$500 Aquaculture Grant Program

[urbanfarmer]

It's a small grant for certified teachers of middle or high school. It requires assistance or show of support from the extension or other notable organization in aquaculture. I can help with that part of it. If anyone is interested and meets the requirements, PM me.

Application now attached (we fixed it guys)!!!

[foodchain]

Wonder why it's only for teacher's/education.
You would think there would be as much need for co-ops, etc.
Good Job posting it though.

[bsfman]

You would think there would be as much need for co-ops, etc.


Or local soup kitchens. There's one here in Ft Myers that has the space. I was just thinking the other day what a great adjunct to their operation an aquaponics system would be. Free veggies and periodic tilapia fillets.

[foodchain]

I think with the coming economic times, the soup kitchens will be growing across the country.
Out here, most won't accept meat/fish donations....it's not USDA approved.
Also due to droughts there's a lot of cattle that need new homes, ranchers even offering cattle to them for free are turned away as they aren't already processed. It's FREE.....
Recently I offered about 30 lbs of tilapia, about 12-15 inches each to my neighbors, some of which are in hard times. They ALL turned their noses up, as they weren't cleaned and cut into fillets. I have no sympathy. Hard times suck, but there's no cure for flat out laziness. There's a fine line between circumstances, and self induced circumstances.

[urbanfarmer]

SHEEPLE

[foodchain]

I love it.
We have 'preppers' and Sheeple....

[davidstcldfl]

I think with the coming economic times, the soup kitchens will be growing across the country.
Out here, most won't accept meat/fish donations....it's not USDA approved.
Also due to droughts there's a lot of cattle that need new homes, ranchers even offering cattle to them for free are turned away as they aren't already processed. It's FREE.....
Recently I offered about 30 lbs of tilapia, about 12-15 inches each to my neighbors, some of which are in hard times. They ALL turned their noses up, as they weren't cleaned and cut into fillets. I have no sympathy. Hard times suck, but there's no cure for flat out laziness. There's a fine line between circumstances, and self induced circumstances.

Kind of like kids.....they'll eat what you put in front of them, when they are hungry enough... :D

[foodchain]

ONLY if I kill, clean, and cook it for them.....and it better not have bone.
F them. None of them came to my aid when my family was in need. Wasn't all that long ago that I haven't forgotten what it was like trying to figure out how to feed the family with no money, no job, etc. Even the church elders came by to talk to us, but no one offered aid. Just to lecture us on not being in service...didn't matter I was out looking for any work I could find.
I am so freakin tired of hearing about how hard people have it, their hardships, all their damn woes...and they are so freakin lazy when a helping hand is offered to reach out with an ounce of gratitude. Utterly insulting. And I am sorry but I am really trying to church this up here. Exactly how far is someone's charity supposed to go? If you won't even attempt to help yourself, how far am I to go for you? You want me to chew it for you too?

[foodchain]

True hardships happen, please don't misunderstand me. For those people, my heart goes out to you.
But for the rest....

[urbanfarmer]

I just went through the same thing buddy! I agree there is no excuse for laziness, but when I think of things as a Christian doing God's Will on Earth, well... needless to say, everything melts away in awe of His Love... just a thought.


As far as the teachings of The Bible, check this out:

"God helps those who help themselves" is probably the most often quoted phrase that is not found in the Bible. This saying is usually attributed to Ben Franklin, quoted in Poor Richard's Almanac in 1757. In actuality, it originated from Algernon Sydney in 1698 in an article titled Discourses Concerning Government. Whatever the original source of this saying, the Bible teaches the opposite. God helps the helpless! Isaiah 25:4 declares, "For You have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat..." Romans 5:6 tells us, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."

In terms of salvation, we are all utterly helpless. We are all infected by sin (Romans 3:23), and condemned as a result of that sin (Romans 6:23). Nothing we can do on our own can remedy this situation (Isaiah 64:6). Thankfully, God is the helper of the helpless. While we were still sinners, Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8). Jesus paid the penalty that we were incapable of paying (2 Corinthians 5:21). God provided the "help" that we need precisely because we could not help ourselves.

Apart from salvation, there is perhaps a way that the concept "God helps those who help themselves" is correct. As an example, if you asked me to help you move a piece of furniture, but then just watched me as I moved the furniture for you, I was not actually helping you. I would be doing the work for you. Many Christians fall into the trap of inactivity. Many Christians ask God for help, but then expect God to do everything Himself. They excuse this by pointing to the fact that God will provide according to His will and in His timing. However, this is not a reason for inactivity. As a specific example, if you are in need of a job, ask the Lord to help you find a job - but then be active in actually looking for a job. While it is in His power to do so, it is highly unlikely that God will cause employers to come looking for you!

[foodchain]

I agree....with the above for TRUE DISTRESS.
Not what we as culture perceive as distress.

[foodchain]

It's humiliating enough, as a man. To not have basic food for your wife and children. That through all your successes, to not have a job, money, gas...to not have a way to heat the house or cool it from the summer heat. To have to put your children in front of the fireplace in the living room as the bedrooms are too cold.
But it's infuriating, when you rise above that. And you know what it takes to NEVER be there again. And NO ONE, Not a single one ever offered help. And the gross hypocracey of the church. To DARE to preach at me, about how wrong it was, and how I was failing as a father because my kids weren't in service. Special place in hell for fake Christians. (this includes Catholics, and any other religion I can't think of now. Fake religion is worse than no religion)

And sit in a college classroom and here some teeny bopper complain about how hard it is she has to find money for her text books, as mommy didn't buy them this semester. Never mind this kid has a NEW BMW in the student parking lot.

There's graces in this world, and there are miracles. Don't get me wrong. But whether God helps those who help themselves, or if it's all in the destiny, or however else you want to look at it.
The truth remains the same. You have been given the ability to change your life, and change YOUR future. No matter how hard you have it, or percieve yourself to have it...only YOU are stopping yourself.
I was born and raised a Christian, a real Christian. But what I see in churches now, is not Christians, not in my neighborhood. So my family goes churchless, as I can't endorse the over commercialization of the big tele-churches, and can't stomach the hypocracey of the little ones.
IF that makes me a bad father so be it. Won't be my only or my last failure on this earth.

[urbanfarmer]

The world is filled with selfish and greedy people, but it is also filled with selfless and giving people. I have had the misfortune of realizing most people are both; albeit, more of the former rather than the latter. It takes a Holy strength to prevent that from changing who you are or how you act, and I am still struggling to find that strength. Stay strong brother. I will pray for you.

[foodchain]

It's been a few years now. But the anger is still there...perhaps a little hyper sensitivity. Thanks though, but I read people's harships everyday in the mortgage industry. There are some down right needy people out there that are far worse than I could ever have been.
But those experiences, drive me in what I do now.
'Preper' is an understatment. Fear of being inadequate is an understatement.
I will never, never be poor again. This is a conciencious choice, not a circumstance.