Community residents, with the support of Green Thumb opened up an abandoned lot on Election Day, and started the build out of the 1st community garden in Laurelton. After a year of organizing, the residents of Laurelton/Springfield Gardens will have a community garden that will provide opportunity for healthier opportunities for residents of Southeast Queens. The garden will have a Gazebo that provides a space where STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Math) based activities can take place as well as community events. The students of The Linden SDA School were successful in conducting community outreach for the garden and were present on Election Day to plant bulbs in the garden for a beautiful Spring launch. Laurelton Operation Clean Up, The UPS Store, The Federated Blocks Of Laurelton, The Laurelton Beautification Club and DIVAS for Social Justice all provided support in the build out of the community garden.
The Laurelton Community Garden Of Resilience has the following goals:
- Provide the Southeast Queens community with healthy food options through gardening
- Serve as a STEAM based learning environment for local schools to provide interactive lessons for students.
- Inspire all community residents to participate in civic engagement
- Develop a virtual reality experience of the community garden led by 11-14 years olds. Teens will be trained in virtual reality and serve as VR Leaders of the garden through the DYCD Program STEAM for Social Change. This program is free and you can learn more about the program here.
The Laurelton Community Garden Of Resilience is supported by: Councilman Donovan Richards, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, Green Thumb and The Department Of Youth and Community Development.
If you are interested in joining the garden or participating in the Youth led FREE VR Mentorship, please contact us at: diva4justice@gmail.com
