Raising the Bridge has teamed up with the city of Mesquite to turn The Tree Farm into the Raising the Bridge Community Garden with a goal to serve the community by providing a place for unity, education and community service.
Raising the Bridge is a Mesquite-based organization that provides mentoring, life skills, and athletic programs to at-risk teens 12-18.
“I don’t want our young kids to just pick up trash; I want them to do something out in the community so people see them and know who they are,” said Andrew Morris, founder and CEO of Raising the Bridge.
The garden will also serve as a place to help rehabilitate the youth who are currently involved in the juvenile justice system.
“It’s going great. We are needing more funds, but it’s going really good,” he said. “With Home Depot helping out with donations and members of the city stepping up, we are making ends meet.”
They’ve got some people in the city who have donated materials to get beds set up.
With the goal of having all of the beds up by this time next year, the task seems hard for them due to the lack of funds and donations. However, they are determined to make ends meet and have the park set up by this time next year.
Eighty percent of the fruits and vegetables grown from the garden will be donated to food pantries in Mesquite, and 20 percent will be made available for purchase, with the profits to be used for garden upkeep.
Raising the Bridge is currently accepting donations for gardening tools. A full list can be found at raisingthebridge.com/community-garden.
(Photo Courtesy of Andrew Morris)