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MWCC’s Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement was recognized with a Rooted Volunteer award from Growing Places Garden Project for its ongoing commitment to matching student volunteers with the nonprofit organization.
Fagan Forhan, assistant dean of K-12 partnerships and Civic Engagement, and student volunteer Stevie LaBelle accepted the award during a ceremony on August 31 at the Pierce Meadow Community Garden in Leominster.
“We are so very honored to accept this award on behalf of the Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement,” Forhan said. “Growing Places has been a steadfast community partner over the last decade, ensuring that our students have experiences that allow them to stretch their learning beyond the textbooks and into our region in a way that helps them to truly understand their own capacity to create positive change. We look forward to continuing this work with Growing Places, and expanding the opportunities for our students, staff and faculty to integrate sustainable gardening and nutrition into the learning experience.”
The Rooted Volunteer award is given to a longstanding partner that has worked with Growing Places over many years and in this capacity has made a significant contribution to the nonprofit organizatiion’s work. For more than six years, MWCC has partnered with Growing Places to provide a capacity building grant, pairing numerous students with urgent community service deadlines with Growing Places’ volunteer projects and, most recently, has selected Growing Places to host a Student Leaders in Civic Engagement, or SLiCE, intern who will be dedicated to improving volunteer recruitment and retention program.
Established in 2001 by Harvard residents Kate Deyer and Cindy Bulmer, Growing Place helps low-income families and communities build and maintain sustainable gardens. Over the past 15 years, more than 250 gardens have been created, with technical support to more than 1,000 low income residents in North Central Massachusetts.
-Amir Elmerheb