Last Friday brought plenty of sunshine and good will at the Collette Vacations headquarters. 25 volunteers assembled in an open park to roll their sleeves up and get their hands dirty – literally. For three hours, the crew built 25 large wooden garden beds and filled them with organic compost. They painted each box with paint that Roger Williams Zoo had donated to the New Urban Farmers – who donated it to us! Once the boxes were created, we lined them all up, painted them, and filled them. The volunteers enjoyed a sunny-day barbecue and one another’s company — knowing that their hard work was going toward a good cause.

You see, the gardens will grow vegetables all summer long that we will then, in the Fall, donate to a local soup kitchen and food bank.

And it doesn’t stop there! In about two weeks, we’ll get the public involved as well. We will send flyers to those living in the surrounding neighborhoods. For a small fee, people can have their own space where they can plant their own plants for summer and fall. Collette will take 3-5 boxes. What the community grows will also be donated to a local soup kitchen and food bank.

With donations from employees, we’ll buy plantings and seedlings for gardens. We’ll tend to these throughout the summer and furnish some fresh vegetables.

This is a wonderful project to bring this community together in an effort to really help those in need around us in a very hands-on way. We will keep you posted throughout the season on our progress!