D.A. Blodgett - St. John's Receives Grant from the Miracle-Gro Foundation to Teach Kids How to Garden

D.A. Blodgett - St. John's, a local non-profit that offers residential care, foster care, adoption and behavioral health services is the recipient of the Gro More Good Grassroots Grant through the Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and KidsGardening.org Team. With this grant, kids who are part of our residential treatment program were able to create a brand new garden from scratch.

 

"We have had 7 students helping with various tasks, encouraging any help (big or small). We showed students how to plant sunflower, carrot, and thyme seeds and how to space plants appropriately for optimal growth. They were even intrigued at how deep we planted the tomato plants to develop a strong root system. Next week, we will plant our Three Sister’s Garden which is an Iroquois technique of growing corn, squash and beans to benefit each other. In the next few weeks, we will create DIY décor and learn to care for the garden (weeding, feeding and watering). We are very excited to see the garden flourish and utilize the harvest to create healthy meals," said Addie a Youth Development Specialist who is working with the kids on this project at D.A. Blodgett - St. John's.

 

The goal of the Gro More Good Grassroots Grant is to connect 10 million kids to gardens and greenspaces is an enterprise-wide commitment and to elevate the critical need to connect more children to gardening and outdoor play in communities across the US.

 

"We are grateful for this grant and the opportunity to teach these skills to the kids we support. I am excited they have an opportunity to grow their own food, they will be using this food to prepare healthy meals for themselves this summer, said Jeremiah Hawkins, Chief Programs Officer at D.A. Blodgett - St. John's.