Westview throwing fundraiser and dance party to put money where its garden is

?Like a modern-day David and Goliath fable, the Westview Community Organization came together to wrangle its community garden back from the powers that be. And now it’s time to celebrate and generate some funds.
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?On Saturday, Aug. 22, the neighborhood of Westview in southwest Atlanta is throwing a fundraising party to help raise money for the recent purchase of the Westview Community Garden at 1439 South Gordon Street. Members of the community offered the necessary funds to secure a loan to purchase the property after it was abruptly acquired by the FDIC in April. Once an eyesore, the half-acre property had been converted into a resource and point of pride by neighborhood volunteers like Abiodun Henderson, who use the garden as a resource for area underprivileged kids. The site even served as part of the neighborhood’s annual STEAM empowerment summer camp before a bank failure wound up shifting ownership into the hands of the FDIC.
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?After CL contacted a spokesperson at the FDIC following the surprise bulldozing of the half-acre property, community leaders were informed that they could negotiate to purchase the land. It was a huge relief to many who feared the plot’s close proximity to the Beltline would make it ripe for investors.
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?Now that the land is back in the hands of the neighborhood and the garden can flourish, repaying those who put up the front money is the community organization’s top priority. So Saturday’s bash is an all-out party in the name of Westview Community Garden. 
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?The Westview Community Garden Fundraiser, Art Auction and Dance Party will include music from Ramon Rawsoul, Ralo, Earl the Third, and Spunkie; a silent auction featuring artwork by such artists as Hadley Breckenridge, Kenneth Ellsworth, Krista Clark, plus gift certificates and giveaways from local favorites like the Alliance Theater, the Atlanta Symhony Orchestra, the Good Hair Shop, Westview Pizza Cafe, Bell Street Burritos, and plenty more. 
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?The fun gets underway at 8 p.m. and lasts till 1 a.m., with the silent auction ending at 11 p.m. Tickets for entry are $50, a small price to pay for putting communities first. That entry fee will also include plenty of catered food and drinks: beef brisket by Char Wars, grilled chicken by Scott Smith, butternut squash soup, couscous with greens and herbs, and kale salad by Teena/Mystic Roots, salad and blackberry apple cobbler by Westview Pizza Cafe, iced honey lavender tea and shiso mint tea by Andrea “LeLovebird,” Sweetwater 420, wine, Coca-Cola, and water. 
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?Westview Community Garden Fundraiser, Art Auction and Dance Party. $50 donation. 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Sat., Aug. 22. 1384 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. For more information or to purchase tickets in advance, simply visit the neighborhood Go Fund Me page, where you can make a $50 contribution and bring a printout of the receipt for your donation as entry.