JCC – Oak Park creates garden to feed the hungry, originally uploaded by FatherDalton.
Camp Discovery participant Mia Mechnikov at the JCC Community Gardens.
A garden created by children in the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit’s Camp Discovery in Oak Park has just produced its first crop of vegetables to be donated to Yad Ezra, the kosher food pantry
The garden was the brainchild of Camp Discovery Director Judy Front and was funded by Credit Union ONE of Michigan. “Credit Union ONE is proud to have sponsored the JCC Community Garden this year.
Giving back and being a good community partner is important to us, and we knew immediately that we wanted to be a part of this,” said Judith L. Desilets, director of public relations at Credit Union ONE.
The garden is contained in a large, raised bed and was created by boys and girls in Home Sweet Home camp, where children planted tomato seedlings and radish and bean seeds, then helped water the plants and made certain they received plenty of TLC. Front plans to use the garden as part of Camp Discovery programming each summer. “Getting the children outdoors, in the dirt, and growing things, then caring for and harvesting, is a wonderful lesson for all children,” she said.
(Back row, from left): Judith L. Desilets of Credit Union ONE; JCC Assistant Executive Director Leslee Magidson; Camp Discovery Director Judy Front; Oak Park JCC Aquatics Director Jake Segall and Camp Discovery Assistant Director Jaymie Morton, along with counselors and campers at the JCC Community Gardens.
