The Urban League of Greater Chattanooga is encouraging kids to get their hands dirty and reconnect with nature by using four community gardens around Chattanooga.
Urban League of Greater Chattanooga’s Fit for Life participants work in the new community garden behind Urban League’s facility. From left are Katie Radu, Natalie Cunningham, Iman Purnell, Aliya Dozier, Alexis Dozier and Jessica Labon.“It’s about these kids and how they brighten up and get excited about helping in the garden,” said Gabrielle Sanders, program director for Urban League’s Health and Quality of Life Program. “If they get excited and then take that excitement home, maybe their parents will pick up on it.”
The Urban League is concentrating on this new aspect of its Fit for Life program, which is about creating healthy habits in children, through a partnership with the Benwood Foundation. With a strong focus on physical health, the Fit for Life program already teaches children how to stay active and fit. The community gardens are part of the program’s second goal: to expose youth to healthy nutrition practices.
The first garden was built at Emma Wheeler Homes with another garden located at the South Chattanooga Recreation Center.
Sanders said the community garden at Orchard Knob Elementary was built in partnership with the Coordinated School Health program. The final community garden was placed behind the Urban League building where youth attending the summer Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program have access to the raised beds for gardening projects.
“We started out small with only three boxes to see how it goes,” said Sanders about the garden behind Urban League. “We’re hoping to get the funding to continue it and expand into more boxes.”