Page 12 - Port of Baltimore - Issue 4 - 2024

[10] The Port of Baltimore ■ ISSUE 4 / 2024
Community Corner
Pitching In at the Port of Baltimore — If you’re involved in community events, we’d love to highlight you! Email tina.irgang@todaymediacustom.com
From Trash to Treasure
By donating materials no longer needed for maritime use and diverting them from the landfill, the Baltimore Port Alliance (BPA) is helping Baltimore communities come together while growing food and creating jobs.
At the Bmore Legacy Farm in West Baltimore’s Upton community, a surplus container’s second act as a storage shed provides space for a tractor and other equipment for Sacred Kolor’s indigo farm. The Uptown Planning Committee’s community project to grow indigo on the site has expanded to include workforce development grants. There is also an orchard with 70 fruit trees to provide nutrition for the community.
The Upton community has historically been a hub for Black culture for the people of West Baltimore and was home to Thurgood Marshall, Elijah Cummings and Parren Mitchell.
“Bmore Legacy Farm provides food, jobs and educational opportunities to the Upton community. Bmore Legacy Farm is a gift that we hope to develop, grow and maintain,” said Bmore Legacy Farm Director of Operations and Sustainable Agricultural Program Director Bryan Ibrafall Wright.
Additionally, lumber originally used for blocking and bracing breakbulk cargo at the C. Steinweg Group terminal is now helping community gardens grow. Their donation to Neighbor Space of Baltimore County will benefit Chestnut Park in Turner Station, another will benefit the Victorine Q. Adams Memorial Garden, and a future delivery is planned for the Upton Gardens of Hope Community Garden.
“We like to be able to donate and help the community out. If a community has a garden and needs lumber, reach out! It’s better than having it go in the trash,” said Steinweg Facilities Manager Marc Kiriou.
THANK YOU to Ports America Chesapeake for donating the container, Terminal Corporation for sponsoring the transportation, and to M&W Towing for skillful delivery to the Bmore Legacy Farm. 
ATTENTION, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS:
Contact Dan with EcoLogix Group, Inc.
to request consideration of donations from BPA at dspack@ecologixgroup.com.
Members of Boy Scout Troop 828 create planters at Chestnut Park with donated lumber.
Photo (above): From left to right: Bmore Legacy Farm Support Officer Kelly Little, BPA Environmental Committee Co-Chair and President of Free State Marine Rupert Denny, Upton Planning Committee Executive Director Wanda Best, and Bmore Legacy Farm Director of Operations and Sustainable Agricultural Program Director Bryan Ibrafall Wright.
PHOTO BY JAMIE MEYERS / M&W TOWING PHOTO BY MASON STRONG / BOY SCOUT TROOP 828