Community In Green At PGCC
Prince George’s Community College Students, Faculty And Community Volunteers Team To Launch Community Garden
By Gil Griffin
PHOTOS APPEAR COURTESY PRINCE GEORGE’S COMMUNITY COLLEGE
For folks living for years in a food desert beyond Largo on the State Route 214 corridor, the first seedlings of an oasis were just planted, fittingly, on Earth Day.
At an event at its Community Garden, celebrating the day, Prince George’s Community College (PGCC), in a partnership with PGCC’s Office of Government Relations and Community Outreach, the Student Garden Club, and Prince George’s County Master Gardener Program, conducted a seed planting, with an eye on helping residents near Largo.
“We are proud to cultivate not only a thriving Community Garden at the College, but also meaningful community connections,” Gavette Richardson-Duncan, director of government relations and community outreach says. “It’s a wonderful example of what can be achieved when students, staff, and community members come together.”
Currently, along Route 214, there’s a dearth of supermarkets, so access to fresh, affordable groceries is extremely limited. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Access Research Atlas defines communities with low access to healthy food as ones which are more than one mile from a large supermarket or grocery store. That characterizes the situation for most people outside of Largo.
Anna Davis, a PGCC Student Garden Club member, recognizes the importance and impact of the initiative.
“We’re planting seeds that could change lives in our community,” Davis says. “It means a lot to be part of something that’s not only sustainable, but deeply needed.”
PGCC faculty and community volunteers consider the seed planting and their collaboration as an extension of the Community Garden as a living classroom, combining education and service.
“I love teaching and helping others learn about gardening as much as I do,” says Ashley Delgado, a PGCC graduate and volunteer with Prince George’s County Master Gardener Program. “I saw a great opportunity [on Earth Day] to volunteer my time to the community college that helped me start my career, and to help me give back to my community.”
