara as we introduce our next project called Five Loaves. This project will provide food for families in need, restore local farmland, provide practical was to steward creation locally, and serve as a conservation study of native pollinators. You can participate by volunteering your time at the project site, explain the vision of this project to your church, business, or other other groups, partner with us financially to make this project a reality here: http://tiny.cc/jgkRt

A Rocha Kenya has an exciting project that incorporates environmental education, community conservation, scientific research, and a business that meets a need for sustainable and local economic development - a holistic solution to real needs. Learn more about this project, and others like by clicking here.
I look forward to providing a first hand set of reflections on the work of A Rocha abroad as I visit the Uganda site during the summer of 2010.

Join us Saturday, January 23 from 9:00-noon at Grace Lutheran Church (3869 State Street in Santa Barbara) as we double the size of the garden we built in early 2009. We are excited about the demand for the garden plots, which were quickly reserved by community members last spring, and look forward to helping provide more. No previous gardening or construction experience is needed. Individuals and families of all ages are welcomed as we help provide the infrastructure for community outreach at Grace Lutheran.

We are excitedly planning a two week set of workshops designed to help the next set of creation care leaders to mobilize their communities through education and practical conservation projects. In addition to seminars on a range of topics within creation care, conservation field work, and project design/implementation sessions will help equip participants to make a difference in their communities.

The A Rocha Institute will be held in Santa Barbara during June of 2010. Please contact us at institute@arochasb.org for more information.

A Rocha promotes biodiversity through its worldwide work and a is a proud member of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). The IUCN’s work helps identify useful solutions to development and environmental challenges through its world-wide network of governmental and non-governmental organizations and was founded in 1948. Learn more about the work of IUCN by clicking here.

We will be postponing our November 14 garden build at Santa Barbara Community Church and will announce a new date in the future. We hope to re-schedule this event for January.

In addition, a few other changes are emerging including bridging the content from this site to the arocha.org site. We are excited about this and look forward to providing more details in the days to come.

Rich will be presenting the work of A Rocha this Wednesday, November 11 from 10:30-11:15 in Hieronymus Lounge at Westmont College - please join us.

Don’t forget to check out our other outlets for news and updates including Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. Links to these resources can be found at the bottom of this page.

Thanks for being interested in A Rocha.

We will have a booth at WorldFest this Saturday and Sunday, October 24th and 25th. This event is labeled as “Santa Barbara’s Cultural Celebration”. Stop by and see us at Earl Warren Showgrounds.

In Santa Barbara, there are many in need to basic resources, even food. To address this need, the Santa Barbara Community Development Center (SBCDC) and A Rocha have partnered to grow organic produce on the property of Santa Barbara Community Church, calling it the Five Loaves Project.

Working together, we can take action to meet our neighbors’ basic needs. The Five Loaves Project will provide a healthy and reliable source of fresh produce for SBCDC. This organizaiton provides a range of services to our poorest neighbors in Isla Vista, the Westside, and the Eastside of Santa Barbara.

On-site, the project will be overseen by A Rocha, the local manifestation of an international non-profit Christian conservation organization. The produce from the project will go to the poor through existing distribution channels at SBCDC. Recently there has been a significant increase in the number of people needing to participate in SBCDC’s feeding program. Sadly, there has been an equally significant reduction in food donations.

The goal of the Five Loaves project is to become a source of fresh produce for 150 individuals by October 2010.

Will you join us in this exciting service project?  Here are some ideas about how you can help generate involvement:

-Share this vision and details with others.

-Get your hands dirty! Help plant and harvest.

-Give money (one time and/or monthly)

-Visit SBCDC and see the real need that this will address in people’s lives.

Donations can be mailed to A Rocha USA, P.O. Box 1335, Fredricksburg, TX 78624

Contact us at 805-613-SBAR or info@arochasb.org to be added to our enews updates & for more info.

All donations are tax deductible as described by law.

A Rocha USA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

We are excited to partner with the Trevor and the rest of the Safe Parking project to create an organic food source to feed the homeless. The project will be built in three phases and Phase I ground breaking will take place Saturday, November 14 at 9:00 AM on the corner of Cieneguitas Road and Calle Caridad in Santa Barbara. The event will create a series of raised beds that will be planted in late winter. More information about this event will follow in the days to come.