Samarth's Page: Learn More about Samarth at PASCA and Donate!

Hi there! My name is Samarth, and I'm the board co-chair for Plant and Soul California. I have held this position for a bit more than a year now, and I'm here to ask you to donate money to the organization to help us grow in this challenging time.

Backstory

I got involved in Plant and Soul California (Prev. Plant and Soul California) in 2022 because my partner and I had walked past the place and it seemed like a great community to be a part of. Most specifically, I started having conversations with the founder about how to set up green bonds to fund the garden and bigger plans in the future. I have been super interested in new financial tools since my time working as a backend and blockchain developer at SMBX, and in developing deep tech projects in various fields, such as in advanced high speed freight crop transportation development for highly lucrative crop and sample movement and management, as well as in structuring a long term sustainable hardware incubator at UC Davis.

My involvement went to another level when I joined Deloitte. Finally, a big company where I could get great support for the nonprofit!! As the engagement lead between Deloitte and Plant and Soul California, I helped to start the following collaborations:

Bringing Deloitte volunteers to Plant and Soul California to learn about native plants and to help with current projects
Hosting Deloitte employees at our Monday socials where our chef-on-call Matt Close would make fantastic dishes
Setting up pro bono consulting between Deloitte’s StepUp program and Plant and Soul California to figure out how to structure a land trust for the ELSEE garden

In 2023, I moved away from the garden for a bit to start a life in Portland with my partner, working for Deloitte and continuing my involvement remotely.

Unfortunately, I was not quite the extremely confident and self assured person I am today. A problematic period of alcoholism wrecked every aspect of my life, and I moved back to the Bay Area seriously dejected.

It was at this time in October of 2023 that I leaned on Plant and Soul California hard. I started attending Recovery Dharma, a program that now is getting mainstream medical attention with meetings at medical centers such as Kaiser Permanente Oakland (https://www.recoverydharmaeastbay.org/meetings), and seeking community, friendship, and purpose in the world at the Plant and Soul California, and by December 2023, I had put my life on an upward track by quitting alcoholic substances.

From December of 2023 onwards, even with fellows joining from the California Climate Action Corps, new design jobs, and other momentum, the organization was struggling itself due to various management and other issues. I joined the board to help understand these issues, and in August of 2024, helped in the management of the resignation of the founder. This continued involvement kept me busy and focused, and also made me feel connected to Plant and Soul California where I felt that I could contribute significantly positive impacts for the community.

It was then that life caught up and Deloitte had other plans that didn't include me, but the silver lining was that I could become board co-chair to help shape the future of the organization.

Now, a year later, I'm incredibly proud of the organization, even with various difficulties. The loss of my friend, visionary, and outstanding filmographer Belle Brown shook all of us at PASCA to our core, and especially made me question my life decisions and how I would honor her. Our mounting finances of course did not help issues.

Not only is it a place that has amazing volunteer engagement, various new jobs, better ability to feed the community, and greater scientific focus on how to build effective gardens and farms with fantastic partners, it's a place where I truly have fun and can be myself and be surrounded by a fantastic community. You'll hear me at socials nerding out about the chemistry of microplastics, dancing to Punjabi hits, or talking about coffee. And without the need of substances!!

I want so eagerly to provide such a welcoming place for people in recovery such as myself and for others who society seems unfit for “normal social life”, as well as continue to expand our classes and partnerships to focus more on mental health and on nutrition that can be gained from the activity and outputs of farming native places. I am always surprised at how much synchronicity the garden brings already, from other folks trying to go sober relating to my story, to new volunteers coming in with STEM, and particularly bioinformatics interests that align with my other company's goals. I genuinely believe our organization has that ability to feed many thousands of people and employ or educate a similar number, and just looking at my own story, I can see how it can be a powerful accelerant towards such goals.

I have big dreams for Plant and Soul, and I hope you can join in on those dreams and turn them into actionable goals. Please donate this holiday season!

Ask

I'm here to ask you to donate money to Plant and Soul specifically so that we can:

Clear previous owed payments, including due rents and taxes and to pay back board and community members who have loaned the organization money
Buy a new work truck to be able to start 2 job teams for the maintenance business
Retrain and upskill current staff
Prepare the space for future events, especially larger food events
Save money for building a land trust at our garden

Advantages to You

Not only do you get the tax receipts to help on your 2025 tax year, but you also get the satisfaction of knowing that your donation goes to an organization that actively supports:

Community native plant education
Biodiverse environments that decrease local AQI and increase pollinators
Community events that have begun to feed neighbors in need, such as through our SNAPback program, Monday pizza socials, potlucks, and more
Supporting agtech and biotech research at its first step: in understanding the biodiversity around us in the Santa Clara valley an extremely fertile agricultural region

Ready to donate? Click above to do so. Still not sure? Send me a message to learn more.

Want to donate to other organizations? Please donate or support the following organizations this holiday season:

Other members of the Coyote Valley Agroecology Coalition, a coalition of farms, educational institutes, indigenous groups, and more that we have formed in southern Santa Clara county:
1. Mutsun Tribal Foundation (https://www.mutsuntribalfoundation.org/donate)
2. Valley Verde (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=CHZXUEU9UB4YE)
3. Top Knot Salon (https://www.topknotlovesyou.com/)
4. Maicoop Farms (https://nextdoor.com/for_sale_and_free/aa592f82-47f8-40f1-b2cf-258a1b44a871/)
Urban Growers Network organizations
1. Veggielution (https://veggielution.org/donate)
2. Valley Verde (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=CHZXUEU9UB4YE)
3. Sacred Heart (https://www.sacredheartcs.org/financial-donations)
4. Garden to Table SV (https://www.garden2tablesv.org/donate)
5. Our City Forest (https://www.ourcityforest.org/donate)
6. Amigos de Guadalupe (https://www.amigoscenter.com/sponsorship)
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley (https://www.shfb.org/give-help/donate-funds/)
UC Davis Conservatory (https://conservatory.ucdavis.edu/give)
Your local community hubs!