Lansing’s Allen Neighborhood Center (ANC) will receive a $60,900 service-learning grant for a Health & Wellness service-learning community project from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board. An innovative, youth-driven, community-oriented program housed within the ANC is the lucky recipient.
The Hunter Park GardenHouse Youth Program promotes food awareness, park stewardship, job and life skills development, and civic engagement. Program manager, Rita O’Brien says, “This grant will fund so many projects within the GardenHouse Program; our Youth Service Corps is busy with projects such as Garden-In-A-Box, Edible Park, and the Youth Food Cart.”
The Youth Food Cart was developed by the Service Corps group, made up of children ages 11-17, and comes complete with a business and marketing plan. The Garden-In-A-Box project gets the Corps building mobile gardening kits as well as relationships with their neighbors. The Edible Park provides harvesting opportunities to the neighborhood, and is managed by the Corps.
“The kids love it,” O’Brien says. “They love getting in the dirt, working with their hands and being active. There aren’t very many outlets for the youth in Lansing that want to do something for their community, and these kids are so excited to be able to serve their community.“
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