Marion summer garden project to instill work ethic, responsibility to students

Students will take turns each day planting seeds and growing a variety of plants and vegetables, including onions, carrots, melons and more, learning the virtues and lessons of hard work and investment of time and effort. 

The students, Marion Mayor Jess Alumbaugh, city officials and parents were on hand Friday afternoon for the groundbreaking at McCulloch Middle School auditorium. All shared their excitement for the summer project and what they hoped to learn from it. 

Jeff Breckenridge, vice president for M-Powering Youth, said the idea for the community garden stemmed from conversations with other local leaders and will hopefully serve as a way to keep possibly at-risk students away from drugs and crime and doing something more positive and productive.

“You learn something when you’re in the garden,” Breckenridge said. “We’ve lost touch with the basics.” 

The majority of the students Friday expressed their desire to learn how to grow food and what the process of tending a garden, which requires patience and dedication, can teach them not only about food but life as well. 

Alumbaugh expressed his support of the program, calling the program a “wonderful opportunity to mentor children.” The city is allowing the group to grow the garden on the property, which used to be grounds for residential homes that the city tore down. 

“If you can give your heart, soul and sweat, you can make a difference,” Alumbaugh said, adding that he sees projects like this one as one of the many things nonprofits are doing to better the community. “The more we work together, the more we can make a difference. It takes a team.”