Author Archives: jenny@jennykurzweil.com

Benefit for Santa Cruz Welcoming Network

We are thrilled to announce that our next community pie potluck will benefit the Santa Cruz Welcoming Network. 

The Santa Cruz Welcoming Network is entirely volunteer-run and any funds they receive go directly to asylum seekers and refugees in Santa Cruz County. Folks started this initiative because there is no local refugee resettlement agency. Volunteers provide a range of support – from helping to secure housing to setting up medical appointments, English lessons, driving exams, assisting with cultural acclimation, getting children in schools, finding jobs, accessing legal representation, and much more.

When: Sunday, May 19th from 1 – 3 pm
Where: Homeless Garden Project Farm in Santa Cruz (Shaffer Road at Delaware Ave)
Please bring:

  • The whole family
  • A sweet or savory vegetarian pie*
  • $5+ donation per person (or more!) to benefit Santa Cruz Welcoming Network

*If baking isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Come & just bring an extra donation.

Download & share fliers: SPANISHENGLISH

RSVP on Facebook

Pies for Community! Pies for Connection! Pies for Belonging! Pies for BLACK HEALTH MATTERS!

We are thrilled to announce that our next community pie potluck will benefit Santa Cruz County Black Health Matters Initiative!

SCCBHMI is a groundbreaking grassroots organization that emerged from a great need to support the 1-2% of Black residents in Santa Cruz County. They provide resources and programs to ensure individuals are connected to their culture, community, and health services. SCCBHMI values the dignity of each Black resident to not only survive, but thrive.

When: Sunday, September 17th from 1 – 3 pm
Where: Homeless Garden Project Farm in Santa Cruz (Shaffer Road at Delaware Ave)
Please bring:

  • The whole family
  • A sweet or savory vegetarian pie*
  • $5+ donation per person (or more!) to benefit Santa Cruz County Black Health Matters Initiative

*If baking isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Come & just bring an extra donation.

Download & share fliers: SPANISHENGLISH

RSVP on Facebook

Pie for the families who feed us!

Oh Santa Cruz County…we’re soggy, battered, and a bit bruised, aren’t we? Let’s hope the sun is shining so we can join in community at the Homeless Garden Project, reconnect, and of course…eat pie!

This event will support the nonprofit organization Center for Farmworker Families, a nonprofit organization dedicated to education, advocacy, and support for farmworker families. They are currently helping the hardworking families of Pajaro who have not only lost homes from the recent flood but are facing extended unemployment because the fields they work in are either still underwater or severely damaged.

When: Sunday, April 30th from 1 – 3 pm
Where: Homeless Garden Project Farm in Santa Cruz (Shaffer Road at Delaware Ave)
Please bring:

  • The whole family
  • A sweet or savory vegetarian pie*
  • $5+ donation per person (or more!) to benefit Center for Farmworker Families

*If baking isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Come & just bring an extra donation.

Download & share fliers: SPANISHENGLISH

RSVP on Facebook

Pie in the Garden!

Come join us in the Life Lab garden at the height of harvest to celebrate pie, community, and the joy of outdoor learning.

This fall 2022 Pie for the People will benefit the beloved garden-based education program Life Lab!

Donations from the day will help provide some much needed love and renewal to the 22-year-old outdoor classroom including fixing up the big Circle Bench and adding an elliptical tent for shade in the garden that is a hub of activity for field trips with more than 1,500 children each year and for teacher workshops for hundreds of educators annually. 

When: Sunday, October 2, 2022 from 1 – 3 pm
Where: Life Lab Garden at the UCSC Farm*

Please bring:

  • The whole family
  • A sweet or savory vegetarian pie**
  • $5+ donation per person to benefit Life Lab
  • Your own plate/fork/spoon/napkin/mug

*Note on transportation and parking. Bicycling, car pooling, ridesharing, and public transportation are encouraged as parking is limited. If you drive to the event, please plan to park in UCSC Lot #170 or Lot #116 (and walk to the farm). There will be directional signage to help you get to the correct parking lot and farm entrances. Download a parking map here. Please feel free to reach out to Nicole Albuquerque at Life Lab (nicole@lifelab.org) with any accessibility questions or needs.

