A group of high school students in Fairfax County, Virginia, turned gardening into a creative response to help food banks that are seeing an increase in need. “We’ve got lettuce, spinach, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and beans,” said Maureen Gelona, a senior at W.T. Woodson High School.
Students grow lettuce, spinach, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and beans.
According to wtop.com, "The student garden is in between the high school’s tennis courts and science lab wing. “We gave some stuff to the custodians; we gave the plants to the teachers; [we’d take plants] home to our own families — we’d never donated it before,” Gelona said. Woodson is one of four schools in a partnership with the Fairfax Food Council."
As per wtop.com, "Three elementary schools — Belvedere, in Falls Church; Stratford Landing, in Alexandria; and Lynbrook, in Springfield — also participated, said Stacey Evers, the co-chair of the council’s Urban Ag Group and the staff environmental educator at Belvedere Elementary. Both Belvedere and Woodson donate their produce to Food for Others, a non-profit based in Fairfax that helps connect families in need with food and is serving almost 4,000 families a week, up from about 1,800 before the pandemic."
Maryam N. is a Senior Writer at Nesbitt Realty. She is an expert on Fairfax County. Maryam has also worked previously as a geologist. She is a foodie and enjoys cooking and exploring new restaurants.
