CALABASAS, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/25/09 -- Two community directors and 31 middle school students from Calmont School in Southern California have begun to plant the seeds of a new job creation program -- and are proposing it to the new administration in Washington, DC with a YouTube video.

Bringing together our nation's backyard fruit-laden trees, available labor forces, and existing food banks, the team of Calmont School students in Calabasas, CA and Jon Earl and Ellen Petty, directors of the 20-year old community environmental organization Rhapsody in Green, have created a proposal that promises a great "shovel ready" Economic Stimulus effort.

The initiative would hire people from across the country to pick their neighborhood surplus fruit and take it to existing food banks for distribution to the hungry. The nation's food banks are seeing a significant increase in need, being driven by newly economically devastated individuals and families.

"A major aspect of the current economic collapse is the disintegration of confidence. This program not only puts people back to work through an uplifting activity, but also feeds growing numbers of hungry people," says Jon Earl, one of the originators of the Calmont Fruit Distribution Program. "This instant and highly visible increase in employment could give a life-saving jolt to the economy." Adds Joey, a Calmont 7th Grader, "A 'butterfly effect' could take place and anything could happen!"

As Directors of Rhapsody Green, Jon Earl and Ellen Petty have organized and carried out over 400 community projects in the field of environmental restoration. In 1995 they were presented with a "Special Award" from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt for their work. They have been the most active organization in Southern California picking neighborhood surplus fruit (more than 250,000 lbs. to date).

The Calmont Program offers an educational as well as environmentally friendly component, where homeowners would be instructed in what fruit and nut trees could be planted in their area, in turn reducing the pollution generally created from the transportation of these items.

The details and logistics of the Calmont Fruit Distribution Program can be viewed via

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc9nnHlBZzg

and

http://www.calmontschool.org/news.html

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