April 17th was a productive day for 25 volunteers and their hosts, Community Services Consortium (CSC) at the Youth House Garden on the corner of 2nd and Western Avenue in Corvallis. Volunteers from the community were asked to bring gloves and boots to help with a variety of garden projects.“We had a great turnout of around 25 volunteers of all ages,” said Rachel Krasick, Program Development Coordinator at CSC’s Workforce and Education Program. “We are so pleased to see how much the volunteers accomplished in just 3 hours. We spread cardboard to suppress the grass between the beds, mulched it, and built six new raised beds and filled them with soil.”
Volunteer Timothy Lord said, “I have only been in town two days after moving here, and it’s great to find an opportunity to volunteer in the community. It’s fun.”
“A big thanks to everyone who showed up to lend a hand,” said Ian Dixon-McDonald, Garden Crew Leader at the Workforce & Education program. “This is a great way for us to engage with the broader community.”
The Youth House Garden is one of the projects of CSC Youth House, a licensed alternative school in Corvallis. The garden gives youths a chance to develop workforce skills while they pursue their education goals. It has provided an opportunity to learn gardening skills such as growing vegetables, herbs and flowers from seed, drip irrigation and marketing through sales at the local farmers markets.
