Community Gardening – All Are Welcome!
Spring means it’s time to think about gardening! The Community Garden at St. Rita will begin its eighth season and the Garden at St. Casimir will be starting its third season. Last season we provided over 2,222 pounds of produce for the Riverwest Food Pantry (1,222 pounds from the St. Rita garden and over 1,000 pounds from the St. Casimir garden)!
Are you interested in this rewarding service to our community? We invite you to come and learn about what we do in our gardens and how you can get involved. An orientation meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 20 at 6:30 pm at St. Casimir (Bremen & Clarke). Garden Prep Day for the St. Rita garden is Saturday, May 21 starting at 10:00 am. The Prep Day for the St. Casimir garden is TBD. Work continues weekly throughout the growing season.
We are pursuing this initiative, recognizing that community gardening improves people’s quality of life by:
- providing a catalyst for parish, neighborhood and community development
- stimulating social interaction
- encouraging self-reliance
- beautifying neighborhoods
- producing nutritious food
- reducing family food budgets
- conserving resources
- providing for those who are in need of fresh food
- creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education
Above all, we are creating an opportunity to get involved in a hands-on way to care for God’s creation.
All members of parishes and the community are welcome. Please contact Julie Trafton, Community Garden coordinator, at atrafton@wi.rr.com, or Andrew Musgrave, Director of Social Justice Ministries and Outreach, at 271-6577 or musgravea@archmil.org for further information.