**If baking isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Come & just bring an extra donation.

Download & share fliers: SPANISHENGLISH

RSVP on Facebook

COVID safety

This event is outdoors. Volunteers serving pie will be vaccinated, boosted & masked. To protect our young children, elders & immunocompromised friends, we request that all attendees be vaccinated & boosted.

Pie is Back!

It’s been a long 2.5 years…

We’ve decided it’s high time (and safe) to meet in person again. Especially so we can support NAMI Santa Cruz County. NAMISCC offers practical experience, support, education, comfort, and understanding to anyone concerned about mental illnesses.

When: Sunday, May 22, 2022 from 1 – 3 pm
Where: Homeless Garden Project Farm in Santa Cruz (Shaffer Road at Delaware Ave)
Please bring:

  • The whole family
  • A sweet or savory vegetarian pie*
  • $5+ donation per person to benefit NAMI
  • Your own plate/fork/spoon/napkin/mug

*If baking isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Come & just bring an extra donation.

Download & share fliers: SPANISHENGLISH

RSVP on Facebook

COVID safety

This event is outdoors. Volunteers serving pie will be vaccinated, boosted & masked. To protect our young children, elders & immunocompromised friends, we request that all attendees be vaccinated & boosted.

We stand for kindness.

In an extraordinary show of perseverance (battling Iron Man traffic) and generosity, we are so happy to announce that the Pie for the People Santa Cruz community raised $4,120 for RAICES on Sunday, September 8, 2019.

We will not stand silently by and watch as our neighbors, seeking refuge, are incarcerated. We as a community stand for love, kindness, and dignity. (And we really love pie.)

Thank you to Santa Cruz Indivisible, Temple Beth El, Aptos, Your Allied Rapid Response & Jessica Delgado for sharing ways to take action.

Thank you to all who gave so generously in donations and spirit.

(Thank you to Lucien Kubo for this beautiful photo.)

Never Again is Now. – Pie in support of refugees at the border

Historically, Pie for the People – Santa Cruz has focused on raising money for local nonprofits, but these are unprecedented times and we feel that it is necessary for us to each do what we can to end human concentration camps and protest the inhumane conditions faced by migrants and refugees on our country’s southern border.

At Pie for the People – Santa Cruz we join in community, eat pie and raise money! 

Please join us in light, love, and PIE (and tamales too!) to raise money for RAICES – The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. RAICES is the leading organization helping separated families, detained families, unaccompanied minors, and others who are seeking asylum in the United States. 

We’ll also be joined by groups including Santa Cruz Indivisible, Your Allied Rapid Response, Temple Beth El to join the community conversation and share actions we can take locally to step up and protect our neighbors. 

When: Sunday, September 8, 2019 from 1 – 3 pm
Where: Homeless Garden Project Farm in Santa Cruz (Shaffer Road at Delaware Ave)
Please bring:

  • The whole family
  • A sweet or savory vegetarian pie*
  • $5+ donation per person to benefit RAICES + extra $ for tamales
  • Your own plate/fork/spoon/napkin/mug

*If baking isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Come & just bring an extra buck or two.

Download & share fliers: SPANISH, ENGLISH

RSVP on Facebook


We ate pie & built community + SAVE THE DATE

It was a beautiful spring afternoon on April 28 at the Homeless Garden Project farm. The purple iris were in full bloom and so was the generosity in people’s hearts. Together we raised $1,433 for TransFamilies!

Thank you for showing up with your offerings, donations, and appetites!

Save the date for Sunday, September 8 for our next Pie for the People – Santa Cruz event! More details to come.

Want some pie?! Join us April 28, 2019

Join us for a community pie potluck to benefit TransFamilies.

About:TransFamilies’ mission is to create a world where people of all gender identities are celebrated. TransFamilies works with families to provide support and informational resources to help support their gender diverse kids. They hold support groups, maintain current resources for the medical, legal and educational issues that face families with gender diverse children and coach families on their children’s rights.

When: Sunday, April 28, 2019 from 1 – 3 pm

Where: Homeless Garden Project Farm in Santa Cruz (Shaffer Road at Delaware Ave)

Please bring:

  • The whole family
  • A sweet or savory vegetarian pie*
  • $5+ donation per person to benefit TransFamilies
  • Your own plate/fork/spoon/napkin/mug

*If baking isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Come & just bring an extra buck or two.

DOWNLOADS:

Spanish language flyer

English language flyer