How One Community Garden in Washington Has Provided Healing and Opportunity For Hundreds of Young People the74million.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from the74million.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Almost 10 years ago, Cheryl Gaines, a pastor, started the Project Eden community garden as a response to the South Capitol Street massacre, one of Washington’s worst mass shootings in decades. Her idea then, as now, was that no community chooses violence when it has another option. Since then Ms. Gaines, her son, and hundreds of local employees and volunteers have offered such an option.
Project Eden sources its produce in the form of seeds through donations, grants, and community partnerships. While the selection depends on what’s available, volunteers follow a loose crop rotation of roots, legumes, fruits, and greens – like the lush Swiss chard growing tall this season. They also distribute the food, along with donations from a food bank, to the community.