Students at Harvey N. Dondero Elementary School are again ready to grow their favorite fruits, vegetables, and flowers — along with their understanding of science and nature.
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Employees from The Home Depot visited Harvey N. Dondero Elementary School on August 30 to replenish and rebuild the vital infrastructure that supports its popular learning garden.
The big picture: The store donated new tools, a garden shed to store equipment, and compost tumblers to manage organic waste — all destroyed during a fire in June.
Why it matters: Brittany Williams, a resource teacher and team leader of the school’s garden club, said, “The garden is an extension of our classroom.”
“We will be able to continue our mission of promoting sustainability, learning about environmental conservation, promoting the soil health of our garden, and providing fresh produce to the community,” Williams said.
Among the variety of items in the garden are sunflowers, cucumbers, squash, cauliflower, tomatoes, and assorted squashes. There is also an orchard of fruit trees: lemon, apple, pomegranate, orange, and jujube.
The Home Depot near Tropicana Avenue and Decatur Boulevard has partnered with the school since it started its garden six years ago. They have provided tools, installed an irrigation system, and laid stonework for the garden. Williams then asked the company for assistance in rebuilding what had been lost.
What they’re saying: Taking a break from assembling a compost tumbler, Amanda Gunter, an assistant store manager at The Home Depot, said “it means the world” to her to “give back to our community and touch the lives of people in our city.”
