Mushrooms for Well Being Foundation Since 2007
We are Douglass (Doug) Williams and Shiitake Mama, Ph.D. (formerly Sandra Dutreau Williams). We started Mushrooms in Ghana Project in 2008 after volunteering as mushroom consultants at Bemcom Youth Enterprises Association in Techiman, Brong Ahafo Regions, West Africa in 2007.
We created Mushrooms in Ghana Project to help expand the mushroom industry in Ghana as a whole; and specifically, introduce shiitake mushrooms for crop diversification and help build a spawn laboratory, as spawn is in short supply throughout Ghana and West Africa.
We created Mushrooms in Ghana Project to help expand the mushroom industry in Ghana as a whole; and specifically, introduce shiitake mushrooms for crop diversification and help build a spawn laboratory, as spawn is in short supply throughout Ghana and West Africa.
As the project received press attention and our mushroom presentations reached larger audiences, we received requests for information, financial support, and advice from all over the world. Everyone who wanted to grow oyster mushrooms could grow them, as the mushrooms will thrive on freely available organic waste materials. But in developing countries, healthy, vigorous spawn was not available or extremely difficult for farmers to get. The spawn laboratory emerged as a crucial need.
The project began under the nonprofit umbrella of The Magical Child Foundation. As Mushrooms in Ghana grew, the Magical Child Foundation Board voted to turn over the foundation to us so its purpose could be focused on mushrooms. Magical Child changed to Mushrooms for Well Being Foundation in 2014.
The project began under the nonprofit umbrella of The Magical Child Foundation. As Mushrooms in Ghana grew, the Magical Child Foundation Board voted to turn over the foundation to us so its purpose could be focused on mushrooms. Magical Child changed to Mushrooms for Well Being Foundation in 2014.
The Board of Directors is currently at five members:
President – Shiitake Mama, Ph.D. Shiitake Mama is owner of Lost Creek Mushroom Farm and Director of Mushrooms in Ghana Project. She is a presenter, teacher, theatre director and award-winning writer and editor.
Vice President – Stephen Marek, Ph.D. Dr. Marek is a mycologist and plant pathologist in the Dept. of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Oklahoma State University.
Secretary – Patricia Rayas-Duarte, Ph.D. Dr. Patricia Rayas-Duarte is a professor and cereal chemist in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with duties at the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center at Oklahoma State University.
Treasurer, Lin Feazle. After a career as a nurse and midwife, Lin is the founder and owner of A&L; Cleaning Services, Stillwater, Oklahoma, marking over 40 years in business.
Member – James Douglass Williams. Doug is a mushroom farmer and owner of Lost Creek Mushroom Farm. He started growing shiitakes in 1984. He is also a master stone mason and visual artist.