Spring has sprung and it is time to get growing.
Crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, and sweet peas are some of the mouth-watering vegetables that will be growing in the Access Fresh Communal Garden Project, located at the Helping Hands Drop-in Centre in downtown Squamish.
Community volunteers from the Helping Hands Society, the Community Food Action Initiative, and the Sea to Sky Leadership Forum are working with clients at the drop in centre to install communal garden boxes on site behind the library.
As Squamish transitions and grows, affordable social housing is becoming an increasing concern. Residents of our community don't have space to live, and therefore don't have space to grow their own food.
The folks at the Helping Hands Society address this concern everyday. This group of dedicated volunteers provide clients with needed resources such as a warm plate of food, and shelter from the elements. The Helping hands society offers an invaluable service to our community, helping many of our residents meet some of their basic needs.
The Access Fresh Garden will further assist clients in meeting their basic food needs, and provide them with space and opportunity to plant, cultivate, and provide for themselves. The communal nature of the garden will call on the expertise of clients to work together with community volunteers to install, and maintain their garden for the benefit of the Helping hands community.
The Access Fresh Team plans to have garden boxes in place by May at the Drop in centre and we need your support. If you have a few plants too many started this season, we would be happy to find them a much needed home.
We are also looking for soil, lumber, nails and other materials required for the garden boxes, and paint in various colours for murals around the garden.
For more information on the Garden, or to donate materials please call Julia Bresalier (604) 848-8516, or Kimberley Armour (604) 898-2657.
