NEWSPAPERS n o i t i d E l a i c e p S
Kirk Gibson addresses guests during the announcement of the Kirk Gibson Foundation’s plans for a wellness center for Parkinson’s patients in Farmington Hills Oct. 1.
NOVEMBER 6, 2024
candgnews.com
Oakland County papers
Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan in the Girls Empowerment Program worked with artist Amanda Koss to create this piece using food waste. Photo by Donna Dalziel
Photo by Liz Carnegie
Kirk Gibson unveils plans for wellness center for Parkinson’s patients in Farmington Hills BY CHARITY MEIER cmeier@candgnews.com
FARMINGTON HILLS — Kirk Gibson may have just knocked another one out of the park as he unveiled plans to open a wellness center in Farmington Hills for people living with Parkinson’s disease Oct. 1. “I want people to know there is something you can do about it, having this disease and its symptoms, and we’re here in this community. We’re going to stay here, and I hope the community will support us in any way they can, because there are so many people in this counSee WELLNESS CENTER on page 7A
GIRL SCOUTS ‘WASTE TO WONDER’ ART ON DISPLAY IN ALCHEMI BY TAYLOR CHRISTENSEN tchristensen@candgnews.com
ROYAL OAK — Restaurants in the U.S. produce around 22 billion to 33 billion pounds of food waste annually, according to moveforhunger.org, which said that around 85% of that food that is unused gets thrown out while only a small percentage is reused or donated. Girl Scout Troops 89911 and 8907 from southeastern Michigan worked with Amanda Koss, an artist, to help reduce food waste by creating an art piece using the food waste. The girls and Koss got involved in Waste to Wonder, an initiative in collaboration with Ecosphere Organics, to create art from food waste. The girls created watercolors using pigment created from local farm-to-table restaurants’ food waste. Waste to Water is also a part of the Detroit Month of Design.
The group shared their creation at an artist reception on Sept. 24 in conjunction with Detroit Month of Design, where a few local Royal Oak farm-to-table restaurants were attending. Alchemi, located at 215 S. Main St. in Royal Oak, saw the piece created by the Girl Scouts and decided to purchase it for $150 to put on display in the restaurant. Koss donated the money to the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan. Alchemi donated lemon peels to the initiative, which were used in the art piece. “By reducing waste, you make the world a more sustainable place,” said Chef Johnny Prepolec, owner of Alchemi. Prepolec said that Alechemi has a mission statement based around sustainability, and the restaurant pledges to reduce food waste through an international program based out of Singapore. “We collect our food waste, and we weigh it every See ART on page 5A