Youth from the Boys & Girls Club in Abbeville will help tend to the raised beds at Harmony Park this summer.
The Kiwanis Club of Abbeville made a donation to Claire Broussard (middle) for the youth gardening program that will take place this summer. Taking part in the donation are (L-R) Kiwanians Thomas Vallot, Richard Melancon, Carlton Campbell, Mike Hardy, Gretchen Meaux and Dr. Gordy Landry.
Harmony Park is a community garden located at the corner the of Lamar Street and Martin Luther King Drive in Abbeville. Claire Broussard, a member of the Keep Abbeville Beautiful committee, said anyone looking to donate items for Harmony Park can contact her at 337-893-2491 or Charlene Beckett at 337-652-2239. Items being sought include plants and seeds, soil, a hummingbird feeder, a long water hose and sprinklers.
Program to teach youth how to garden planned for summer
There’s plenty to be learned through working in a garden.
Several local youth will have the opportunity to gain some of that knowledge this summer.
Keep Abbeville Beautiful is partnering with the Boys & Girls Club of Acadiana on a program that will allow members of the local club to help at Harmony Park, a community garden located at the corner of Lamar Street and Martin Luther King Drive in Abbeville.
Claire Broussard, a member of the KAB committee, spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Abbeville on Tuesday about some details of the program.
“We are going to do a six-to-eight-week program this summer,” Broussard said. “Once a week, we will bring students to Harmony Park. We can teach the kids how to work in the garden.”
Broussard said a bus will be rented from the Vermilion Parish School System to transport club members from the Boys & Girls Club’s Rodney Unit at A.A. Comeaux Park to Harmony Park. She said lunch will be provided, along with T-shirts for the kids to wear that day.
“Those things do come with a cost,” Broussard said. “We are reaching out to organizations.”
The Kiwanis Club made a $100 donation on Tuesday. Any organization or individual interested in helping can contact Broussard at the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce, 337-893-2491.
“Maybe we’ll get some future farmers out of this,” one Kiwanian said.
Whether a new career sprouts for any of the participants, experts say there are benefits to young people taking part in gardening. According to KidsGardening.org, gardening “offers youth significant physical, educational, and emotional benefits by encouraging healthy eating habits, providing moderate exercise, and reducing stress. It fosters responsibility, patience, and environmental awareness while enhancing academic skills in science and math through hands-on learning.”
As for the gardening, Broussard said she will be learning, too.
“I don’t know about gardening,” Broussard said. “We will have other people out there to help us with the teaching. I plan to know by the end of the summer how to grow tomatoes and other things. I will be out there learning with them.
“I’m excited about it, and I think it will be fun.”