Every gift is received as ebó: ritual reciprocity, not transaction. A 501(c)(3) tax-deduction letter is provided for gifts of any size.
Some gifts you can ship. Some we'll coordinate pickup for. Some are big enough to need a conversation. What matters is that the gift is received in the spirit it's given, as offering and as care for the work.
Sacred Arts & Cultural Memory
- Kiln · currently blocking ceramic art teaching in School IV
- Looms · for weaving, ritual textiles, ceremonial cloth
- Sewing machines · heavy-duty, for ritual flag work
- Pottery wheels, clay, glazes
- Fabric, thread, dye, embroidery supplies
- Painting supplies · canvas, brushes, acrylics, pastels
- Woodworking tools · chisels, mallets, gouges, spokeshaves, for ritual carving, mask work, opón Ifá trays
- Indigo vat supplies · indigo leaves and seeds, fermentation vats, mordants, undyed cotton and linen
- Adire supplies · cassava starch resist, tjanting tools, wax (Yoruba resist-dye tradition)
- Adinkra & bogolàn supplies · stamps, mud cloth pigments, muslin (Akan and Malian traditions)
- Blacksmithing / forging setup · small forge, anvil, tongs (Ogun's craft: ritual iron work)
- Calabash & gourd craft supplies · dried calabashes, carving tools, natural pigments
- Beadwork supplies · sacred beads, waxed thread, needles
- Drum-making materials · hides, wood shells, rope for lashing (batá, djembe, dunun)
- Basket-weaving supplies · palm fiber, raffia, seagrass
- Natural dye supplies · madder, logwood, walnut hulls, alum, iron mordants
Land & Grounds
- Ride-on lawn mower · for five acres
- Landscaping supplies · mulch, soil, native plants, drip irrigation
- Chainsaws, loppers, brush cutters · for defensible space clearance
- Wheelbarrows, garden carts, hand tools
- Fencing materials
- Fire safety gear · extinguishers, hoses, spark arrestors
- Chicken coop & chickens · eggs, land integration, food sovereignty
- Goats & goat pen / shelter · milk, cheese, weed control
- Beehives & apiary equipment · honey is sacred; natural comb, wax for batik and candles
- Medicinal herb garden buildout · seedlings, raised beds, greenhouse structure (under Egbe Osain)
Housing & Hospitality
- Tiny homes · permanent housing for artists and staff on the land
- Campers / RVs · flexible housing for festival guests and residencies
- Yurts
- Bedding, mattresses, linens · for volunteer housing
- Solar panels & install · the pre-wired shed is waiting
Technology & AV
- Laptops · for staff and archive work
- Video & audio recording rig · to record Yeye's teachings for the Vault
- Cameras · DSLR or mirrorless for documentation
- Microphones · lav, boom, condenser
- External storage drives · 4TB+, for the corpus preservation project
- Projector
Kitchen & Festival Ops
- Knife sets · chef, prep, and serving
- Pots and pans · commercial-grade, full range of sizes
- Prep tools, mixing bowls, cutting boards
- Coolers · chest and rolling
- Chafing dishes, serving equipment
- Prep tables · folding, stainless
- Event tents · 20x40 shade canopies for festivals
Ritual & Ceremony
- Candles and cloth · especially white
- Ceremonial vessels, bowls, altar items
- Drums
- Cowrie shells, beads, offering materials
Medicine · Herbal
Ifá ewe · Egbe Osain- Apothecary jars, tincture bottles, droppers · glass, food-grade
- Large mortar & pestle · for grinding ewe; a foundational Ifá tool
- Herb drying racks · indoor and outdoor
- Cheesecloth, straining cloth, muslin
- Iron pots · traditional Yoruba preparation vessels
- Distillation equipment · for hydrosols, extracts, essential oils
- Scales · digital and traditional beam
- Carrier oils · coconut, olive, castor, jojoba, sweet almond
- Beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter · for salves and unguents
- Palm oil (dendê) · for ritual preparations
- Medicinal plant seedlings · ewe varieties, African and diasporic herbs
Medicine · Hoodoo
- Seven-day pillar candles · full color range
- Figure candles, novena candles
- Roots & curios · High John the Conqueror, Devil's shoestring, five-finger grass, mullein, mugwort, angelica, sampson snake root
- Condition oil bases, essential oils · for anointing and dressing candles
- Cascarilla · eggshell chalk
- Sacred waters · Florida water, Kananga water, war water
- Red flannel, muslin · for mojo bags and sachets
- Brick dust, black salt, ritual salts, resins
- Petition paper, parchment
Medicine · Brujería & diasporic folk magic
- Copal · white, gold, black
- Palo santo, sage, sweetgrass bundles
- Veladoras · 7-day glass-encased candles
- Statuary & imagery · saints, orichas, ancestor icons
- Soperas · ceremonial vessels
- Coconuts · for obí divination
- Cigars (mapacho), loose tobacco leaf
- Terracotta and earthenware vessels
Office & Vehicles
- Printer / scanner · archive-quality
- Cargo van or truck · hauling festival supplies and land materials
Make the offering
Write to Shy, and we'll arrange it.
Tell us what you'd like to give. We'll coordinate delivery, pickup, or shipping. An Amazon wishlist for small and mid-size items is coming soon.
shy@jambalayacenter.org
Rather give your hands?
Volunteers care for the land and help hold the rituals and festivals.