Gardening and the passion for produce have been a part of my family for as far as I can remember, four generations to be exact. Starting back with my grandmother, who lived on the island of Curacao. She would plant natural herbs in her own backyard that were rich and strong in vitamins. At first she began to sell her herbs within the local community. Shortly after she took those homegrown spices downtown into the market not for only the locals, but tourists as well. This had a heavy influence on my mother, who began to follow in her footsteps. However, she added a little more variety to her list. Outside of her spices and herbs, she also grew vegetables like celery, tomatoes, peppers, yams, cabbage, spinach, and many more. She even sold pure honey.  She believed that gardening was not only a hobby for her, but a calling as well.

I joined the Center for Environmental Transformation as a board member in October of 2014, after receiving a phone call from Eileen Borland.  I immediately accepted the opportunity to work and help with CFET. Being from the community I’d love to help CFET shine as a positive impact in the city of Camden. I saw it as a way to make a difference. My youngest son, Dimitrius, currently is a big help as an assistant farmer at CFET. He started volunteering back in 2011 at the age of 14. He shares the same passion and farming qualities as his great-grandmother and grandmother, and at times I can see their love for it in him. Dimitrius really enjoys working with the bees even though he gets stung.  Working at CFET he has made a lot of friends that I have gotten to meet. This fall was his first year working with the KAPOW hot sauce and he is really excited.  Dimitrius would love to continue working for CFET after becoming a senior farmer because he enjoys the organization as a whole.