Center Community Garden

The Center has enjoyed several activities over the decades that have brought people together over common interests (quilting, basketball, softball, BBQ's holiday parties, and family/community reunions to name a few but definitely not all). In this vein, the community will be aiming to start and cultivate a community garden annually on the land donated by a family with ties to the center community.

 

The Center Community Garden will benefit all by uniting the community through cultivating individual plots of land to grow fresh produce. Families taking care of the plots share their harvest with others in need, fostering stronger connections and preserving the community's history through intergenerational interactions. Other benefits of the community garden is to provide access to fresh fruits and vegetables, engage in physical activity, skill building, creating green space, beautification of the land, revitalization of the land, and improving social well-being through strengthening social connections. 

 

Additionally, the garden offers STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) exposure for PreK-12 students and adults. University speakers discussed elements crucial for plant growth, modern production techniques, and the transformation of crops into various products like corn chips and ornamental crops for beautification.

 

The main focus of the Center Community Garden is the development of Social Capital as the stakeholders of Center Community come together to produce, harvest, partake in the fruit of the land, and perserve the family heritages from the community through sharing of memories and story telling as the work in the garden take place.