A week ago today we celebrated the grand opening and dedication of Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s (IFFS) Geer Street Learning Garden, in collaboration with Reinvestment Partners. It was a colorful collection of partners, funders, friends, and press at the burgeoning urban garden that’s been carefully tended over the past year.
And the topic of the day? How IFFS took on the challenge of cultivating more than just the land at 110 East Geer. How they’ve cultivated a place that engages and serves the community, as well.
Highlights included short speeches by IFFS’s Garden Manager and tireless supporter, Eliza Bordley. By Kathy Higgins, President of the BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Foundation, funder in part. By Matt Kopac, Sustainable Business and Innovation Manager at Burt’s Bees’ Greater Good Foundation, sponsor of The Pollinator Garden. And by Reinvestment Partners’ Executive Director, Peter Skillern.
I think my favorite part was the touching story that closed Peter’s speech. The crowd listened intently as he relayed the story of how a busload of disabled folks had come to visit the garden in the cool of the evening. The plot of land, with its plants in tidy rows, provided a space for those otherwise institutionalized to connect with nature and its beauty. And we all agreed in our silence that whether the garden grew one tomato or none, it had already borne the most precious fruits possible. (“Amen”)
Amen, what a sweet story and excellent space…Geer St is the cool center of Durham because you all made it that way….LOL…the “COOL” part wasn’t an intended pun!
We love this green oasis in the middle of zipping cars. Building a place where the community can gather, where life-giving produce is grown and kept safe(cool) for distribution, and where all ages can learn where food comes from, is work well worth doing. Thanks to Eliza, who is bringing all ages into the garden. With hopes that this will grow and grow.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Bobi!