The Fairbury Rotary Club in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Livingston County has been awarded a Rotary District 6490 Grant in support of the Chatsworth Community Garden.
The project was initiated by the Boys & Girls Club during the summer of 2019 on property donated to the Club. The garden is designed to engage and educate youth in promoting nutrition education and the benefits of healthy eating and to provide fresh produce for community improvement, and physical and/or mental well-being.
Community gardens often alleviate the food desert effect in rural areas where residents have minimal access to fresh produce such as fruits and vegetable.
The involvement of the Rotary Club will be to provide monetary support to purchase necessary gardening supplies as well as serving as volunteers for the project. Club members may work at the garden and serve as mentors to the youth teaching them gardening skills, responsibility, and character building.
Rotarians will assist in preparing marketing materials that will be distributed to some 6,000 area residents. Rotary members will introduce the Rotary 4-Way Test to Boys and Girls Club members in the Chatsworth, Chenoa and Fairbury sites.
Boys & Girls Club members who participate in the planting and maintenance of the Chatsworth Community Garden will attend two meetings of the Fairbury Rotary Club to present their initial plans and to relate their gardening experiences to Rotary Club members.
