Posted Jan 27, 2011 When it comes to promoting a healthy diet, they’re looking to cover some ground.
More than a dozen Home Depot employees from Montgomery, Opelika, Phenix City and Columbus, Ga., and Auburn University cardiac rehab students weeded, raked and cleared a parcel of land behind the East Alabama Medical Center’s Diabetes and Nutrition Center to make way for the EAMC Community Garden on Thursday.
Come spring, the five 40-by-8-foot flower beds of the community garden will be sowed with peppers, onions, squash, tomatoes and herbs. The garden will also include a pavilion and storage building.
The community garden was made possible through a $10,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation, said Julie Wells, resource coordinator for the EAMC’s diabetes treatment center. The hospital was also able to obtain a Kohl’s Cares for Kids grant that will be used later to provide education in pediatric nutrition, which will be tied into the community garden to help combat pediatric obesity, Wells said.
“The primary purpose of the garden is to benefit the employees and families of the East Alabama Medical Center,” said Wells, who as a diabetes educator frequently hears patients say they can’t afford to eat healthy and that unhealthy fast foods are cheaper. “And although it may be fairly cheap to grow your own tomatoes, … do you have the space and skill to do so? With this garden, we’ll provide that space and skill, and in doing so eliminate a barrier for the community in the future.”
Wells says the idea for the community garden began last year after the EAMC allowed her use of the land. She instructed her intern to start making calls to area gardening centers in an effort to raise support for the garden when they learned of the Home Depot Foundation.
“This is going to look really good when it’s done,” said Bruce Benzing, a Phenix City Home Depot employee who volunteered time to work on the community garden Thursday.
Nearly 500 bags of dirt and soil conditioner and 144 railroad ties went into the creation of the community garden, said Deandria Garrett, an employee with the Opelika Home Depot who also volunteered time to help with the construction of the community garden.
“Typically, we look at the business aspect of things, but it’s great to be able to give back to help those in the community who may not otherwise be able to afford what this garden will provide,” Garrett said.
Employees of EAMC will maintain the community garden, Wells said.
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Copyright © 2011, Opelika-Auburn News, Ala.