Do you have a green thumb? Join a local veterans community service group this Saturday, Apr. 6 at the Bay 84th Street Community Garden.
Volunteers from The Mission Continues (TMC), an organization that connects veterans to community service projects, will be at the garden on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Civilian volunteers are welcome to join Saturday’s event.
Volunteers will be working on converting the garden’s shed to a greenhouse, moving compost bins and distributing mulch to garden beds. They will also install non-toxic mosquito traps and pull weeds from the garden.
Lawrence Ksiez, TMC’s Queens platoon leader, said the event is a part of an ongoing relationship with the Bay 84th Street Community Garden. Ksiez said he found out about the garden on Facebook, and connected with organizers last May to build planting beds.
Ksiez, a navy veteran, has always had a green thumb. For over 15 years he has volunteered at Red Hook Farm in Brooklyn, and recently became a master composter with the NYC Parks Department and Department of Sanitation. “I’ve always been into composting and saving the planet a little bit at a time,” he said.
Ksiez hopes that Saturday’s event will highlight the importance of investing in local community gardens. “As a matter of fact, I have actually asked for a plot for myself to grow my own food in the garden, I’m invested in it,” he said.
Founded in 2018 by local community activists, the Bay 84th Street Community Garden has brought together the Rockaway Beach community with an array of local events throughout the years. The garden strung from a former dumping ground that was later converted with the help of the NYC Department of Sanitation and JetBlue volunteers. The garden is under the jurisdiction of NYC Parks and supported by GreenThumb, the nation’s largest urban gardening program.
To sign up for Saturday’s event click here
