Healthy Avondale, youths replant garden

Amy Bolton, public information officer for Avondale, writes about a new community project.

To kick off the new year, Healthy Avondale and youths from the surrounding neighborhood replanted the Community Garden at the Avondale Community Center, 1007 S. Third St.

On Jan. 4, 12 youths spent an afternoon outdoors, planting flowers and vegetables. Over the next few months, the youths will maintain the garden and harvest the vegetables.

The Community Garden was designed to promote gardening as a fun form of physical activity. However, other benefits include improving quality of life by providing a catalyst for neighborhood and community development, stimulating social interaction, encouraging self-reliance, beautifying neighborhoods, producing nutritious food, reducing family food budgets, conserving resources and creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education.

The greatest rewards of the Community Garden are the sense of pride that the children feel in the garden and the knowledge that they are giving back to their community, along with the joy that the garden brings to the seniors who attend activities at the Community Center.

Healthy Avondale staff acknowledge and thank Master Gardener Esmie Avila, who helped guide the project with her skill and knowledge.

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