‘Tis the Bard’s Birthday! Thus, We Giveth Him a Biscuit! PHOTO CREDIT: Loaves & Fishes Tina Postel Cares About Food Access
by Josh JacobsonTina Postel Is Up Early. Really Early. As Executive Director of Loaves & Fishes, a food access nonprofit for people experiencing a short-term crisis, Postel has been working overtime to meet an explosion of need. This week marks one month since Mecklenburg County issued the ‘stay at home’ order to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Statewide, more than 630,000 unemployment claims have been filed in the past month. The ripple effects of the pandemic have hit the hardest for those who have always been just a paycheck away from financial distress. “Our mission is to provide a week’s worth of nutritious groceries to people facing economic hardships,” Postel said. “And ‘economic hardship’ is a massive understatement for what our community is currently experiencing.”
She Built This City … on WheelsNative Charlottean Demi Clark has spent her life building the Queen City and she still is … with gusto. Her new nonprofit, She Built This City, is less than six months old, but it’s already competed in the annual #SEED20 event and established key partnerships. COVID-19 hasn’t stopped Demi, either. She’s just adapted (she’s SERIOUS about that word) her daily work, sharing her experience with 3D printing to helping organizations to print PPE for frontline medical staff. Oh, and she’s converting a 1975 Airstream Argosy to bring construction and STEAM training and experiences to young women across the city.
Biscuit Blitz: 5 Minutes with Kim ParatiHow do you keep your creative pistons firing … and your professional career moving forward … during stay-at-home orders? Combine them! Charlotte actor and broker, REALTOR with Savvy & Co., Kim Parati, talks with Matt Olin about missing her creative community, but keeping her smile and her wits about her by adding her theatrical flair with her job selling homes by making fun videos.
Faces of the Charlotte Art League: Donna HeilSeeing where a creative creates gives you unique insight into their work. Since we’ve all seen way too much of our own houses over the last few weeks, Charlotte Art League thinks this is a perfect time to take a tour of someone else’s place. League artist Donna Heil says her mission is “to bring color, light & joy to those around me” has shared a short video glimpse of her home art studio with us. Watch it here. Feast your eyes on more of Donna’s work on the Web and Instagram.
New Business Ideas are Percolating at Enderly CoffeeOpening up a community-minded coffee shop in Enderly Park — even in the boom market of 2012 — was a risky endeavor for Tony and Becky Santoro of Enderly Coffee. But, they did it and they’re still doing it. We spoke to them about their origin story on The Biscuit Podcast last year. It comes as no surprise, then, that shifting their business to keep moving forward in the current economic clockwork was second nature to the Santoro’s. They’re offering coffee delivery and partnering with local bakeries to add pastries to home orders. They also initiated “Coffee Drops.” Patrons can purchase bags of freshly-roasted coffee that are donated and delivered to healthcare workers. The Enderly team roasted and delivered more than 700 pounds for just the first four drops. Keep reading about what Tony, Becky and their team are brewing up! This is part of a series of COVID-19 small business case studies written by our friends at Well-Run Media + Marketing. You can read about more Queen City creatives, like the Dottie Rose Foundation and TABBRIS, here.
AFP Charlotte Wants to Know Your Philanthropic HeroesAFP Charlotte is currently accepting nominations for their National Philanthropy Day awards until May 4, 2020. If you want to show your support for an organization or individual that is making a difference in our community, this is a great way to do so. In the words of AFP Charlotte, they are looking for individuals who are “sources of hope and forces of good.” Learn more about how to submit a nomination and watch their latest video, here.
1 New QC Creative x 30 Days = Endless CreativityOn Instagram last week, we challenged our followers to find and follow a new Queen City creative on social media every day for 30 days. We also asked them to tag some of their favorite creatives in the comments… and boy, did we get a lot of responses! Just like that, we have hundreds of new CLT creatives on our radar and it doesn’t get much better than that. We’d like to extend this same challenge to the readers of The Biscuit. Follow one new creative every day for 30 days. Make connections. Support one another. And, most importantly, keep calm and create on! A great place to start finding new friends to follow is the comment section of our original post.
We’re collecting links to creative events and resources popping up all over the Queen City. If you’re ready to press “pause” on Netflix, check out our calendar of creative online events. Here’s one we’re really excited about.
A Filmmaker Discusses Her Heir Witch ProjectOh, the horror! Victoria Bell Moore, the writer and director of Heir of the Witch — a feature-length horror film that is set to begin filming in Charlotte this summer — will be going live on the Carolina Film Festival’s Instagram page this Friday, April 24 at 6pm. Victoria will discuss the film and answer questions about filmmaking, acting and ways you can be involved in upcoming productions. To learn more about this “Quarantine & Chat with a Filmmaker,” click here.
SHOUT from the Rooftops. Inspire Charlotte.Charlotte musicians, your city needs you. Inspired by Italians singing from their windows during the COVID-19 crisis, we’re asking Charlotte performers to capture themselves on video performing a song (vocal, instrumental or both), spoken word, poem, monologue, etc, from an open window, balcony, rooftop, open garage or similar setting at their homes — or from a driveway, sidewalk or even in the street. In partnership with Charlotte Center City Partners and Charlotte SHOUT!, we’ll be sharing these videos in a new series in The Biscuit — “SHOUTing from the Rooftops.” Selected musicians will receive a small stipend for participating in this program.
It Is a Video.There are many ways you can pass the time during stay-at-home orders, but we’re ranking reenacting scenes from “The Office” very near the top when it comes to the best use of time. That is exactly what Andy Weber and his friend, Hunter did, putting their own spin on Jim & Dwight’s pathetic attempt to throw a birthday party for Kelly in Season 5’s “Lecture Circuit: Part 1.” You can watch their take (which is less than a minute) and compare it to the original scene. If you’re up for reenacting a scene from a beloved movie or sit-com, we’re up for sharing it with Charlotte. Film it and send it to us here!
Happy Birthday to the BardWe wish the hap-happiest of birthdays to Willie Shaker, playmaker! We’d like to gift Mr. Shakespeare with a completely fake and totally non-existing item from our CLT COVID-Couture line of fashion masks. There are many ways to celebrate ol’ Slick Willy’s birthday, but the one we’re most excited about is Chickspeare’s “24-Hour Play BAKEOFF” tomorrow at noon. Curious? A tad confused? So are we. So tune in tomorrow on Facebook.
The World Needs a Rebranding Session for COVID-TimeIf one more person uses the term “the new normal” to describe the COVID-19 outbreak around us today, we’re totally gonna’ snap … unless they’re talking about Next Stage’s weekly Friday online lunch gathering, “The New Normal.” (P.S. We are aware there has been a lot of Star Trek in The Biscuit lately. What can we say, Tim Miner is a huge nerd. He’s a Trekkie. And, he has editorial prerogative.) Since yesterday was Earth Day, we thought we’d take you on a virtual trip to a place where the Charlotte community can be one with the environment. The Plaza Midwood Community Garden has graced Midwood Park in Charlotte since 2005 when residents of the neighborhood wanted to spruce up an unused section of the park. Members of the neighborhood come together to plant trees, flowers and herbs and everyone is welcome to be involved in the garden’s activities. On the Plaza Midwood Neighborhood Association website, they state that the goal of the garden is to “create beautiful, horticulturally-rich space where children and adults can learn about preserving wildlife habitats, gardening with native plants, composting and other environmental-friendly practices.” The ironwork art rail outside of the garden was designed by Laura Holtzapple of Groundworks Studio and fabricated and installed by Theron Ross of Artistic Ironworks.
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