March Newsletter

Welcome to the March Newsletter! We hope you had a Hoppy Leap Day and we look forward to March giving us more lamb than lion. In the month of February our team received $3,924 in contributions and in turn donated $6,474 worth of produce and goods, bringing our monthly total to an incredible 1,012 delicious meals delivered to food pantries and resource centers across Sussex County. We are so grateful to our volunteers and donors who make every month more amazing than the last.

Thank You to the Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware for selecting us as their “Share the Plate” recipient for the month of February. It means so much to us to have such outstanding support from this organization who gives so much to so many. We also want to thank them for inviting Teresa to speak at their forum on contributing to our community in meaningful ways last month as well and we thank them for the opportunity to build stronger connections to those around us. 

Intentional Communities
& How They Work

In her book, Creating A Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, Diana Leafe Christian lays out the blueprints to organizing, building, growing and operating an intentional community. An all encompassing handbook and step by step manual on how to live in a shared resource community. And not just zoning laws and mission statements, but real answers on how to handle emotional conflicts that might arise and ultimately asks us “What makes a living community?”

EcoVillages are a particular type of intentional community that we like to focus on, but there can be many types of cooperative lifestyle communities. EcoVillages aim to “harmlessly integrate human activity into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development, and which can be successfully continued into the indefinite future,” as defined by environmentalist Robert Gilman and his wife Diane, who also co-wrote books on the topic. Ah! Indefinite Future, that’s a key phrase. That’s the sustainability phrase. We’re going to have to live sustainably if we want to make it through the indefinite future.

Some of the obvious benefits of community living from an environmental standpoint include pooling resources to reduce carbon emissions, renewable energy grid systems, access to local community farming and fresh produce, but in our currently pandemic shaped world, community living can bring mental health benefits as well. Socially, people can feel more isolated and lost in the constant bombardment of bad news and lack of personal engagement. Living together with others who share a common goal and actively work toward cooperating on that goal can impart a greater sense of purpose to people in an increasing lonely society. 

The TAPTF Society’s long-term goals of a Sustainability Education Center and Intentional Community embraces all of the challenges that may come along with organizing, building, and growing a community such as this but as they say, it takes a village. If you have ever daydreamed about a life beyond the ‘burbs, we hope you will join us in our efforts to make the community life a reality.

If you would like to volunteer with the TAPTF Society and grow your community, simply visit our Volunteer Page HERE or reply to this email.