Groundbreaking Ceremony and Community Celebration planned for Hillside Hub
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Food to Power will host a groundbreaking celebration for the Hillside Hub on Saturday from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm. This free community event will include complimentary food form local food trucks, BBQ and no cost groceries and seedlings for your garden, along with music, dancing, chalk art, smoothie bikes and more.
The event will take place at 1090 S. Institute Street, Colorado Springs 80903. The vacant 3.5 acre lot in southeast Colorado Springs will soon be home to a 3400 sq. ft building, greatly increasing Food to Power's capacity for community programming and events. Construction is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2022.
The goal of Hillside Hub, the city's first neighborhood food center, plans to cultivate a community-operated space where neighbors grow, cook, learn about, access, advocate for and gain employment through fresh food. This will be accomplished through a multi-phased approach of activating the property with an educational community farm, a community events and workshop space, Food to Power's administration offices, a space to access low-cost and no-cost groceries, an indigenous healing garden, and a compost processing and drop-off site.
Food to Power has been working with the Hillside neighborhood since 2015. "Through years of research and community engagement, neighbors made it clear that there is a serious need for fresh food access and programming in this part of town," said Patience Kabwasa, Food to Power's Executive Director. "It has taken a lot of work by a lot of people to get to this milestone. We encourage everyone to come out, join the celebration, honor all the hard work the community has poured into this project, and witness this major step toward a more equitable food system in our city!"