Project Change – Event Three
Save the Planet
Benefiting: Community LINC

Our team’s third challenge was “Save the Planet” and we wanted to work with Community LINC to improve their facility in a way that would make it more sustainable and provide a benefit to staff and families living there. We chose to build a community garden that would serve residents by providing a healthy, economical, sustainable source of fruits and veggies and we built a french drain and raingarden to help resolve some of the drainage problems that exist on their site, as well as reduce the strain on the city storm water system.. A comprehensive garden plan was created by Patti Banks Associates for the entire garden area which our team used to then solicit donations of materials for the projects.

One important goal of our team was to engage the families at community Linc in our project so they could learn about the gardening and sustainable practices, as well as, help build and maintain the garden so that they truly feel that this is their garden. We held a programming night with the elementary and middle school children where we taught them about gardening and let them plant their own seeds to later be transplanted into the garden. The children also made mosaic stepping stones that were then placed throughout the gardens.

The kids and their parents were invited to join us for our planting day on the 25th and we had a great turnout. We had over 50 volunteers from our team and Community Linc over the 3 days we worked on the project. People even came out in the snow the weekend we dug the trench and in the rain the day we built planters and did prep work for the gardens. On our final planting day we had a huge crew and everyone had a great time getting their hands dirty, riding in wheelbarrows, and helping to build a garden that will serve their families.

Special thanks to Applied Ecological Services, Musselman Hall, Missouri Organic, Midwest Block & Brick, Kansas City Community Gardens, and Sturgis Materials whose materials donations made this project possible. . Click here for more photos on our blog!